We all want to hire the next sales superstar who will blow away their quotas and targets and bring in mountains of new business for your company. Finding your next sales star has just as much to do with your hiring process as it does the candidates you interview. After all, you need to be able to narrow the field of candidates and bring the cream of the crop to the top of your list of candidates.

Here are some interview techniques that will help you find your next sales star:

1. Be thorough with your background check:

If you’ve identified a candidate as a potentially great fit, spend some time reviewing their resume and the information provided in their job application. This will allow you to formulate specific questions about the candidate and not just ask standard questions you ask all candidates.

2. Test a candidate’s level of preparedness:

How prepared a candidate is for the interview is a good indication of their research and preparedness skills that will be applied when they are working with clients. Ask them about why they applied for this position, and what they know about it and the company. This will give you a good idea of how much time and effort they put in.

3. Have a moment of silence:

How a candidate deals with a silent pause will say a lot about how they interact with people (and clients). Do they try to establish rapport or bridge to the next topic of conversation? Are they awkward? How do they handle it?

4. Ask situational questions:

Give the candidate a number of hypothetical situations and ask them to explain how they would deal with them. It can be about dealing with clients, how to approach sales calls, or even how to deal with certain situations internally. This forces them to think on their feet without using their prepared interview question responses.

5. Go off script (a little):

There are certain interview questions that salespeople can all expect when going in for an interview. Only asking these questions makes it easy for them to prepare and more difficult for you to differentiate between candidates. If you identified an area you want to know more about, go off script to gain more insight into the candidate.

6. Ask them to sell you something:

Put a candidate’s sales skills to the test, and put them on the spot by asking them to sell you a product or service. It can be one your company uses or it can be fictitious. You’ll be able to see how good of a closer they are before hiring them!

Get More Tips for Recruiting Sales Professionals

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10 Tough Interview Questions to Ask When Hiring Sales Staff

SalesForce Search is a sales recruiting company which specializes in the recruitment and placement of sales professionals. We recruit sales people in every sector of the economy including, software, manufacturing, financial services and medical devices. Find the right sales person for your organization, start your search here.