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Focus on People, Productivity and Profitability
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Focus on interviewing skills
The question below is one of the most frequently asked by clients looking to hire a strong salesperson:
 What questions should I ask to determine if my candidate has good closing skills?
There are lots of choices, and most are inadequate - except for this one - don't ask any questions to determine closing skills. Instead, look for evidence of closing skills in the way the candidate handles the interview process.
Consider for a moment, would you ask a candidate if they have good listening skills? Why bother? What's important is that they exhibit the behavior of someone possessing good listening skills. For instance, do they stick to the topic that you are discussing? Do they interrupt you? Do they ask you a question that you already answered? If they aren't exhibiting good listening skills, do you care how they respond to your question about their listening skills? Probably not.
It's the same with closing skills. Give some thought now to the types of behavior someone with good closing skills would exhibit in an interview. What are some of things you could look for? Here are several suggestions to consider:
- Does the candidate gain agreement with you as they cover each segment of their resume, or are they leaving it to chance whether they've covered any particular item thoroughly?
- If you show some concern about something, be it job choices, length of time on a job, incomplete education - whatever - does the candidate get you to commit to whether that item will ultimately be a deal breaker, or do they leave it dangling? Here's a hint: good closers get these items off the table.
- Does the candidate gain clarification about the timeframes for your hiring decision, clarify each step of the staffing process, and create a sense of urgency for completing the task in a timely manner?
- Does the candidate "ask for the order" (i.e. in this case) the job? This is an interesting aspect to consider. We've seen that really bad closers are so because they don't know when to ask for the order. If your candidate is closing you prematurely, you can be sure they'll be doing the same thing with your prospects.
There are many more examples, but these cover most of the bases. Instead of worrying about what magic questions you can ask, pay close attention to what your candidate does. You'll learn more, and you'll make more informed decisions.
Don't think of your interview as a question and answer session. Think of it as an opportunity to observe the behavior of a future employee. If you know what behaviors to watch for, then you'll make more informed choices.
This is an area where two heads are far better than one, so as part of the OPUS profile review process we always have the candidate "walk us" through their resume. The reason we do this is because we are looking for evidence of behavior as well. We're looking to see if the candidate asks us good questions about the career opportunity. We want to see if they ask us about their areas of weaknesses as well as their strengths. And we want to see if they are giving the position serious and thoughtful consideration, or do they just "want the job."
Part of our client feedback always covers that discussion. Although the profile information is important, most of our clients would likely say that they gain as much information about their candidate as a result of our debriefing phone calls as they do from the profile results themselves. That's a good thing and that's why we talk to your candidate.
Focus on Hiring
Speaking of questions that we are often asked - here's another very popular one:
 What's more important, the personality profile results of the candidate, or their background and work experience?
Sounds a bit like the question regarding "what comes first, the chicken or the egg," but this one is really pretty easy. The key factor is: how much specific knowledge does a person need to have to be successful on the job? The more specific knowledge required coming into the position, the less important the profiling data becomes as a determining factor in the hiring decision. The less knowledge required, then the more focused you should be on the profiling data. Below are several examples
One client sought to hire a sales team to sell in a very competitive market. While they had a viable product offering they weren't the cheapest game in town, nor the "local" provider. As a result, they really needed strong-willed, inspirational sales people. Prospects were not going to simply buy their product; it needed to be sold. In addition, the salespeople did not require any specific industry knowledge. They simply needed to be excellent salespeople. This client felt that if they hired sales reps with the right innate behavior, they could train them on everything else.
This client developed their "top performer" profile, and they set a hard-and-fast rule that they would only hire that profile. The CEO recognized that he was likely missing out on some talent, but he felt it far more important to build his organization around supporting the behavioral style of top performers.
Accordingly, his compensation plan was geared at this profile, his reporting structure was appealing to this profile, and his management style was geared to this profile. This company did NOT deviate from their profile, and they ended up having retention rates well above industry norms.
In fact, once a salesperson made it through their training program (no small feat as many were flushed out in the three-week training class), their retention rate was over 90%. They also ended up with some salespeople earning in excess of one million dollars. What message do you think that sent to the potential new hires?
That's an example of one side of the coin. Another client had specific needs for implementation support people. They needed candidates with knowledge of certain operating systems, programming languages, and other key protocols. These individuals would need to interface with clients and work as part of a team, requiring that their behavioral style be significant, but not as relevant as the knowledge they brought to the table.
In this case, the profiling tool was not used to eliminate anybody from consideration. Instead it was utilized to help the hiring manager better understand the nature of their candidate so that they could do a better job of appealing to that candidate's interests, and how to integrate that person into their organization.
For instance, if the profile indicated that the candidate prefers to work as part of a team, the hiring manager could talk about how their organization encourages and fosters teamwork. If another candidate's profile showed that they like to work alone, then the manager and the candidate could discuss in advance how their position could be structured to allow them that independence.
By comparing their candidate's profile to other people already on the team (i.e. Bill's profile looks a lot like Mary's, except he is a bit more patient) they got a head start on getting everyone working effectively in their organization. Was it helpful for them? Absolutely.
We're happy to work with you in advance of your staffing process to determine what role the profiling should take in your decision process. It really doesn't make a difference as long as it ultimately helps you make better hiring decisions.
Suggested reading
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1776
Was George Washington a "High Extrovert" profile? Once you read "1776" you may think so. Read about how Washington inspired his troops to re-enlist on the very day that they were supposed to be heading home to their loved ones. Washington was one heck of a sales guy. And, talk about bad working conditions - your employees complain about cubicles? Please. This is a great story about an incredible leader, and McCullough has done a tremendous job of capturing the essence of our first President, and the conditions he and his troops faced in the year 1776.
by David McCullough
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Additional suggested reading
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Truman: The biography of Harry Truman
David McCullough has written many other fine books. Truman is a remarkable story about the man, and the first half of the 20th Century. Truman ended up playing a significant role in decisions that impacted the world for the second half of that Century, and beyond.
by David McCullogh
We'll have more suggestions for you in future editions.
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