Top Salespeople MUST be able to answer to PROVE they can SELL.

1.) What do you say/ do when you don’t know the answer to a customer or prospect’s question?

Having the confidence to project to a customer about finding the answer to a question and making sure the information gets to the customer/ prospect in a timely fashion is critical in ensuring honesty and a trust-building follow-up.

2.) How do you deal with an unhappy customer?

Just like you, I’m a customer of multiple services and products myself,and we know that having someone truly LISTEN to our concern is half the battle. Letting the customer tell their side of the issue while the salesperson listens and expresses empathy is going to get you out of even the biggest customer concerns. Doing whatever they can to resolve, and follow up with the concern to be sure it is taken care of is the other half.

3.) How do you typically overcome rejections while prospecting for new business?

As we know, most objections come from customers not seeing the value in our product or how it can help them to alleviate their PAIN. Good salespeople LISTEN to customers and provide the necessary information (education) a customer needs to make the right decision for themselves. When a customer makes a decision themselves, there is less chance of buyers regret, returned items and refunds.

Keep PROBING Ask the question in a different way if the candidate isn’t giving the answers you seek.

Top Salespeople MUST be able to answer to be considered for your next hire.

4.) Tell me about the most important accomplishment in your career?

I love interviewing salespeople! And this is my favorite question! A GOOD top-performing salesperson won’t waste any time telling you all about their accomplishments. While they may or may not boast about them, they should at least have a list of amazing accomplishments to share and if not, you’re talking to the wrong person. The KEY is to probe on quantifiable accomplishments. “grew business by 200% by engaging existing book of business and asking for a referral…” Ask what quantifiable metric they met and how they went about it.

5.) What do you do if you fail to close a prospect?

Admittedly, salespeople go through a lot of rejection. Great salespeople learn quickly to embrace challenges and move on. More importantly, is getting feedback from prospects who say NO and use that information as a teaching moment, or, passing it on to decision-makers within the company in an effort to bridge the gap between senior execs and the public.

Building a relationship with a failed prospect can turn a ‘NO’ into a ‘YES’ as soon as next month. Focusing on what can be learned from a ‘NO’ response rather than being upset about it is what lifts top-performing salespeople above other candidates.

With over a decade of working with numerous managers, each with differing opinions on what makes a Star Salesperson, here’s how I covered all of my bases to make sure only the BEST would pass screening, get through the hiring manager interview, and get the offer.

FACT: You can’t even have a business without sales.

If you don’t want to do sales calls all day and would rather spend your time refining your product and offering so your business can GROW, you need one HECK of a salesperson,— or better yet, a whole team of them.

First, you will need to create a position posting, — not to be confused with a position description, that is designed to attract savvy salespeople who will not only fit into your company culture but also bring revenue to your business through solid relationships in an effort to create brand LOYALTY.

These questions will help you weed out the average and identify Star Salespeople

Need help finding your next star performer?

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