Ten questions about facts
- How many customers did you write to or call on an average day in your last job?
- How many of them reached payment?
- What was the average deal size?
- Which system did you record your work in, and what exactly did you record?
- Tell me about a customer who said no. What did you do after the refusal?
- How many times did you go back to a customer who went quiet?
- Who decided what price to quote?
- What did you do when you could not get to every enquiry?
- What did your income consist of, and what did it average?
- Why did you leave your last job?
Two questions that do not work
- «Are you resilient?» The answer is known in advance.
- «Sell me this pen.» It tests knowledge of a trick, not work with your product. A test conversation gives you many times more.
The most informative of the ten is the one about going back to people who went quiet. Somebody used to making one touch and closing the thread answers it instantly and without hesitation.
What to watch besides the answers
- whether the candidate asks about the product and about enquiry volume
- whether they take an interest in how the comp plan works
- whether they talk in specific numbers about their last job
- how they write in messages before the interview, if you sell in chat
How to finish
- State the terms out loud, including realistic income by month three.
- Explain how the test conversation will run.
- Agree a specific time.
- Send the product briefing straight after the call.