3 Critical Red Flags for Sales Candidates

Smiling womanDuring the sales hiring interview, there are three red flags that give us serious doubts about the candidate’s potential to be a winner:

1. Laziness
This one seems like a no brainer, but some candidates will insist they work no more than an 8-hour day, and never on weekends. However, as we know, sales is a demanding job, and requires a willingness to go the extra mile when necessary. Candidates with Drive are willing to work as hard as necessary to succeed. So, when we hear a candidate put limits on their production in the job interview, we have a solid indication that we are not dealing with a driver.

2. Job Hopping
The job hopping candidate has a resume with numerous positions lasting a year or less. There may be several reasons for this behavior: bad luck, poor performance, or simply bad judgment. In any event, we need to clarify what caused these multiple moves, and whether the underlying issue or behavior is acceptable at our company.

3. Thin Skin
Most “hunter” sales jobs require a person to handle rejection every day. Many candidates will talk a good game during the interview, but get scared and procrastinate when they are asked to make cold calls. To learn whether your candidate fits this profile, find out how they have handled specific rejection situations in the past. For example, ask, “Tell me about the last time you lost a deal. How did you recover?” We have heard candidates say they were devastated at the loss, and took several days to emotionally recover. If you are looking for a pure “hunter,” this is probably not the right person for you.

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We need brokers that have the drive to aggressively secure new business, that are optimistic and can deal with rejection, and that are competitive. We have relied on the DriveTest to help us hire candidates with the “right stuff” to warrant our significant investment in them.

Mr. John Frager
President & CEO, Grubb & Ellis/BRE Commercial

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