A company’s success often hinges on the effectiveness of its sales and business development (BD) teams. These teams are the driving force behind revenue generation, client acquisition, and overall business growth. Assembling a high-performing sales force requires careful consideration and strategic hiring.

Given the dynamic and client-facing nature of sales roles, the interview needs to assess not only their product knowledge and sales acumen, but also their interpersonal skills, resilience, and ability to navigate challenging situations.

Effective questioning allows you to delve into a candidate’s past successes, learning experiences, and strategies for overcoming obstacles, providing valuable insights into their potential contributions to a sales team. In this context, the art of asking pertinent questions is pivotal in making informed decisions and ensuring the selection of candidates who align seamlessly with the demands of a dynamic and competitive sales environment.

In this blog, we’ll explore some simple questions you can ask during the interview stage to ensure you are recruiting the right talent for sales and BD roles.

Understanding the Candidate’s Background and Approach

Tell us about your previous experience in sales and business development.

This fundamental question provides insights into the candidate’s track record, the industries they’ve worked in, and the scale of deals they’ve handled. Look for candidates with relevant experience that aligns with your company’s products or services.

Describe a successful sale you closed. What was your approach, and what challenges did you overcome?

This question delves deeper into the candidate’s problem-solving skills and strategic thinking. It helps assess their ability to navigate challenges, negotiate effectively, and close deals successfully.

How do you research and identify potential clients or business opportunities?

A proactive and research-driven approach is crucial in sales and business development. This question evaluates the candidate’s ability to identify and pursue new business opportunities through market research and strategic planning.

Assessing Communication and Relationship-Building Skills

Can you walk us through your approach to building and maintaining client relationships?

Effective communication and relationship-building are cornerstones of successful sales and business development. Look for candidates who prioritise understanding client needs, maintaining open communication, and fostering long-term partnerships.

How do you handle objections from clients, and what strategies do you employ to turn a potential rejection into a positive outcome?

Resilience is a key trait in sales. This question assesses the candidate’s ability to handle rejection gracefully, pivot effectively, and turn challenges into opportunities.

Evaluating Strategic Thinking and Goal Orientation

What strategies do you employ to meet and exceed sales targets?

The ability to set and achieve ambitious sales targets is crucial. Look for candidates who can articulate clear strategies for goal setting, planning, and execution.

How do you prioritise your leads and opportunities to maximise efficiency?

Time management is a critical skill in sales. This question assesses the candidate’s ability to prioritise tasks, focus on high-potential opportunities, and manage their workload effectively.

Gauging Adaptability and Learning Agility

Describe a situation where you had to adapt your sales approach to a rapidly changing market or industry. 

The business landscape is dynamic, and adaptability is crucial. Look for candidates who can demonstrate flexibility, a willingness to learn, and the ability to adjust their strategies in response to market shifts.

What steps do you take to stay informed about industry trends and changes?

Continuous learning is vital in sales and business development. This question assesses the candidate’s commitment to staying informed about industry developments, market trends, and emerging opportunities.

Probing for Team Collaboration and Leadership

How do you collaborate with other departments, such as marketing or customer support, to enhance the overall customer experience?

Sales and BD don’t operate in isolation. Look for candidates who understand the importance of cross-functional collaboration and can work seamlessly with other teams to enhance the overall customer journey.

Have you ever had to lead a sales team or project? If so, how did you motivate and guide your team to success?

Leadership skills are essential for growth within a sales organisation. This question helps identify candidates who not only excel in individual contributions but also have the potential to lead and inspire a team.

Building a successful sales and BD team requires a meticulous hiring process. By asking these targeted questions during the interview stage, you can gain valuable insights into a candidate’s experience, skills, and cultural fit.

Remember, the right questions not only help you assess a candidate’s past performance but also provide a glimpse into their potential for future success within your organisation. Taking the time to identify and hire top-tier sales and business development professionals is an investment that can significantly impact your company’s bottom line and long-term success.

Written by Charlene Craig.

Graduates are the lifeblood of any growing company. Their fresh perspectives, innovative ideas, and hunger for success are invaluable assets that can propel your organisation to new heights. However, in a competitive job market, putting a post on Facebook just won’t do – attracting top graduate talent requires a well-thought-out strategy.

A strong recruitment campaign will form the foundation of your graduate programme, helping you get the best talent in the market for your business. To attract this talent, you must take a holistic approach to planning to ensure a seamless candidate experience.

In this blog, we will look at the key considerations for graduate recruitment and how you can ensure you are attracting and engaging with the right audience.

To start, you should define your value proposition – what makes you different? What can your programme offer them that others can’t? How can you help them develop? Make sure your materials speak to their need. Look at the following considerations for when you start creating your recruitment materials:

• Clear progression path – Top grads want to know that there is a clear progression path for them and like to see where they could get to – give them the facts and figures of what this looks like within your organisation.
• Reward – The best graduates will get up to speed quickly as part of a well-designed programme. Include regular reviews and opportunities for two-way feedback. Demonstrate “What’s in it for me” (WIIFM).
• CPD – Top grads want to develop professionally. Can you support them on the path to chartership/accreditation?
• Challenge – The world’s most successful companies only take the best of the best. Explain the challenges of the programme and what your expectations are of them in 1, 3, 6, and 12 months. Building a reputation for being a difficult company to get into is beneficial – it’ll put off the people who aren’t right and attract the ambitious and competent individuals that your business needs.

How to attract candidates pre-application

The pre-application phase focuses on generating awareness, capturing interest, building desire, and ultimately motivating potential candidates to take action by applying for your graduate program.  Also, think about when to start the program – some leading employers begin the awareness up to 9 months before onboarding.  Check with your local universities and colleges on their milkrounds.

Attention

Generate some word of mouth through engagement with universities and referrals from current employees. Create social media snippets to gain interest. Write job adverts that follow the AIDA format to ensure content is engaging.

Interest

Share success stories from past graduates or people who have advanced within your organisation. Create explainer videos on the unique things that you do and the impact you have on your industry. Demonstrate the WIIFM for candidates.

Desire

Talk about how challenging the recruitment process is. A highly selective recruitment process means they will work with top talent. It creates a competitive environment for candidates and can make your programme more sought after.

Action

Have a straightforward application process. A CV and cover letter are the most you should request (unless you must have an application form).

How to engage candidates post-application

The post-application stage focuses on engaging with candidates who have taken the initiative to apply for your program. This is where you take action to create a positive candidate experience and enhance your employer brand.

Engage

Take a high-touch approach with candidates. Build in time within the process to ensure you are engaging with them and keeping them bought in throughout each stage.

Communicate

Ensure applicants know where they are in the process and what the next steps are. Know where the communication points are within the process, and ensure you deliver on these consistently throughout – including as much information as possible to keep them well informed. Also, provide applicants with an approachable point of contact for any questions.

Feedback

Make sure all candidates get feedback. They may not be successful in this process, but you may want them to want to make an application to your company in the future. Feedback is a key driver in a positive candidate experience, so providing this will help build your employer brand.

By taking this approach in your graduate attraction efforts, you can help your company stand out in a competitive job market and secure the top graduate talent needed for your organisation’s growth and success.

Written by Michelle Kearns.