Sales Hiring Straight Talk

Finish strong! Create a job offer that makes a great impression on candidates and makes them want to say YES to you.These podcasts offer suggestions on writing a great job offer that will: reinforce why they should work for you, create excitement about their decision, set expectations for both parties, and lay the groundwork for the first days ahead.

NOTE: Listeners have requested we combine our earlier 2 part interview with John into a single podcast for easier listening. Thanks for the suggestion - and here it is. As hiring managers we are often guilty of skipping or doing a hurried job of background checks, and a subgroup of this, reference  checks.  After they start working with us,  we find ourselves discovering things and say, “I wish someone had told me that before I hired this salesperson.”  Join us and our guest John Beaudette,  a Private Investigator and Vice President of Operations & Compliance at Employment Screening Services. He's been doing this for over 30 years and his company really has it down to a science.We talk about the reasons for background checks and why it’s so important to make sure we conduct them for each candidate, maybe even relying on experts who do this far better than we can do it ourselves.Reference checks today are very different than they were in the past.  This podcast shares important information you need to know about Reference checking:False references and what to look out forThe challenges of candidate self-documentationSalary history ban lawsContinuous Criminal MonitoringWhy listen to this podcast? Because if you could have known ... you should have known!

Reference checks are very different today than they were in the past.  This podcast shares important information you need to know about Reference checking:False references and what to look out forThe challenges of candidate self-documentationSalary history ban lawsContinuous Criminal MonitoringThis is Part 2 of our interview with guest John Beaudette, a Private Investigator and Vice President of Operations & Compliance at Employment Screening Services. Why listen to this podcast? Because if you could have known ... you should have known!

As hiring managers we are often guilty of skipping or doing a hurried job of reference and background checks.  After they start working with us,  we find ourselves discovering things and say, “I wish someone had told me that before I hired this salesperson.”  When you do a thorough check of candidates, you have a better chance of learning things before you hire, rather than after you’ve spent time and money bringing them into your organization.  Join us and our guest John Beaudette,  a Private Investigator and Vice President of Operations & Compliance at Employment Screening Services. We talk about the reasons for background checks and why it’s so important to make sure we conduct them for each candidate, maybe even relying on experts who do this far better than we can do it ourselves.

Do you feel checking references is a waste of time because you think people are legally reluctant to talk to you? References are still a powerful, yet underused information source in hiring. Ask for references – and call them!These podcasts help you know who, how and what to ask the references to get a different perspective on the candidate before you make that job offer.

Make your Second Interview even stronger by inviting others in the company to interview your candidate. In this podcast, we share how to avoid 4 common missteps of a Second Interview:Inviting too few or too many others to participate in the Second Interview;Asking others to interview the candidate with no direction or information;Failing to gather all those who met with the candidate to compare notes; andLetting the candidate meet the wrong fellow salespeople.It's never good to lose an A-player or hire a below-average performer - and it's even more important to hire better now.

The key reason for checking references hasn’t changed – to learn more about your candidate from people who know them better.  But today you need to add reference questions you might not have asked in the past -- questions that give you a good indication of your new hires’ ability to function on their own as a remote worker.This podcast offers 6 questions in 6 minutes that you should be asking of candidate references.  

Do you think a second interview isn’t necessary? Yes, it is! Even if you think you’ve found your top candidate, you need to take a second look. You have too much at stake to make your decision on one meeting only.These podcasts offer ideas on organizing and preparing for this critical second look at top candidates.  Address any doubts and ask questions that came to mind after the first interview. Make sure they’re the same person you met and liked the first time.

In this podcast, we answer four questions that are often asked about a first interview:Who should participate in this first interview?Where should the interview take place?When and in what detail do I talk about compensation?How do I conduct a strong post-interview evaluation?Take away ideas to make your first in-person interview a positive experience for both you and your candidate.

Your position is open - and your office is closed. Now is not the time to change your 6 step hiring process ... and definitely not the time to skip the Second Interview. You'll never regret the time and cost of a second interview as much as you might regret hiring the wrong person.

If you are wondering “How do I prepare for the first interview?” “What are good questions to ask?”or “Should others in the company be involved?” – start here. The first interview uses all the information you have so far – resume, phone interview and assessments – to have meaningful conversations with candidates. These podcasts help you plan your first interviews better and take your interviewing skills to a higher level.  Learn to use 3 key tools in interviews - your hiring experience, an interview strategy and better questions – to hire and retain key sales talent.

Assessments help you make more informed hiring decisions. Be more objective in your hiring process by adding assessments to challenge a natural personal bias to candidates, conduct more effective interviews and ultimately make the best hire possible.

The First Interview has usually been your chance to meet candidates face-to-face ... but not when hiring virtually. Take 6 minutes to hear 6 tips to better plan and manage your virtual First Interview so your sales hiring interviews ROCK!

Have you ever hired a salesperson you liked but it turned out they couldn’t sell?  Wouldn’t it be helpful to have an objective look at candidates before you interview them instead of learning by trial and error during their first six months with your company?  Tap into the power of pre-employment assessments.  These podcasts offer examples and uses of pre-employment assessments to understand the candidate’s sales capabilities early. Assessments offer suggested interview questions specific to your candidate and reduce the surprises you may get after you hire them.

The phone interview is a sales leader’s opportunity to get a first impression of the candidate without meeting them in person.  And to ask the all-important question:  Can this person potentially succeed in the position I am hiring for? In this podcast, we're sharing ideas on the best way to set yourself up for a great Phone Interview. 

Today's environment may still require you to hire virtually. Take 6 minutes to learn 6 steps for virtual hiring - because you may not get to meet your candidates in person. 

Looking to save both you and the candidate time during the hiring process? This is the place to start. Use a phone interview to quickly decide if the candidate is a good fit. If not, skip the longer in-person interview. These podcasts build your skills on how to have short, structured but informative phone conversations with potential candidates to determine if you want to move forward with them.

This is the second of 3 interviews with Mark Wilcox, Global VP of Sales on the subject of Candidate Experience in the First Interview in the hiring process.In this podcast, Mark Wilcox shares what he thinks has changed the most in his 30 years of interviews with sales people - and how it contributes to a good candidate experience.Listen to learn a few of his favorite questions that create richer 1st interviews with sales candidates. 

This is the first of 3 interviews with Mark Wilcox, Global VP of Sales on the subject of Candidate Experience in the First Interview in the hiring process.Life, interviewing and applying for a job is hard enough. The more comfortable you can make the candidate, the easier it is to learn more about who they really are. Learn how Mark does this, as well as his "pet peeve" about candidates.Mark is a veteran "customer first" sales leader, with over 30 years of sales leadership experience and success across multiple industries including: advertising, media, finance and software.  Skilled at applying innovation and process excellence, his goal is to provide value to customers and leadership to sales teams.

Podcast host Suzanne Paling interviews co-host Jennifer Leake of Assessment Pros on the topic of assessments and the candidate experience. Jennifer has over 30 years experience with a variety of assessments and how to supplement and better understand candidates and employees with objective assessment information.Assessments have become a common "slice in the hiring pie", so learn 4 things to do to create a better Candidate Experience with them.  In addition, they shorten what can be a lengthy interview process as well as create Brand Ambassadors for you ... even if you don't hire a candidate you've interviewed.This is the second of two conversations between Suzanne and Jennifer.