10 Questions to Ask When Doing Reference Checks for Sales Hires

Hiring a new employee is always a little scary. You want to make sure they’re good at what you’re hiring them to do, fit into the company culture, and have the experience necessary to be successful.

Of course, hiring a salesperson can be an even more challenging task. If you don’t select the right candidate and do your homework, the company’s bottom line could suffer … quickly.

If you’ve been hiring team members for years, you may be comfortable interviewing potential hires and doing the background checks necessary. However, if you’re a brand new sales manager, say, someone who was just promoted for excellent performance in sales, you might be wondering exactly how to go about finding the right person.

Successful hiring requires a little bit of know-how and preparation. Here’s how to make sure you don’t waste your time or money onboarding the wrong fit.

Do your candidate homework.

Once you complete your candidate interviews and decide on a handful of potential employees, it’s time to do some sleuthing.

Use social media to familiarize yourself with candidates.

A quick check of the candidate’s social media accounts can be helpful. Red flags like a negative attitude or bad-mouthing their employers or customers will be easy to spot.

If you see an issue with their online presence, you may choose to take them out of the running entirely, depending on the severity. Or you may identify areas to dig into a bit further during the interview process.

Check references. Yes, really.

One of the best ways to vet a potential employee is through reference checks. During the application process, they should have provided professional references.

These people can speak to who your future hire is as a person, a colleague, a boss, and an employee. When handled properly, they can make the difference between hiring the perfect candidate and regretting your decision quickly.

为了充分利用这些“访谈”，您需要在拨打电话之前做准备。知道您想问哪些问题以及对您和您的公司最重要的问题。bob全站app然后，要友好，欣赏，愿意听到和评估参考分享的任何内容。

销售参考检查时要问的10个问题

1. “请告诉我您与候选人的关系。”
2. “他们为什么离开您的公司以及在什么情况下？”bob全站app
3. “在您一起工作期间，候选人是否有任何重大成就？”
4. 'What do you believe are the candidate’s greatest strengths?'
5. 'What do you believe are the candidate’s biggest weaknesses?'
6. 'Was any training or coaching provided to correct these weaknesses?'
7. 'For this position, the candidate will need to be [insert the most important qualities you’re looking for]. Do you feel they fit this description and why or why not?'
8. 'Do you feel that the candidate was a good communicator?'
9. 'Would you work with the candidate again in the future if the opportunity presented itself?'
10. 'Is there anyone else I should speak with?'

这些问题中的一些可以按原样使用，而其他问题则需要调整到您的行业以及您的潜在员工将承担的具体责任。

Read through the list before picking up the phone, and make sure you’re confident in your approach.

请记住，您可以将问题保持开放的越多，越好。

1. ‘Please tell me about your relationship with the candidate.’

As your first question, this will help set the context for the conversation.

2.'他们为什么离开您的公司以及在什么情况下？bob全站app'

前雇主不允许法律向您提供一些信息。但是，这个问题仍然可以帮助您评估潜在的候选人。

如果参考点击围绕他们的答案跳舞，他们可能会试图不诽谤候选人。考虑一下这个危险信号。

3.'在您一起工作期间，候选人是否有任何重大成就？'

如果您要聘请一位销售超级巨星，它将配额从水中吹出，您想知道。如果您要雇用一个少量吱吱作响的人……您也想知道这一点。

4. 'What do you believe are the candidate’s greatest strengths?'

希望您在他们的采访中问了潜在的雇用这个问题。向他们的参考提出相同的问题，您可以看到候选人如何与其他人看待他们相比如何看待他们。

5. '您认为候选人最大的弱点是什么？'

Another great gauge of their self-assessment. Interviewees tend to go light on themselves with this question, offering up a weakness that can be easily reframed as a strength. A reference will likely give it to you straight.

6. '提供正确的t任何培训或指导hese weaknesses?'

找不到完美的员工。每个人都有something他们可以改进. If they were given support to improve this weakness and were either uncoachable or couldn’t be helped, you need to know.

If they were never given the opportunity to improve, they could blossom with the right training.

7.'For this position, the candidate will need to be [insert the most important qualities you’re looking for]. Do you feel they fit this description and why or why not?'

这个潜在的雇用需要什么才能成功？非常清楚（在您拿起手机之前）关于他们蓬勃发展的特征和技能。仔细阅读参考文献，并要求他们提供示例。

8.'您觉得候选人是一个好的沟通者吗？'

Communication may be the most important skill any employee can master. Good communication will make working with this person more pleasant and productive.

沟通不良可能意味着团队之间的分歧以及与客户的误解，这可能会对您的业务造成破坏。

9.'如果机会出现，将来您会再次与候选人合作吗？'

This may be the most important question you can ask. If you don’t get an emphatic “Yes!” you’ll need to ask followup questions to determine if that organization wasn’t a good culture-fit for your candidate (and your business would be better), or if hiring this person would be a huge mistake.

10.'我还应该和其他人交谈吗？'

The reference listed may provide useful insight into your candidate. However, they may know someone else at the company who worked more closely with them and could give you another perspective.

雇用新销售人员是时间，金钱和能源的大量投资。这个决定不是您要轻轻地做出的决定，也不是在没有收集所有可能的信息的情况下做出的决定。

通过准备参考检查并知道正确的问题来做功课。如果您想进一步了解成为成功的销售经理需要什么，请参加HubSpot的免费认证课程，Sales Management Training: Certification for Developing a Successful Modern Sales Team.