I have been tasked to recruit a small telesales/telemarketing team which is selling solutions. I have organised inductions, telesales training, product and technical training etc. The basics are in place, can anyone please advise what are excellent questions to ask in an interview to determine if they can make the grade. Quetions specifically for this type of role?

Thanks

Hi Maisie,

It really depends on what your benchmark is, how you are measuring it and how you know if you are achieving it.

Salient competancies to look out for are

Influencing skills
Resilience

Other competancies such as

Communication
Team work
Problem solving
Customer service focus

may be involved to a greater or lesser degree depending on role.

Good luck

Is it worth asking any questions relating to the candidates technical background?

IMHO there's nothing wirse than asking a salesperson a 'simple' technical question and getting "I Dunno" as an answer.

You don't have to go too deeply into the background but a few simple questions
can save alot of trouble down the line!

I've had one candidate for a job selling B2B webspace that didn't know what
HTML was for!!!! I don't mind explaning the acronym but inthat case I shouldn't have had to explain what it was!

I know you probably can't tell us TOO much about the solution you are selling but if you can give a little background I might be able to give you a few ideas.

HTH

DaveA

Anyone doing typing training?

***WRITE OUT 100 Times***
I must spellcheck my posts.
I must spellcheck my posts.
I must spellcheck my posts.
I must spellcheck my posts.

etc.........

You get the idea!

DaveA

;-)

I would ask, If I were to ask your mother to describe you what would she say?
This will give you good insight into what they think of themselves.

One of my personnel favourites is, what are your 3 favourite films and why. People are caught totally off guard by it and tell the truth, this gives your allot of information about the person on a more personnel level.

The line "what's your understanding of" works well with any product but I would say its down to whether you like the person or not at the end of the day. You can train people on products but like Dave said if you have to explain HTML to them forget it.

Jason

Hi Maisie,

Have you considered the use of psychometrics?

I fully support the view offered in that your interview questions should be based on the competencies needed for the role.

However I would go one step further and introduce a psychometric test. From the test you could develop specific questions, based around your competencies, which target areas that may be of concern to you regarding the particular individual.

Regards,

Austen Field

You could use a sales assessment, such as our Sales Indicator,
or use a job fit assessment, such as our Profile Assessment. The
Profile is more effective because it assesses a more areas that
are critical for job success. You can a sample report at our
sample reports page "go.ourworld.nu/gately/asamrpts.htm" and
notice that there is no "www." at the beginning of the web
page address.

Hi Maisie,
The advice you have been given in the posts is all very sound; however, an additional question to ask them is:

"If you were a TV show, what TV show would you be and why?"

There are three reasons for this!

1) The chances of them being asked it before are slim at best which means they cannot prepare for it and give you a pre-prepared answer. (Which people can do to most questions)

2) If they are a really good salesman then it means they are good at thinking on thier feet; thus if they stall too much, they will do the same when on the phone and posed a new query; if however they answer quickly then they are a natural!

3) Finally, the answer itself will dictate what type of person they are; i.e. if it is logically related to the first part of their answer, then they are a logical thinker; or if it is a funny answer, then they are a bit of a comedian (No bad thing in telesales!) etc!

I hope this helps!

Paul

"If you were a TV show, what TV show would you be and why?"

From an HR point of view I'd be concerned about a question of this nature. If the candidate is declined on the basis of this question and the potential employer cannot provide a sound legal basis for declination then an employment tribunal may take a dim view. The question would not appear to provide such a basis.

From the candidate's point of view the question lacks objectivity and relevance.
If the candidate is from a different ethnic background to the interviewer and answers with a TV show specific to their culture/gender (eg Asian Eye, GayTV) and is declined purely on this basis there are grounds for discrimination. Furthermore given those answers and a possible cultural void, the interviewer is none the wiser regarding skills, thus nothing significant has been added.

Some candidates will not see the relevance of the question and may react negatively towards its inclusion.

The question itself is abtract and unfocussed, it does not direct the candidates abilities or skills significantly it merely highlights a programme and asks the candidates themselves to justify why they ought to be that programme. Whilst this may highlight creativity, use of logic, reasoning and influencing skills, it doesnt cope adequately with objection handling techniques, matching, closing, resilience, questioning techniques, motivation, target setting, vigour, structure, clarity, rapport building, powers of expression, confidence, assertiveness etc all of which are highly desirable skills and qualities in a salesperson.
Furthermore there are plenty of good salesperson who are not quick thinkers, logical or creative or funny, they rely on other skills (and experience) and an employer may miss them. To reiterate as an employer you must have and be able to justify a sound legal basis for declination and your process must be fair to all.

If you want to find out what type of person they are and match that to the job description then there are many psychometrics or SHL or other tests you could use.

Competency based assessments including structured interviews and role plays are becoming very popular in probing for specific competencies and are rapidly becoming HR best practice in the assessment of skills and behaviours.

Recruitment has moved on considerably from the "sell me yourself" questions.

Whoooooohhh!

Chill out there! It was just a bit of advice for Maisie!

I wasn't suggesting that they sit the candidate down, ask them solely that question, and base the whole recruitment decision on that one answer!

I complimented the other suggestions (Of which, one was yours) and merely threw mine in as an aside! An additional question that can bring a human element to a process that is stressful to budding candidates; whilst still achiveing the goal of information retrieval.

Jason Dickson (Another respondee) suggests, amoungst other things, that they ask the candidate how their Mother would describe them!
Going by your logic; boy would that be opening a can of worms!
What if their Mother had passed away, or they were an Orphan!!!
The candidate would start crying, and they could take them a tribunal for emotional distress and constructive rejection!

"From an HR point of view" you'd be concerned....from a reality point of view I'd be concerned that political correctness leaves us with the ability to ask a candidate nothing more than their name and would they like a cup of tea!

Thanks for your response Paul and I take them in the spirit of cooperation.

No offence meant and I'm sure you weren't advocating asking one question but neither should that single question form the basis of any rejection either.

I am sorry, I did notice Jason's responses after I'd made the posting, you are correct they suffer similar deficiencies. A far more productive question for assessing teamwork capabilities and one that is frequently used is "How would your colleagues describe you?"

Your interpretation of political correctness in this instance is misplaced,
certainly whilst interviewing candidates they do sometimes mention time off to visit their childs graves or the anniversary of the death of a partner. These issues should be treated with the fairness and sensitivity we would all expect any reaction on the candidate or interviewers part should not impinge on the process. Equally the presence of dyslexia, learning difficulties or disabilities may also create issues. Your jest of an ensuing tribuneral may appear extreme however the reality for that candidate and their own unique tragic circumstances should in no way place them at a disadvantage.

I'm not so sure that political correctness has crept into recruitment processes techniques moreover a concerted effort has been instigated (and legislated) to ensure all candidates are assessessed fairly and the bias of the interviewer has been eradicated. This is for the benefit of all genders, cultures and abilities, isn't that something to be proud of?

Maisie, if you are in any doubt please speak to the HR team in your respective country.

Good luck

My father used to say: "If you can learn how to get 10 pounds of (dirt, let's say) into a 5 pound bag and stuff it into a 2 pound hole, you'll always have a job."

He was right. Some people will complain that there's too much (dirt, let's say), or that they need a bigger bag, or more bags, or that they need to form a committee to decide who will make the hole bigger. But there's always one person in the crowd who just get's it done.

So, how do we attract, identify and hire that kind of person?

To quote an esteemed colleague on a recent post, "At the end of the day though, they are just theories with identifiable faults and human beings will always be much more than a set of specified categories."

Looking forward to more excellent responses.

Brent

Hi people,
I have been watching the site with interest since xmas but have not posted anything as, not much of interest has come up. My colleague highlighted this thread to me which I had written on last year. I think its says allot, given the initial question was,
"Can anyone please advise what are excellent questions to ask in an interview."
I find it quite surprising at the amount of people who have responded and the number of actual questions put forward. I don't have time to count them but there aren't many.

I would be interested in seeing actual questions more than concepts, we are interviewing at the moment and I could do with strengthening my armoury.

CCT are the winners of the 2002 Avaya EMEA Business Partner Best Business Practice Award

Jason said: "I find it quite surprising at the amount of people who have responded and the number of actual questions put forward. I don't have time to count them but there aren't many. "

In my experience HR professionals hang out at HR websites and not Call Centre sites, perhaps also because HR professionals know the commercial value of this knowledge - you will see that no responses are from anyone with an HR job title, there are however several freelancers and consultancies who have contributed with generalised answers, methodolgy and best practice.

On most HR/Training and recruitment websites you wont find too many quoting their own methods and processes, most HR professionals do discuss best practice and methodolgy but not too much specifics. In a commercial world this is commercial information, I'd be willing to tell you more but thats called consultancy and methinks you want the info for free.

The thread is indicative of the maturity of the industry, lots of contributors most with passing on the job exposure and potted examples however a lack of discipline specific qualifications or awareness of best practice. Thats not a criticism merely an observation and if there are any qualified HR professionals who've contributed I stand corrected.

I'm no HR person, but I did read a pamphlet on an airplane once on the topic. Or was that a diagram of the safety features of the aircraft....? Ah, either way, to paraphrase Robert Heinlein, "...specialization is for insects."

A couple of quick points, and I'll get out this sandbox:

1. I agree, true HR people should have an excellent working knowledge of local and federal laws as they pertain to fair hiring. One of the key responsibilities for any HR person is to ensure that their company is never accused of unfair hiring practices.

2. HR cannot be expected to come up with creative (and presumably proprietary) methods for recruiting and hiring excellent people without first having a clear and consistent directive from executive management as to criteria. Without a clear job function, position description and performance criteria, HR will have limited success in profiling, recruiting, or much less interviewing, candidates who may be a good match.

3. Again, I don't have the HR club membership (I eat in the pantry with the kitchen help), but some of the most revealing aspects of a candidate come not from their answers to your questions, but from their own questions to the interviewer. A few non-proprietary examples, from which each may draw their own conclusions:

"How often am I evaluated for pay raises?"
"Is there a dress code here?"
"Can you tell me more about your company's operating philosophy?"
"How much training will I receive prior to starting the job?"
"What was your company's turnover percentage last year?"
"Does your company evaluate employee satisfaction?"
"How long do I get for lunch each day?"
"If I quit, could I ever be eligible for re-hire?" etc, etc, etc

Oh, and Paul, welcome to CCV. Hope your first posting experience won't keep you from sharing your views in the future.

Brent

Brent,
To go off topic for a moment because there are very few
serious Heinlein fans around.

One of the most astute quote ever.

A human being should be able to change a diaper,
plan an invasion, butcher a hog,
conn a ship, design a building,
write a sonnet,balance accounts,
build a wall, set a bone,
comfort the dying, take orders,
give orders, coorperate,
act alone, solve equations,
analyze a new problem, pitch manure,
program a computer, cook a tasty meal,
fight efficiently, die gallantly.
Specialization is for insects.

I typed this up for one of my frinends for his 30th
birthday.

OK back on topic.

I must admit the interview question i DREAD is
"Tell me (us) a little bit about yourself."

It makes me shudder. All I want to do is turn round and say

"About what?"

Humm..
Questions to ask (as a Non HR person)

"What can you bring to the role?"

"Can you give a recent example of where you have exceded the clients expectations"

Quite a telling one is..

"Can you give an example of where you've failed in something"
It's the total athesisis of standard questions and will show how
someone deals with adversity.

"Can you give an example of how you've influenced someone (NOT persuaded)
to come around to your point of view?"

Just a few and I'd welcome comments/


HTH

DaveA
(We'll skip the penguin logo tonight)

Oh well.

It looks like proof reading doesn't work for me.

Back to the Mavis course for me.

Sorry for the typos

BTW.

John is there any way we can edit our own posts?

Thanks

DaveA

I dont know much about Heinlein but a far longer established and more widely used phrase is "master of all trades and jack of none." It worked for my mother and countless others before here, she didnt read much science fiction but she understood insincerity and vieled insults.

"Hope your first posting experience won't keep you from sharing your views in the future." Another one is "If you've got something to say why not just come out and say it." Brent, the inference in your comments is both patronising to Paul and rude to me.

I'm sure Paul is well able to decide whether to share his own views and would continue to share them if he felt appropriate. Given that you've just bashed me and "dissed" HR professionals the world over perhaps he wont feel so inclined.

The great enemy of clear language is insincerity.
George Orwell (1903 - 1950)

;-)

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Dave said "Just a few and I'd welcome comments/ "

OK here goes.....

I must admit the interview question i DREAD is
"Tell me (us) a little bit about yourself."

Agreed, it doesnt add much, it works as a good introductory question and is good for putting the candidate at ease, all to often though the candidate will steer their reply to show them in the best possible light and relevance and depth is lost.

It makes me shudder. All I want to do is turn round and say

"About what?"

Usually the question is "Tell me a bit about the job you are currently doing..."


Humm..
Questions to ask (as a Non HR person)

"What can you bring to the role?"

Err not helpful, the candidate frequently responds with what they think you want to hear not what they can actually bring to the role. If the job desciption is full and detailed then the interviewer and candidate should both know what needs to be brought to the role.

"Can you give a recent example of where you have exceded the clients expectations" .

Great question unless all clients expect excellence. (Its never come up but I'm sure it will.......)

Quite a telling one is..

"Can you give an example of where you've failed in something"
It's the total athesisis of standard questions and will show how
someone deals with adversity.

Agreed, it must always be followed up with supplementarie "How did you deal with that?", "What lessons did you learn from it". Having asked this question hundreds of times with varying answers eg. "I had to remove a person from a shop who was threatening me with physical violence...I called the police". That example doesnt illustrate too well how they dealt with the adversity, more their ability to apply processes and highlighted the bad customer service that went beforehand. Where this question comes into its own is in assessing ability to keep problems in perspective and learn from them as well as coping with demanding situations and/or personal or work oriented goal setting.

"Can you give an example of how you've influenced someone (NOT persuaded)
to come around to your point of view?"

Great question.

Now all you have to do is decide the benchmark and ensure those that talk the talk can walk the walk.

Hope that helps Dave and yes I'd like a spellchecker on this window as well !!

Tara

I'd disagree about the "Tell me a little bit about your self" question
putting people at ease. As I said I think it's one of the hardest questions to answer as it's so ambiguous. As a few people here know I'm very into Scuba Diving but I doubt an interviewer wants to hear about my introductory Trimix course! {GRIN} Does anyone here want to know about it? Go on you know you want to! {/GRIN}

I must admit the job I had now I actually had to say in the interview "I don't want to mislead you and let you think I'm and Access Guru."

Still, horses for courses.

What were you doing posting the reply at that time of night? I htough I was up late!

DaveA

Dave,

Glad you liked the Heinlein reference, it's one of my favorites, too. Thanks for posting the entire quote, it does provide a much more favorable frame of reference to the 'insect' comment. Thanks again.

Closed,

Obviously I've upset you. For that, I apologize sincerely and without qualification. My attempts at levity in this forum are usually taken as they were intended, and are nothing more than an effort to lighten the mood a bit.

But I must remember that viewing the written word without the benefit of voice inflection, body language, winks and smiles leaves much open to interpretation. In an excellent forum such as this, the open exchange of ideas and opinions should be paramount, and I wish only to encourage, not to discourage, this premise.

Brent