Sales Hiring Straight Talk

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.

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.The competition for talent is intense these days. Assessments are a way for you and your company to set yourself apart from the rest.  At the Assessment Step #2 in the hiring process, you and the candidate have already started to form opinions about each other.Pre-hire assessments help resolve 3 of the most common frustrations candidates have about the job interview experience. Learn what they are and why assessments offer a solution to them.  This is the first of two conversations between Suzanne and Jennifer.

Kevin F. Davis talks about the fact that the best candidates have other options. He cautions against setting the bar too high for candidates and kicking out some people you shouldn't. Instead, there are 3 other traits sales hiring leaders should be looking for - traits he's found to be key indicators of future sales success. This is our third of 3 interviews with Kevin F. Davis,  author of two books “Slow Down, Sell Faster!” and “The Sales Manager's Guide to Greatness.” 

Kevin F. Davis shares ideas on the how and what to ask in the phone interview. He suggests questions other interviewers might not ask. Do you use your 20 minutes (30 minutes MAX!) wisely in your phone interview with candidates so they have a good first impression candidate experience with you?  You're seeking thought provoking questions from them that enhance their experience with you, as well as give you insights into how they might perform with prospects. This is our second of 3 interviews with Kevin F. Davis,  author of two books “Slow Down, Sell Faster!” and “The Sales Manager's Guide to Greatness.” 

In this current podcast series, we are discussing the candidate experience during the hiring process.  Today, we are joined by Kevin F. Davis,  author of two books “Slow Down, Sell Faster!” and “The Sales Manager's Guide to Greatness.”  Sales hiring leaders - do you conduct your own phone interviews? If not, listen to why Kevin thinks this is a mistake.  This is the first of 3 interviews with Kevin F. Davis on the subject of Candidate Experience.

Ira S. Wolfe is the president of Success Performance Solutions, a red carpet TEDx speaker and author of the books The Perfect Labor Storm and Recruiting in the Age of Googlization:  When the Shift Hits Your Plan. A long time expert and thought leader on Candidate Experience, he shares how applicants apply for jobs has changed today. If you don't know this, you're losing the war for talent. He also shares his 5 key ingredients to R.E.A.C.H candidates.This is the third of 3 interviews with Ira on the subject of Candidate Experience. 

In our second interview with Ira S Wolfe, we asked "What do candidates say makes a great job search experience?"  Learn their #1 complaint - a very common action by hiring companies - and what sales leaders can do to improve their hiring process.Ira is the president of Success Performance Solutions, a red carpet TEDx speaker and author of the books The Perfect  Labor Storm and Recruiting in the Age of Googlization:  When the Shift Hits Your Plan.A long time expert on Candidate Experience, he shares why it has never been more important than in today's marketplace where candidates have lots of choices.This is the second of 3 interviews with Ira on the subject of Candidate Experience.

In our first interview with Ira S Wolfe, learn why candidate experience is an important part of your hiring strategy in today's market.  What's the first impression candidates have of your company, starting with the first time someone is thinking about a job with you.Ira is the president of Success Performance Solutions, a red carpet TEDx speaker and author of the books The Perfect  Labor Storm and Recruiting in the Age of Googlization:  When the Shift Hits Your Plan. A long time expert on Candidate Experience, he shares why it has never been more important than in today's marketplace where candidates have lots of choices.This is the first of 3 interviews with Ira on the subject of Candidate Experience.

Though we wish it wasn't so, most hiring sales leaders still need to factor COVID into their interview process this next year.  We have made Creating Clarity When Hiring our theme for today's 2021 holiday podcast. Creating clarity is especially important regarding your policies and plans in these areas:VaccinationsRemote WorkTravel ExpectationsTraining & Development ... and one you may not have thought of!Happy Holidays!

In this session with Shelley Billinghurst, learn why a recruiter should be part of your sourcing strategy.  Also, be prepared to discover that you may have tunnel vision and/or biases about candidates who:are currently unemployedhave had multiple jobs in the past 5 yearslack same product or industry experienceShelley Billinghurst is the President of Hire Value, Inc. and co-Host of the podcast, The Recruitment Flex with Serge and Shelley.  This is the fourth of four interviews  with Shelley on the subject of recruiting. 

You have a sales opening and even with a great sales ad, how do you source good candidates? Part 3 of our interview with Shelley Billinghurst focuses on how to source good sales candidates, mistakes hiring managers make, and actions you need to take when recruiting.In our podcast today, she discusses:Why you need an "always be recruiting" mentality.How do candidates know you're hiring? A "Careers" page on your website isn't enough.Some recruiting actions that are SO 2011 ... and don't work today. Shelley Billinghurst is the President of Hire Value, Inc. and co-Host of the podcast, The Recruitment Flex with Serge and Shelley.  This is the third of four interviews  with Shelley on the subject of recruiting.

The purpose and function of a job description is to legally protect you when you need to terminate an employee for non-performance. It's not designed to attract great sales talent to your job opening.You need a way of saying "Come work here!" which requires you to be ultra clear on who you want to hire.Shelley Billinghurst is the President of Hire Value, Inc. and co-Host of the podcast, The Recruitment Flex with Serge and Shelley.  This is the second of four interviews  with Shelley on the subject of recruiting.

Shelley Billinghurst joined us today with a warning that in today's Labor Market, we're standing on the shore right now ... and we are going to see a wave of people changing jobs at a rate that we have never seen before. She particularly discusses the 5 things your sales recruits are looking for in your company during your hiring process.Shelley Billinghurst is the President of Hire Value, Inc. and co-Host of the podcast, The Recruitment Flex with Serge and Shelley.  This is the first of four interviews  with Shelley on the subject of recruiting.

How did the Beatles White album contribute to the most inventive job offer William Tincup has ever seen?  Listen for the answer in this podcast as he discusses stand out job offers.This is the 4th and final in a series of interviews with William Tincup, President and Editor-at-Large of RecruitingDaily.com.

This podcasts highlights the biggest mistakes you can make when extending a job offer to a top sales candidate. William Tincup believes you have to make sure your candidate has no reason to say no. The offer letter should be personal, reflective and refer to things you've already talked about.  Listen to learn more on how to do this.This is Part 3 of a series of interviews with William Tincup, President and Editor-at-Large of RecruitingDaily.com.

This podcasts offers ideas on how to "Talk Straight" to a top Sales Rep Candidate you want to hire.William Tincup shares how selling to prospects, and selling your position to candidates, are very similar. Transfer and use your skills, mindset and actions as a sales manager for selling clients and prospects, to when you are hiring and want to win the talent war.This is Part 2 of a series of interviews with William Tincup, President and Editor-at-Large of RecruitingDaily.com.

You spend hours interviewing candidates. After spending much time and money recruiting and hiring, many sales leaders fumble the ball at the one yard line. William Tincup talks about 4 key actions for getting the best and brightest sales reps on your sales team:Your Job OfferOnboardingCollaborating with HRTreating hiring as you would a Sales CallThis is Part 1 of a series of interviews with William Tincup, President and Editor-at-Large of RecruitingDaily.com.

Virtual and remote work is not going away.  The need to hire candidates still exists and virtual hiring is growing.  As requested, we've combined our most downloaded podcasts, our Virtual Hiring series, into a single podcast for easier listening.You hiring process needs to be stronger than ever, especially when you are not meeting these candidates in person.  In this series, we focus on the First and Second Interviews with 6 tips for conducting these important conversations virtually. We also share 6 questions you may find valuable when Reference Checking.  You rely even more now on people who know and have met your candidate.

This is our full interview with Jeb Blount, an in-demand keynote speaker, sales influencer and author. He has a great e-book on his website SalesGravy.com called the Sales Manager's Ultimate Interview Guide. It's a 25 page guide on how to conduct more effective sales interviews.This interview was broken into 5 shorter podcasts for easier listening. However, due to listener requests, we have combined them into a single 40 minute podcast.

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!

What the Best Sales Hiring Leaders Do in InterviewsThis is our 5th and final podcast with Jeb Blount, an in-demand keynote speaker, sales influencer and author. He has a great e-book on his website SalesGravy.com called the Sales Manager's Ultimate Interview Guide. It's a 25 page guide on how to conduct more effective sales interviews. In this podcast, he discusses how sales hiring interviews and sales calls are very similar. The 3-part process you use to create good questions in a sales call is the same process Sales Leaders should use when preparing interview questions for a candidate. To download his eBook, Sales Manager's Ultimate Interview Guide, go to https://www.salesgravy.com or use this link https://salesgravy.com/ultimate-sales-interview-guide/

Guest Jeb Blount is a former VP of Sales at a Fortune 200 company, Founder of Sales Gravy, the author of 13 books, and an in-demand speaker and trainer. We are excited to share his thoughts and ideas as he talks with us about hiring sales people.In this fourth of a 5-part series, we asked Jeb about the subject of Job Fit when hiring successful salespeople.  He believes that “fit matters more than anything.” In this podcast, he offers great examples of good and poor fit and why it determines whether a hire is good or poor.To download his eBook, Sales Manager's Ultimate Interview Guide, go to https://www.salesgravy.com or use this link https://salesgravy.com/ultimate-sales-interview-guide/

Guest Jeb Blount is a former VP of Sales at a Fortune 200 company, Founder of Sales Gravy, the author of 13 books, and an in-demand speaker and trainer. We are excited to share his thoughts and ideas as he talks with us about hiring sales people.In this third of a 5-part series, we asked Jeb about the subject of Emotional Intelligence when hiring successful salespeople.To download his eBook, Sales Manager's Ultimate Interview Guide, go to https://www.salesgravy.com or use this link: https://salesgravy.com/ultimate-sales-interview-guide/

Guest Jeb Blount is a former VP of Sales at a Fortune 200 company, Founder of Sales Gravy, the author of 13 books, and an in-demand speaker and trainer. We are excited to share his thoughts and ideas as he talks with us about hiring sales people.In this second of a 5-part series, Jeb offers advice on why sales leaders talk too much in  interview and what happens when you do. To download his eBook, Sales Manager's Ultimate Interview Guide, go to https://www.salesgravy.com and look under the resources tab.

Guest Jeb Blount is a former VP of Sales at a Fortune 200 company, Founder of Sales Gravy, the author of 13 books, and an in demander speaker and trainer. We are excited to share his thoughts and ideas as he talks with us about hiring sales people. In this first of a 5-part series, Jeb focuses on why sales leaders sometimes make poor hiring decisions. To download his eBook, Sales Manager's Ultimate Interview Guide, go to https://www.salesgravy.com and look under the resources tab.

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.

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.

On the anniversary of our first podcast, we continue to share ideas to help sales leaders increase their success rate in one of their key roles - hiring sales reps.Sales reps may be looking to change jobs. Organize your hiring process by taking these 6 actions to make better hires in 2021.

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 in-person interview a positive experience for both you and your candidate.

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 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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

A short introduction to Jennifer Leake and Suzanne Paling, the founders and co-hosts of Sales Hiring Straight Talk.