No role demands a quicker time-to-hire than a sales role. The moment one of your Account Executives (AEs) moves on to another company, or you get a green light from your CEO to take on a new rep or two, the clock starts ticking. And the more it ticks, the more money you lose. You’re leaving revenue on the table each day the role goes unfilled and the rep you need is not in the office closing deals.
Don’t panic – there are steps you can take to accelerate the sales hiring process and minimize the impact of open headcount. Betts Recruiting has teamed up with Skaled Consulting to produce a new eBook, Faster Hiring Means More Sales, showing how companies can get sales reps hired, ramped, and earning faster than ever. On the blog today, we’re offering a preview of the eBook, focused on job interview tips and best practices for managers. Keep reading to learn how to keep the sales interview process quick yet comprehensive.
Tips and best practices to master the job interview process
Not every sales role is alike – and their differences are reflected in the job interview process. The process for a Sales Development Representative (SDR) won’t be quite the same as the process for an AE. Both of these roles will be different from sales leadership job interviews. But no matter the role, we recommend adhering to one golden rule:
No more than three days between interview steps.
It’s easy to let the job interview process lag, often due to scheduling conflicts or overanalysis. But try to stay out of that trap. Think of it as a choice between rescheduling that afternoon meeting and losing out on thousands in potential revenue due to a delayed interview, and the choice becomes clear: be as flexible as possible so you can get candidates in for the next interview step ASAP.
Here’s an outline of the key interview steps for each role. Get the full eBook for detailed guidance around each step, as well as general pro tips, timeline best practices, an interview questions cheat sheet, and more.
Sales Development Representative interview steps
Target time to hire: 1 week
- Phone screen
- Mock call or other role-play scenario
- Onsite with key decision makers
Account Executive interview steps
Target time to hire: 1 – 2 weeks
- Phone screen
- Onsite with key decision makers
- Mock demo
- Final call with leaders
- References
Sales Manager interview steps
Target time to hire: 2 – 3 weeks
- Phone screen
- Onsite to determine past successes
- 2nd onsite to present 3/6/9-month plan
- Interview with investors and board members
- References
What else do you get in the eBook?
Before you can master the interview process, you need to be able to identify top candidates. That’s why the eBook also empowers you to build the perfect profile of an SDR, AE, or sales leader, with key experience and qualifications to look for, as well as telltale signs of a great candidate. From there, you’ll get a step-by-step guide to a successful onboarding process, complete with benchmarks for success you can use to make sure you’re on the right track.
Open headcount is a leaky faucet. Success belongs to companies who know how to plug the leak with efficient hiring and onboarding. Download Faster Hiring Means More Sales today.