About a year ago, a friend of mine was interviewing for a new sales role. He was in the final stages of the process with one of the huge companies in the security industry, and asked me to be a reference. I agreed, and then prepared mentally - recalling our time working together, some stories of his diligent efforts, and ways I could communicate my friend’s abilities and work ethic in an honest and open manner. Then the call came…
“Hi, is this Chris Peterson? This is representative #816 calling about John Doe. He is interviewing for the Central Region Sales Director job for Huge Company USA. John Doe listed you as a reference for his employment. Is this a good time to answer a few questions – it shouldn’t take more than five minutes.”
She sounded like C3PO, surrounded by dozens of other robots pounding away in their cubicles. She went to ask four multiple choice questions that were probably asked about every incoming potential employee, having nothing unique to ask about sales performance, capabilities, or work ethic. This reference call was a complete waste of time and resources. It did absolutely nothing to help them objectively understand the merit of their sales candidate.
Since many of you own or work for independent security integration companies, you might be shaking your heads right now because of the time and resources misused by another huge company. As you’re pondering all the things you could do with the money they waste, ask yourself this question: “Do we perform due diligence when hiring sales people or do we just go with our gut feel?” Even though you’re not wasting a ton of resources, is your outcome any better than theirs?
When interviewing sales people, what is due diligence? What exactly are you supposed to do? Click the button below to download our Sales Candidate Due Diligence Checklist.
