In-depth Interviewing for Team Chemistry

I have been interviewing with a company over the last two weeks. So far all of the meetings have been over the phone and have been relatively normal. Yesterday they arranged an in-depth telephone interview with a talent consulting company. The idea behind this is that the next hire the company makes - they want to ensure the new hire fits the profile of their team chemistry. Actually, this makes sense. If a sales team is doing well and they all fit into a certain profile - then you want to ensure the chemistry continues. There were a series of closed and open ended questions. I didn't mind answering any of the questions - what was unusual is the length of time the "interrogation" took. I was on the phone for exactly two hours.

I really treated this interview as I would any other. One must prepare the same way by reviewing all of your career experiences and accomplishments and anticipate unusual questions that can in some cases - put you on the spot.

I think as sales people - we are naturally resourceful - so this definitely helps.

Some of the questions they asked were very thought provoking and in some cases uncomfortable. I believe the key is to answer all of the questions truthfully as they follow a proven methodology which ensures an accurate assessment - in the end.

It will be interesting to find out to see if my "profile" is compatible with the rest of the team.

So be prepared if you ever encounter this type of interviewing process. I felt totally exhausted afterwards.

Gaining Attention With Buyers

I am in the middle of reading a very interesting book called Linchpin. This is Seth Godin's new book on how to make yourself "indispensable" to any organization. So far it is a great read and there are some very interesting information nuggets available from a sales perspective.

Seth talks about "being remarkable" which in any economic climate certainly makes sense. For a senior sales executive this has never been so apparent. We have been "solution selling" for years which is a natural process - and that is not going away. The issue these days is trying to create attention AND generate a response with prospects. Seth has some great ideas.

Basically we need to all get extremely "creative" - whether this comes in the form of approach, during the evaluation phase, or attempting to close the business - we need to be more "artistic" in everything we do. Being systematic and automated doesn't cut it any more. The quantitative part of the business only takes us so far. The qualitative mixed with quantitative is the way to go.

So put on your "creative caps" and start thinking of different ways to deliver your message and move the sales process forward.

Here's the link to Amazon for the book: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Linchpin&x=0&y=0