You’re hiring salespeople, right? So, at a minimum, the sales candidate should know how to sell himself. That’s why, when you’ve completed all the rest of the interview and testing process, you should ask what I call the last question, “Why should we hire you?”
This gives the salesperson one last opportunity to sell himself to you. Sometimes the results can be startling.
Every now and then you strike gold. A mediocre interview turns around instantly and the salesperson really shines. He can articulate the value he’ll bring to the organization. He demonstrates that he knows where you want to go as an organization and shows where he fits into that plan. He understands the concept that if he doesn’t know why you should hire him, you probably don’t know as well.
On the other hand, you might get a response like I did when one sales candidate said, “Well, I need the job.” As a salesperson, he should have known that people listen to radio station WIFM-FM (What’s In it For Me – For Me!) and the response he gave was all about what he wanted and had nothing for me.
The best of all worlds is when an interview is wrapping up and the salesperson says something along the line of, “Before I go, I’d like to take this opportunity to point out a few reasons why hiring me makes a good business sense on your part.” And then he gives you a few sound reasons to make him a job offer.
This is rare, but it does happen and if it happens to you, grab the person. You’re probably making a good decision.
