HYXA / Insights
Hiring a salesperson: five questions that save twelve months
A bad hire in sales costs a year of revenue and two good customers.
Write it down once, and stop explaining it forever.
Most interviews test how well someone interviews. These five questions test how they actually work.
Ask these
- "Describe the last deal you lost. Why?" — listen for whether they blame the price, the market or themselves.
- "What did you do in the first two weeks of your last job?" — good people remember; passengers do not.
- "Sell me the product you sold last." — you are buying their process, not their charm.
- "What do you do when a customer goes quiet for three weeks?" — the answer reveals the whole follow-up habit.
- "What would have to be true here for you to stay three years?" — it tells you what they actually need.
And one thing to do before you hire at all
Make sure the role is possible. If the offer is unclear, the price list is a mystery and nobody follows up, no salesperson will save you. We check that in the audit, before anyone spends money on recruitment.
We help owners run these processes: the profile, the questions, the scorecard and the first ninety days.