Top 20 Essential Questions to Evaluate Sales Manager Candidates

20 Questions to Ask When Hiring a Sales Manager

Discover the key questions to ask candidates to ensure you hire the right sales manager to lead your team to success.

Decades in staffing, interviewing, hiring, firing, and rehiring provide a clearer view on how to get the right person on the first attempt. Before we explore the questions, let’s look at some hiring best practices.

1. Create a Tiered Candidate List: Make an A list of candidates who have everything you believe necessary to succeed as a sales manager, followed by a B list of candidates who are missing something you believe is important. Finally, make a C list of candidates who have a background that proves they will succeed because that is who they are.
2. Efficient Initial Screening: Start with the A list and schedule a 15-minute phone interview for each person. This strategy will allow you to audition many more candidates than you would otherwise. Avoid spending an hour with a person who hasn’t excelled in a short conversation.
3. In-depth Interviews: Interview the best candidates for an hour, including those from the B and C lists. You might miss good candidates if you don’t interview the standouts.
4. Broaden the Interviewing Panel: Have other people interview the candidates to ensure your bias doesn’t cause you to hire someone who may not be the best person for the role.

Key Questions to Ask Sales Manager Candidates:

1. Leadership Philosophy: "Can you share with me your philosophy of leadership and how you first encountered this idea?" You're asking this to understand their leadership style and origins.
2. Leadership Experience Analysis: "Tell me about the best and worst leader you have ever worked for and what they taught you about leadership." This provides insight into the candidate’s leadership style.
3. Identifying Challenges: "What do you find difficult as a sales manager?" This question uncovers areas where the candidate might struggle or need development.
4. Evaluating Team Dynamics: "How would you describe your relationship with your last sales team?" This question, coupled with a follow-up about how their team would describe them, offers insight into their interpersonal skills.
5. Managing Underperformance: "Share with me how you helped turn around a struggling salesperson." This indicates their approach to performance issues.
6. Daily Operations Insight: "Tell me about an average day for you as a sales manager." This reveals what they prioritize in their role.
7. Quarterly Planning: "Can you share your cadence over the course of a quarter and what would appear on your calendar?" This offers insights into their priorities and time management.
8. Goal Achievement: "Tell me about your goals in your last role and your results in hitting your targets." This addresses their effectiveness in achieving sales goals.
9. Reflective Learning: "What would you do differently if given a do-over?" Look for candidates who take responsibility for failures and credit the team for successes.
10. Team Performance Metrics: "What percentage of your sales team attained their annual quota?" This gauges their effectiveness in leading a team to meet goals.
11. Sales Methodology: "Tell me about the sales methodology you used in your last role." Understanding their choice or adaptation of sales methodologies offers insight into their strategic approach.
12. Win Rate Analysis: "Recall your sales team’s win rates, from the highest to the lowest performer." This assesses their awareness and analysis of team performance.
13. Improving Sales Effectiveness: "How would you increase the sales force’s effectiveness?" This follows up on understanding their approach to enhancing team performance.
14. Strategic Advantage Creation: "How would you go about creating a sustainable strategic advantage?" The answer reveals their strategic thinking capabilities.
15. Field Experience Evaluation: "Describe your focus during the last ride-along with a salesperson." This indicates their approach to hands-on sales training and support.
16. Role Expectations: "If hired, what would you need from me to succeed in this role and why?" This question clarifies their expectations and support needs.
17. Anticipating Challenges: "What concerns might impact your ability to lead and succeed in this role?" This helps identify potential obstacles and how you can assist.

The Importance of Sales Management

The role of a first-line sales manager is crucial. In the complex world of B2B selling and buying, reaching sales goals and objectives requires a sales manager who can effectively guide their team. The questions outlined here are designed to assess a candidate's strategic thinking and planning skills, crucial for building a competitive edge. Post-hiring, review these points to ensure you provide the same support and guidance you expect from them.

More than ever, it’s important to build a competitive advantage in a contest. Many of the questions here are designed to help you to assess the sales manager’s thinking about how sales managers ensure their sales teams have an effective plan to create and win the opportunities they need.

Like any new employee, after you hire them, you should look over this list and identify the things you would want, were you taking a new role as a sales manager. You owe your new sales manager the same treatment you expect from them once hired.