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The author has worked in foreign companies, where interviews are very strict and standardized. I remember when I joined Walmart China headquarters, a Fortune 500 company, I went through four rounds of testing. The first round was a phone interview; the HR manager had a half-hour phone conversation with me. After passing the first round, the second round was a written exam, which was a surprise attack—no preparation allowed. They suddenly called me and asked me to submit a national annual marketing plan for Walmart China (written in English) before 7 PM, sent to a designated email, and it would not be accepted after the deadline. If you don't have daily accumulation and solid skills, you'd be exposed immediately and wouldn't pass. The third round was a remote online interview, where the marketing president personally conducted a video interview. After passing that, I went to headquarters for the fourth round, a group interview where relevant department heads came together for an on-site interview. Only after passing that was I finally hired. I remember something even more exaggerated: a classmate of mine interviewed for a position at a foreign bank and went through nine rounds of testing before being hired.
The reason foreign companies have such rigorous recruitment procedures is to select the right person at once and avoid hiring mistakes as much as possible. This scientific recruitment and selection mechanism, after years of practice in foreign companies, is relatively accurate and effective.
For dealer bosses, recruiting and selecting people is a different story compared to foreign companies. Dealer bosses' companies are mostly small and micro enterprises; some don't even have an HR department, let alone rigorous recruitment procedures. Typically, the dealer boss has a conversation with the applicant, one round of interview, asks a few random questions, follows their gut, and if it feels good, the employee starts working. There's no science or standardization.
When I train dealer bosses, I often ask how they recruit and what interview questions they use. The results were as I expected. The questions dealers ask are all over the place. The funniest one was a dealer boss who asked interviewees: "Is your marriage life harmonious? If not, we don't want you." This dealer boss had a "painful experience": his first store manager quit after arguing with her husband, and the second store manager also left due to disharmony in her family life. So, based on his experience, he believed that harmony in family life ensures employees won't quit. Many dealer bosses in the room couldn't help but burst into laughter when they heard this "peculiar" interview question.
Hiring new employees is a high-frequency activity that dealer bosses often face. Dealer bosses typically decide an employee's fate after just one interview. Therefore, what questions dealer bosses ask to test the true level of interviewees and select the right person at once becomes crucial. If you don't choose right the first time, it brings many losses to the dealer boss: visible losses are financial, invisible losses are time and opportunity costs.
Choosing the right person the first time is critical for dealer bosses. So, what questions should dealer bosses ask in interviews to reduce the probability of error and select the right person at once? There's actually deep knowledge here.
The author will elaborate on interview questions for salespeople and promoters, which are the most common and concerning for dealer bosses.
How can dealers recruit suitable salespeople and promoters in one round of interviews? What questions should they ask to test the sales ability and level of interviewees?
The author first gives a formula: Sales ability = Sales skills × Work attitude × Desire motivation. These are three important indicators to test whether an interviewee has sales ability. The first indicator is sales skills. Dealer bosses are clear about this: whether the interviewee has sales experience and background, and whether they have skills to successfully sell products, such as communication, expression, and interpersonal skills. The second indicator is work attitude. As the saying goes, attitude determines everything. If the attitude is positive, it's easy to do a good job; if the employee's attitude is negative, the greater the ability, the greater the harm. The third indicator is desire motivation. People's actions are driven by thoughts, and thoughts are driven by desire. If employees have no desire for success, making money, learning, or progress, this type of employee is hard to train. Like some post-80s who are carefree, rely on their parents, and have no desire to earn money or succeed, this type is hard to drive, hard to be self-motivated, and hard to achieve results.
How should dealer bosses ask questions to test these three indicators?
For the sales skills indicator, dealer bosses can ask three questions to test. The first question is: "Give an example of your most successful, most memorable, and proudest sales experience?" (This applies to experienced employees with sales background, not to fresh graduates.) People usually remember their most successful achievements vividly. By digging deep into this question, focusing on the details of the successful case, and asking probing questions, dealer bosses can test the interviewee's sales ability. If the interviewee stumbles, contradicts themselves, or gives irrelevant answers, it indicates they are lying. The second question is: "What do you think is your greatest strength? What is your greatest weakness?" Through this question and the interviewee's answers, dealer bosses can discern whether the interviewee has the core traits for sales. Does the strength match the core abilities needed for sales? Is the weakness something a salesperson shouldn't have? The third question is: "What hobbies do you have in your spare time? What do you like to do most?" What interviewees like to do most in their free time, without pressure, might be what they are best at. Whether this best skill matches sales ability is the key point for dealer bosses to examine. If the interviewee says they like reading, ask which book they read recently, what impressed them most, and if they can talk about it.
For the attitude indicator, dealer bosses can also ask three questions to basically test the employee's attitude. The first question is: "What kind of team do you like to join? What kind of boss do you like?" If the interviewee says they want to join a dynamic team and like a boss who gives pressure and helps them improve, it basically shows their attitude is fine. The second question is: Ask a nitpicking question to see the interviewee's on-the-spot reaction. For example, "Why are you wearing a hat to the interview today? Isn't that disrespectful to the boss?" or "Why are you wearing such a flashy watch? It seems very unstable." These nitpicking questions are usually not prepared for, so you can see their real reaction and judge their true attitude toward things and people. The third question is: Ask a difficult question that customers often raise in sales to test the interviewee. For example, "The customer says, 'Your product is a scam, it's fooling people.' How would you respond?" Through the interviewee's on-the-spot answer, you can judge the employee's attitude orientation.
For the desire motivation indicator, dealer bosses can also ask three questions to test. The first question is: "Do you know about our company? During your waiting time for the interview, what are your thoughts and feelings about our company?" Through the answer, you can judge whether the interviewee really cares about the boss's company, cares about the position, and truly wants the job. The second question is: "Why did you choose our industry?" The answer can partially discern the driving force behind the interviewee. The third question is: "What are your plans and goals for the next three to five years?" Interviewees with desire motivation will give specific answers, like "I want to reach this position, I want to earn this much money, I want to start my own business." Those without desire motivation will answer vaguely and hesitantly. Employees with clear life goals and future plans are relatively more motivated and suitable for sales work.
For employees, it's about following the right person and doing the right thing. For dealer bosses, it's about choosing the right person and doing the right thing. Especially, choosing right the first time is crucial!
Source: Baijiu Distributor College
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