Key competencies of a sales manager. Inna Sumatokhina, Managing Partner at MarksMan recruiting company

There are several ways to understand how good a sales manager is. One of them is to determine whether the competencies that are important for a sales manager are in his working arsenal.

This can be helped by special questions or cases aimed at identifying the strengths and weaknesses of a specialist. They can be applied both at the stage of recruiting employees to the sales department, and to already working specialists in order to assess the level of professionally significant competencies of a manager.

So, let's get acquainted with the list of core competencies:

1. Expanding the customer base

Naturally, any company pursues the goal of attracting new customers. If the manager classifies himself as an active seller, it will be important to find out the following: How does he expand his client base? Where is he looking for new clients, what are his methods of working with information? How will he identify the decision maker and how will he interact with him?

A good salesperson will provide you with a plan of action to attract a new client to the company. Ideally, he will identify a potential customer base based on the specifics of the company, its product or services; show where he is looking for clients; how it works with the received information; How does he contact the decision maker?

2. Ability to sell by technology

Every person has the ability to do something or another. It is possible that your candidate is a born salesman and will be able to sell snow to an Eskimo or an umbrella fish, but even so, it is important to find out at what level he knows the sales technology. In other words, how exactly does he sell the product: intuitively or according to a certain system?

Ask the candidate about the stages of the sale. If he speaks confidently, step by step, with his own examples based on personal experience in the field of sales, then we can safely say that the person has the necessary skills, a certain set of managerial competencies. Accordingly, owns and sales technology.

You can also ask the candidate to evaluate their knowledge, for example, on a scale from 1 to 5.

3. The degree of effectiveness of the manager

You can figure out how useful a particular sales manager will be in your company based on his previous work experience. Ask the candidate the following questions:

• • How often were sales plans fulfilled under your leadership? How often was the plan exceeded?
  • How was your performance compared to other salespeople in the department?
  • Which clients come to the company is your merit?
  • What is your biggest deal? Can you describe the transaction process in detail?
  • What difficulties did you have to experience and overcome when making deals?

Such questions are aimed at finding out the real degree of effectiveness of the manager. If he answers questions clearly and in detail, most likely, the performance of the employee at the previous job was really high.

4. Desire to grow and develop in sales

Also, a good manager usually gives out. Therefore, you need to find out if your candidate wants to continue his career, conquering new heights in sales. The following questions will help you with this:

• • What attracts you the most about your profession and why?
  • What difficulties do you experience in your position? How do you deal with them?
  • What is the most difficult part of your job for you?
  • What salary would you like to receive in a year?
  • Who, where and how do you see yourself in three years? In five years?
  • Explain what "being a successful sales manager" means to you. Are you such an expert? If not, what competencies of a manager do you still lack?

5. Working with clients

Give the candidate a brief description of the product or service of your company and an approximate image of the client (needs, income level, status, etc.) with whom the specialist will work in the future. After that, ask the manager what personal qualities, in his opinion, the client will expect from the seller?

There can be two scenarios for the development of events. In the first case, the applicant will name the characteristics corresponding to the company - reliability, availability, reasonable price of the product, etc. Thus, he will focus on the external qualities of the company, without affecting the manager's competencies, which may be inherent in him as a seller. Well, such a candidate still has a lot to learn ☺

In the second case, the candidate will list competence, diligence, accuracy, speed of response to an appeal and other characteristics inherent in the seller. If you heard such an answer, we can congratulate you - the candidate is really experienced in sales.

Ask which of these qualities he possesses. Ask him to list his strengths and weaknesses as a salesperson. What can attract a client in it? These questions will help to understand the level of competence of his work with clients.

6. Work with discounts

Ask the manager to solve the following problem: the client requires a discount that the company cannot provide. Ask for multiple solutions.

A manager who owns this competency will offer from 3 to 5 options approximately as follows:

• • What can we offer you in exchange for a discount?
  • Such a discount will be possible for you when purchasing the XXX quantity of goods;
  • We can provide you with an additional service;
  • We offer you a slightly smaller discount, but in the most convenient option for you;
  • I would love to give you such a discount, but, unfortunately, in our company there are certain rules and I must follow them.
  • I'm afraid it won't be fair to our other clients. We all work according to a certain scheme. I think you would not want us to spoil our reputation in the market.

This case allows you to identify the variability and flexibility of the seller's thinking, knowledge of the specifics of the sales sector, the manager's ability to make contact and search for non-trivial solutions.

7. Conflict resolution

Offer the manager to solve the problem: the delivery time of the goods was violated, but it did not depend specifically on the sales manager. However, the claim was submitted to him. With the help of this case, one can assess the skills of a manager as a negotiator, his ability to work with claims and resolve conflicts in general.

A good seller will provide a similar scheme of actions:

1. 1. Expresses regret about what happened, takes control of the situation. Understands it, discusses possible solutions to the problem.
   2. Finds out the maximum amount of information from the employee who is responsible for the supply. He tries to resolve the conflict, based on the needs of the client and the interests of the company.
   3. Contacts the client, reports what has already been done to solve the problem.
   4. Discusses with the client what the company can do to avoid a repeat of the situation in the future.
   5. Discusses with colleagues how to avoid such problems in the future.

8. Dealing with doubtful clients

Ask your manager to resolve the following situation. The client, looking at the prices, doubts, saying “I don’t know, your prices are too expensive.” How will the candidate convince him to make a purchase?

The manager must listen to the objections of the buyer, take them into account, ask clarifying questions. Only after that the manager should give arguments in favor of the company's product. He can say: “You are right, the question of price is really very important both for you and for our company. May I clarify? Are you comparing with something else or are there other reasons? Depending on the answer, the manager will give 2-3 arguments in favor of your company's product.

9. Working with demanding clients

To find out if the candidate has this competency, ask the manager to recall a situation when his client wanted too much. Which side did the candidate take in this situation? How did you resolve the issue? Do his methods fit into the corporate ethics of your company.

10. Client potential analysis

How does your candidate analyze the client's prospects?

A good sales manager will answer that it is impossible to tell about the potential of the client right away - one can only guess, because there can be a great variety of situations. And you can guess based on the buyer's answers to the manager's questions, the buyer's reactions, replicas, appearance, etc.

To develop and work out the entire set of managerial competencies, we have an excellent tool - a speech simulator for sales managers.

If you would like to receive a detailed sales manager competency model, please fill out the feedback form. And we will send it to you by the specified e-mail within 1 - 2 working days.

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Before talking about the competencies of the head of the sales department, we need to decide on the understanding of what a competency is.

So, the classic definition: competence - (from the Latin competo - I achieve; I correspond, I approach). It has several meanings: 1) the scope of powers granted by law, charter or other act to a specific body or official; 2) Knowledge, experience in a particular area.

The following definition is important for our understanding: competence- this is the personal ability of a specialist to solve a certain class of professional tasks. We will also understand the formally described requirements for personal, professional and other qualities of the head of the sales department as competence.

A set of competencies; the presence of knowledge and experience necessary for effective activity in a given subject area is called competence.

Competencies can be divided into:

Corporate competencies - necessary for all employees of the company,

Managerial competencies - necessary for company leaders (all or only a certain level),

Special (specific) competencies required only for a certain category of employees ( ex: sales manager).

Let us give an example of the corporate competencies of one of the companies engaged in the wholesale trade of equipment. Regardless of the position held, each employee of this company must have the following competencies:

Mastering and using new knowledge and skills, i.e. not only constant study, but also the use in work of the new knowledge, skills, own and other people's experience obtained as a result of such study;

Effective communication and collaboration, i.e. the ability to work successfully together with other members of the organization, to achieve coordinated actions to achieve the goals of the company;

Orientation to the needs of customers implies the desire of the employee to understand and satisfy the needs of customers as much as possible, evaluate the usefulness of the actions taken in terms of additional satisfaction of customer needs. Moreover, the employee should treat colleagues at work as internal customers;

Result-oriented, i.e. understanding by the employee of the tasks facing him and the company and the ability to systematically achieve their implementation.

As an example of managerial competencies, we offer a set of competencies for a middle manager of one of the companies that develops and sells IT solutions:

Professionalism — Possession of universal knowledge and experience in at least one of the company's activities.

Organization — distribution (control) resources : the ability to provide employees with the resources and powers necessary to achieve the intended goals; establish the minimum necessary control; monitor the results achieved, correlating them with the established plan.

organization – determination of personal priorities and goals corresponding to the tasks of the company; reasonable distribution of working time; productive work with documents and effective solution of administrative issues; optimal processing of information, highlighting important points without excessive detail; ability to work under heavy load.

Communication - the ability to "listen and hear" messages and information, to conduct pre-prepared and spontaneous speeches that are appropriate for the audience and topic and ensure the achievement of the desired results.

Development of subordinates , i.e. development of relevant skills and abilities of employees in accordance with specific professional needs; setting complex professional tasks; empowering employees to take on more responsibility. Creating an environment that encourages people to achieve and develop their own abilities; encouragement in employees of energy, enthusiasm, devotion, trust and striving for excellence.

Delegation of authority – those. the transfer of part of the functions of the head to a subordinate, subject to the transfer of responsibility for the task assigned.

External contacts – development and maintenance of constructive relationships with customers, suppliers, public and government representatives; manifestation of special attention to the client, punctuality in the supply of products and the provision of services. Representing the company in relations with external organizations, performing work with constant concern for the company's reputation.

Communication skills - the ability to interact effectively with others; the ability to win support at any organizational level.

Conflict Management - the ability to understand a variety of points of view, to exercise control over stressful and crisis situations; ability to resolve conflicts and disagreements.

Constant display and encouragement of attention to quality work at all levels, both within the company and outside it; critical attitude to mediocre results.

Achievement of the set goals; acceptance of a system of responsibility for the results and performance of work with a sense of responsibility for labor productivity.

Innovation - striving for the development and application of new progressive methods of work.

Intellectual level - mind, ability to think logically, education.

When starting to develop a competency model for a sales manager, it makes sense to first define corporate and managerial competencies, and only then move on to developing specific competencies. Special or specific competencies decipher the concept of "Professionalism" for a specific position of the head of the sales department. We will return to this type of competencies a little later, and now we will take a closer look at the managerial competencies of the head of the sales department.

It is managerial competencies that come first for the head of the sales department and ensure its effectiveness. True, often the head of the sales department forgets that he is the head and his main task is to manage the department, and is too fond of personal sales. Moreover, for a better understanding of the essence of managerial activity, it makes sense for the head of the sales department to imagine the entire possible range of managerial competencies. The list of these competencies is quite large, therefore, not all of them should be placed in a real document, the so-called “competence portrait”, but only the most important ones for a specific position in a specific organization. This is done in order to make such a document a real working tool, since too large a list of competencies is both perceived and difficult to evaluate.

So, managerial competencies can be divided into five groups:

1) The competencies required to fulfill the role of a manager.

2) Competences that characterize a high level of intelligence.

3) Competencies necessary to improve the efficiency of work (own and subordinates).

4) Competencies that determine the manager's own development.

5) Competencies defining customer orientation.

Let's start with the competencies required to fulfill the role of a leader. These include:

1. Leadership, that is, the ability to achieve outstanding results through people.

2. Management as achieving outstanding results through effective management of resources, systems and processes.

3. Development of employees (mentoring, mentoring).

Note that sometimes the concepts of "leadership" and "management" are perceived as synonymous. This is not entirely true. Thanks to leadership, the leader leads people, inspires them, ignites them with an idea. He may not pay much attention to how rationally the work of employees is organized, but he will not pass by despondency and loss of enthusiasm. On the other hand, managerial qualities allow the manager to manage work processes, ensuring their rationality, thoughtfulness, and coordination.

In one company, we saw a vivid example of leadership development in one head of sales and managerial development in another. The company had two sales departments divided by product principle. One department sold one product, another department sold another. The head of the first department often spontaneously gathered his managers and enthusiastically described to them the prospects for the company's work, showing them the exciting horizons of new victories. He also often held personal conversations, encouraged employees. True, he left the specific steps (what and how to do) to their discretion. He believed that the main thing is the desire to achieve results, and what and how to do is the second question. Managers often made mistakes and worked very erratically, but with enthusiasm, thanks to which they managed to fulfill the plan, although they often had to redo the work. The head of another department, on the contrary, gathered planning meetings strictly according to the schedule, gave clear tasks, provided the necessary resources to solve the tasks, controlled the execution, and helped with the solution of complex tasks. But he did not consider it necessary to say anything about the necessity of the work they were doing. He believed that this was already understandable, so why waste time on this. As a result, his subordinates worked quite smoothly, achieved good results, but did not strive for special achievements, they treated work as an inevitable necessity. It is obvious that both leaders had development reserves, one of managerial qualities, the other of leadership qualities.

Now consider the competencies that characterize the high level of intelligence of the manager.

This is, firstly, such a competence as "Analysis and problem solving" that is, reaching mutually acceptable solutions through identifying problems, reaching out to affected parties, developing multiple solutions, and resolving conflicts.

The second competence is "Goal Orientation" or focusing aspirations on achieving a goal, mission, or task.

The third competence "Making decisions", why it is important to choose the best sequence of actions based on the analysis of the situation.

And finally, the fourth competence - "Creativity or Innovation". This competence is characterized by the adaptation of traditional or the development of new approaches, concepts, methods, models, images, processes, technologies and systems.

Sales leaders often have to deal with problems that do not have a clear solution. It is in such cases that the competence of this group is required.

For example, the head of a department learns that his manager and an employee of the client are doing dubious transactions involving yet another, third company. And we are talking not only about kickbacks, but also about actions that, if they are made public, will damage the reputations of both companies, as well as affect the moral climate in the team. The leader must consider the situation from all sides and determine what options are generally possible and what consequences they can lead to. The simple dismissal of an unscrupulous manager will not solve the problem, since there is still an employee of the client whose actions were no better than the actions of the manager. And you can't just fire him. In addition, it is necessary to deal with a third company, recovering from it the damages incurred. The manager must understand that he has to solve several problems at once in this situation: not only to stop the fraud and compensate for the damage to his company, but also to prevent the possibility of their repetition in the future, and, most importantly, to preserve the reputation of both companies. Ordinary actions in such a situation are not suitable, so the leader will have to approach the issue creatively, find an unconventional way to resolve the situation.

Very important for a leader are the competencies necessary to improve work efficiency. These include competencies such as "Planning" and "Personal effectiveness".

Planning - A systematic approach to activities, independent preparation and action in accordance with the developed plan.

This competency, according to our observations, is the most typical “growth point” for many sales managers. Many of them experience great difficulties not only in drawing up an objective and fact-based plan, but also with its subsequent implementation.

The head of the sales department of a large company grew up from salespeople and had more than 15 years of sales experience. He perfectly remembered the times when no one planned anything, but, nevertheless, sales grew at a tremendous rate. Then sales began to fall, and he, already the head of the sales department, was required by the company's management to draw up a plan and follow it. He resisted this as best he could: how can you plan something in our life, he said, because you don’t know what awaits you tomorrow. But the leadership insisted, and there was nowhere to go. I had to make plans. But he did this solely for show and forgot about the plan at the same moment when he handed it over to the leadership. Naturally, with such an attitude, he did not look into the plan until the moment when it was necessary to write a report, did not control its implementation among subordinates and did not take any actions to achieve it. Subordinates, seeing the attitude of the leader, treated planning accordingly and worked as they had to, and some just because of their mood: it went well - I will sell, but if it didn’t work out, it’s not worth it to strain, you have to wait.

The “Personal Effectiveness” competency combines the following characteristics:

Radiation of self-confidence

No less important for the activities of the leader is his own development. And here we can consider competencies that unite the manager's desire for his own development, namely: "Continuous learning" and "Flexibility".

The “continuous learning” competency is very important for a sales manager, but quite often we see the so-called “stopped self-development” in them. In other words, a person who has reached the level of the head of the sales department has already really achieved a lot professionally and at some point begins to believe that he already knows everything and can do everything. But life does not stand still. As you know, knowledge in the modern world becomes obsolete very quickly. Even 10 - 15 years ago, knowledge became obsolete every five years. Those. a specialist, if he wanted to maintain his qualifications at a high level, had to undergo training at least every five years. Today, knowledge becomes obsolete every 2-3 years.

The insufficient level of development of the “continuous learning” competence is very clearly manifested in the process of various trainings, when participants, instead of perceiving new information and thinking about how it can be used in their work, declare: “but it’s not like that with us.” This closeness to new knowledge or just approaches leads to the fact that a specialist develops professional templates. And this, in turn, leads to inflexibility.

"Flexibility" as a managerial competence of the head of the sales department is especially important in the context of innovations in the company. If the leader is inflexible, it will be very difficult for him not only to understand the meaning of the changes, but also to choose adequate methods of behavior depending on the situation. Flexibility also implies the ability to quickly switch from one activity to another, to constantly keep all the diverse affairs of the department in focus, not to forget or lose sight of the details.

I would like to pay special attention to the last group of competencies - customer orientation. In this case, the client refers to both external customers of the company and its own employees who are internal customers. Competence "Customer Focus" is anticipation, meeting the needs, desires and expectations of the client.

However, customer orientation should not be confused with an obsequious attitude towards him and a desire to please in everything that not only does not lead to partnership and cooperation, but can adversely affect the business as a whole.

The head of the sales department of a manufacturing and trading company understood customer orientation in a very peculiar way. After taking office, the first thing he did was to replace the standard contract with a client, which provided for an advance payment, with a contract with a deferred payment of 30 days. Naturally, customers were only happy about this. But if earlier, starting to discuss the contract, the bargaining process began with an advance payment, now the same bargaining began already from 30 days. As a result, the average delay in payment for the company increased from 15 days to 45. Of course, this was beneficial for customers, but the company suffered significant losses.

That is why an understanding of customer orientation should take into account that one's own company should not suffer significant losses as a result of this orientation. It is important to find common ground and mutually beneficial solutions, then cooperation will be stronger.

Actually, after this competence, we can say that for the head of the sales department, it can serve as a kind of "bridge" between managerial and special (specific) competencies.

To understand the latter, you need to be very clear about what, in addition to managerial, functions the head of the sales department will perform.

In general, the following competencies are required:

Knowledge of the basics of marketing (positioning, segmentation, assortment policy, pricing, distribution channels, sales promotion)

Ability to plan sales in general and for various reasons (in the context of customer groups, assortment groups, sales territories, payment terms);

Ability to prepare package offers for various groups of clients;

Ability to manage accounts receivable;

Ability to form an optimal and balanced warehouse;

Ability to organize and supervise activities for the development of the client base;

Ability to optimize the client base based on a new (or adjusted) marketing strategy;

The skill of forming the price and assortment policy of the company;

Skills in conducting contract work, paperwork;

Analytical skills (analysis of sales, financial performance and promotional activities; analysis of market conditions; analysis of the client base);

Skills for conducting actions to promote priority or "hanging" goods.

Negotiation and conflict resolution skills with clients;

Possession (at the level of an experienced user) with software, such as 1C, Infin, the Bank-Client system, Consultant-Plus, etc.

If the head of the sales department works with key customers, then the following competencies may also be his special competencies:

Knowledge of the company's product line.

Ability to present any product (service).

Ability to deal with customer objections.

Understanding the competitive advantages of products (services), companies, personnel.

Ability to maintain long-term relationships with clients.

Work with clients on overdue receivables.

Knowledge of the norms and rules of document flow in the company, storage of confidential information and others.

For example, consider the specific competencies of the head of the sales department of one of the companies.

"Portrait of competencies" (excluding corporate and managerial).

The head of the sales department must have practical experience (at least 3 years) in the following areas:

1. Work with the company's clients:

search and development of potential clients in the main areas of the Company's activities;

business correspondence;

preparation and holding of business meetings;

maintaining contact with clients after completion of work.

2. Working with documents:

preparation of documentation and submission of applications for participation in tenders;

execution of agreements and preparation of contracts;

work with accounts;

work with confidential information, its registration, accounting and storage;

management of sales records;

analytical work with archival documents (successful, failed contracts, reasons for failures, etc.).

3. Organization of work to fulfill customer orders:

organization of the implementation of the entire complex of works on the projects available in production;

dispatching the movement of goods and maintaining a database of customers;

selection of complex collaborators of the project and organization of interaction with them;

procurement management.

If your organization has implemented (or is implementing) a quality system, the head of the sales department should have the following specific competencies:

The skill of describing the sales business process;

Know the requirements of the quality standard (for example, ISO);

Have experience implementing CRM or other sales management systems.

The head of the sales department may need knowledge of the basics of marketing, market research, knowledge of regional sales markets, lobbying skills, experience in building sales networks, experience in opening representative offices, branches and warehouses, and much more.

Once again, we draw attention to the fact that it is no coincidence that these competencies are called special or even specific: they directly reflect the specifics of the business and the requirements of a particular company for the same position. As we have already said, these competencies are included in the concept of "Professionalism".

What opportunities open up for us with a clear understanding of the competencies of the head of the sales department?

Firstly, it will allow the head of the organization, the commercial unit or the HR department to evaluate candidates for this position according to uniform criteria.

Secondly, it will create an understanding of the “effective employee”, will help determine the criteria for the successful completion of work. For the employee himself, this will be help in identifying his strengths and weaknesses, identifying the main needs for development and training.

Thirdly, we will be able to make an objective decision regarding the promotion of employees, their development within the company.

Are there situations when you can work calmly without building competency models? Yes. In the case when the company is at the very beginning of its development, sometimes it is formed according to the "friendly-family" principle, when there is no clear division by position and all employees are almost completely interchangeable. At this stage of the formation of the organization, it is too early to talk about competencies as some kind of managerial tool. However, analyzing the best experience of employees, effective methods of work, already at this organizational stage, it is necessary to talk about the foundation for describing corporate competencies, and over time, both managerial and special ones.

Now let's dwell on the question: "How can we assess the presence of certain competencies?". The assessment methods here can be: interviews, professional testing, ranking, 360-degree assessment and, as the most comprehensive method, the assessment center (Assessment Center). However, if we are talking about the simplicity of the assessment, its acceptability, profitability and at the same time the correctness of its results, then we can talk about the following methods.

The most cost-effective tool in the situation of selecting candidates for a position, as experience shows, is a behavioral interview. It approaches the center of evaluation in terms of correctness, while requiring one to two hours instead of one to two days, it is easier to conduct, it is less expensive and acceptable to sales managers with a different set of required competencies. As part of such an interview, you ask questions and ask to describe the behavior of the applicant in a particular situation that would correspond to the competence you are interested in.

For example, we are interested in the “Customer Orientation” competency. We can ask the candidate questions like: "Tell us about your relationship with clients." "Describe your behavior in a situation where a client had a large receivable." "How did you act in a situation where a client contacted you with a complaint about the behavior of your subordinates."

In a situation of evaluation or certification (for example, to nominate candidates for the reserve to fill the position of the head of the sales department) in a company, the most optimal method would be either a simple ranking of employees by competencies, or a 360-degree assessment. This will be an assessment of a company employee based on data on his actions in real work situations and on his business qualities. It is carried out according to the apparent behavior of a person. Competences of the employee, his professional, personal qualities are evaluated. The information will be presented in the form of a rating ranked by various indicators (competencies). In the case of a 360-degree assessment, data is obtained by questioning the employee himself, his immediate supervisor, colleagues, and in some cases, the clients of the person being assessed.

Consider the example of evaluating several employees applying for the position of head of sales. During the assessment, it was managerial competencies that were important, since each of the employees proved to be a good seller. For each of the managerial competencies, they scored the following average scores*:

*Rating scale from 1 to 5, where:

1 - the best indicator, competence is developed

5 - worst indicator - competence is not developed

360 degree average scores.

From the table, it can be seen that there are two applicants for the position of head of the sales department - Ivanov and Petrov. For the final choice, you need to determine the priority of each competency for this position in this particular company. If the organization is hierarchical, with prescribed regulations, then Petrov can be the most effective. If the company is innovative, striving for development, with democratic relations, then Ivanov will be a more interesting candidate for the position of head of the sales department.

So, we have considered the options for corporate, managerial and special competencies of the head of the sales department. We touched on the issue of methods for assessing competencies in various situations. In conclusion, I would like to emphasize that it makes sense for each company to develop its own unique (albeit based on general knowledge and approaches) model of sales manager competencies. This approach will allow to “sharpen” this tool for the specific needs of the company and make it really work.

Attachment 1.

Application (inset)

Description of managerial competencies of the head of sales department

More detailed characteristics for each of the competencies are presented in the Appendix.

mentoring is a model of professional relations that involves a partnership between an experienced and a young teacher, in the process of adapting to new conditions. The model is based on a constructivist approach to the process of cognition, which is understood as a process of constant analysis of the personal experience of a specialist and adaptation of a specialist to a constantly changing reality, which is an integral and necessary part of professional self-improvement.

Today, the leader is in an environment of constant change and uncertainty. Some of his tasks lose their value and disappear, others are transformed, changing in some way. At the same time, new tasks appear that require even greater restructuring of professional activity.

At the same time, organizations feel an urgent need for new management methods, professional leaders and managers.

Businesses need leaders who build their relationships with the organization and employees on the principles of professionalism, cooperation, mutual respect and inclusion, and a clear understanding of mutual obligations.

There is a need for new knowledge and skills necessary for a modern manager.

In this article, we will look at:

• What are competencies: the essence and factors of success;
• Best practices for researching competency models;
• Trends in business that change the accepted view of competencies;
• Seven competencies of a modern manager;
• Professional quality;
• Recommendations for the development of competencies.

WHAT ARE COMPETENCES: THE ESSENCE AND FACTORS OF SUCCESS

The concept of competence is associated with the name of Aristotle, who studied “the possibilities of the human condition, denoted by the Greek “Atere” - “a force that has developed and improved to such an extent that it has become a characteristic feature of personality.”

It is necessary to distinguish between the concepts of competence and competence.

Competence is a set of qualities and abilities that a person acquires in the process of learning and working on himself.

Competence represents the subject area itself, in which a specialist should be well oriented.

In other words, competence is those abilities and qualities that a person possesses, and competence is a set of knowledge and directions that he must possess in order to perform his professional duties in full.

The concept of "competence" is used to assess the level of a person's qualifications in certain issues, problems, but not in professional activity in general.

These are, first of all, such personality traits:

• Independence;
• Ability to make responsible decisions;
• Creative approach to any business;
• The ability to bring it to the end;
• The ability to constantly learn;
• Flexibility of thinking, the presence of abstract, systemic and experimental thinking;
• Ability to communicate and communicate;
• Ability to cooperate, etc.

Each type of management activity has its own special competencies. They show the strengths of the employee and the abilities that he needs to improve, competencies also determine the best way to do the job. The number of competencies should correspond to the number of tasks included in the manager's professional duties.

The core of competencies is "skills". Their combination and interrelation forms a competency model.

Examples of professional competencies: delegation, coaching, management, independent work, client orientation, collaboration, interpersonal skills, organization, process orientation, proactive activity, inspiration, determination, persuasiveness, etc.

BEST PRACTICES FOR COMPETENCY MODELS

1. American competency model.

The American tradition of competency research centers on behavior. Researchers study "people-at-work", and the concept of "competence" is deciphered through individual characteristics manifested in behavior: personal characteristics, motives, values, habits, self-image, knowledge, skills.

In fact, competencies in this approach are certain “receptacles” filled with various content.

Some researchers, in particular, T. Hoffmann, believe that the American competency model is an overly simplified view of things. It is necessary to study the people who perform the work effectively, and not the knowledge and skills that contribute to the independent performance of the work.

A key feature of the American approach is the application of the concept of leadership to the development of competency ideas, especially in order to integrate issues of individual and organizational competencies.

Thus, the American model of competency research considers competencies as a description of an employee's behavior. Competence in this is the main characteristic of an employee, in the possession of which he is able to show the right behavior and, as a result, achieve high results in work.

2. European competency model.

In addition to the American tradition of studying competencies and applying competency models in practice, other approaches are being developed that are fundamentally different both in terms of tasks and content. The most developed of the non-American views on the problem of competencies is the British approach, which is largely associated with the development of the education system.

The UK Department of Education has adopted a special competency model developed by J. Chetham and J. Chivers.

This model, according to progressive researchers, acts as a new stage in the development of the idea of ​​competencies, since (unlike the basic American models) it assumes not just a set of competencies, but tries to determine their relationship.

As a result, a special “tetrahedron of competencies” appears, including:

• Cognitive competencies (knowledge and understanding based on formal learning and experience);
• Functional competencies (skills, special abilities that a person can demonstrate in his field);
• Personal competencies (understanding how to behave in specific situations, motivation aimed at improving performance),
• Ethical competencies (values, position on the basis of which decisions are made and actions are carried out), meta-competencies (the ability to positively respond to criticism, cope with difficult situations).

A distinctive feature of the British approach is the fact that competencies are considered precisely as requirements for an employee from the side of tasks (workplace).

For the British approach, it is important that a person can demonstrate in practice specific skills, able to do what is required within the framework of working standards, it is this approach that underlies training and staff development programs.

THREE BUSINESS TRENDS THAT ARE CHANGING THE WAY TO LOOK AT COMPETENCE:

1. The ever-increasing rate of change in the business environment.

Previously, the change management model was popular, which includes three stages: unfreezing the situation, making changes and freezing the situation. In today's world, these stages merge. They no longer make sense, because there is an ongoing process in which it is simply impossible to separate the stages of defrosting and freezing.

2. Changing the role of people in business.

If earlier people were needed to perform simple work, then in the modern world there is a great need for people who are able to perform complex types of work, make important decisions, and take on greater responsibility. On the one hand, there is a technical complication that implies a higher level of intelligence of potential employees. On the other hand, a person is required to have a new level of understanding of what he is doing.

What is the purpose of being a cleaning lady in a supermarket? If she believes that she must “clean to keep it clean,” then it becomes clear why customers cause negative emotions in her - they prevent her from achieving her goal. If the answer is “creating comfortable conditions for the client”, then this indicates a different level of understanding of the activities performed and complicates this activity.

What kind of people do businesses need now in an increasingly competitive environment? Undoubtedly, capable of a deep understanding of their work.

3. Emergence at people of a choice.

First of all, the choice appears in those who are able to perform complex and valuable types of work.

It is possible to represent the competence of a manager as a combination of three spheres of his existence in an organization (the degree of their severity and dominance can be used to judge the level of a manager's competence):

• Activity MOGU - is formed by vocational training);
• The senses I WANT - is formed by education and organizational culture);
• Thoughts I KNOW - is formed by education).

SEVEN COMPETENCES OF A MODERN MANAGER

Modern researchers of the American and European approaches identify 7 core competencies of modern managers.

1. Focus on results, achievements.

The ability to be responsible for the implementation of decisions, the ability to set new ambitious goals after achieving the previous ones. Task and relationship oriented behavior.

2. Flexibility.

The ability to quickly and adequately respond to emergency situations, see and identify the problem, find ways to solve it, assemble a team for implementation, and evaluate the results.

3. Ability to learn, self-learning.

Learning, receptivity to new methods and technologies, the ability to apply new things in practice. The ability to introspection. Willingness to analyze one's achievements and shortcomings, look at familiar things with different eyes, wisely use someone else's experience.

4. Influence, the ability to convince.

The ability to defend one's own opinion. Logic in conducting constructive conversations. Knowledge of influence techniques. The ability to identify and use the motives of people. The ability to ask the right questions and determine the degree of awareness and emotional state of the partner.

5. Ability to hear others, accept feedback.

The ability to create channels of two-way communication - to abstract from one's opinions and thoughts, to concentrate on the words of the interlocutor. Good auditory and visual memory. Ability to use different types of feedback. Ability to effectively encourage and criticize others.

6. Skills of presentations, negotiations.

Ability to determine the goals and objectives of the presentation, the interests of the audience. Building a spectacular introduction, connecting phrases, main body and end of the presentation. Possession of persuasion strategies and public speaking skills. Knowledge of the stages of an effective negotiation process. The ability to determine the interests of the participants, to choose the best alternative. Ability to discuss, offer, conduct positional bargaining. Mastery of manipulation techniques and the ability to resist them.

7. Customer focus.

Knowledge of customer service policies and standards. Orientation to the current and future needs of customers. Ability to behave correctly with different types of "difficult" clients. The ability to build partnerships with clients, the ability to recognize additional opportunities and risks in relation to clients.

PROFESSIONAL QUALITIES OF A MANAGER

Studies on the analysis and identification of the professional qualities of highly qualified managers, conducted by the Institute of Applied Research (USA) for 18 years and covering a total of 1,500 people, showed that the most important are 10 qualities of a modern manager, the main of which require strategic training:

• Pronounced ability for strategic planning and forecasting;
• Making correct and timely forward-looking decisions on the allocation and distribution of resources;
• The desire to increase the number of their duties by expanding the scope of activities or as a result of moving to a higher level job;
• Exceptional ability to make creative and rational decisions under conditions of high risk. Avoiding prolonged stay in the "comfort zone";
• Exceptional self-confidence: failures are perceived only as temporary troubles;
• The desire to have significant rights and, consequently, to bear great responsibility;
• Significant inclinations towards intuitive foresight and abstract analysis of the development of complex processes and critical situations;
• Understanding work as the main value in which all abilities and forces are invested. Possession of a sense of "internal evaluation" of one's actions, which are not always consistent with others;
• Focus on solving the problem, not on identifying the culprits. The desire to work with subordinates who are not afraid of risk and are able to make independent decisions;
• Dedication of one's own life to realized ideas and results of their implementation.

Most companies adhere to the principle: "You need to develop weaknesses." Progressive researchers have found that if a leader has at least one of the seven competencies mentioned above developed to the level of 90%, then the efficiency of the organization or department he leads increases significantly.

Accordingly, people can focus on doing what they already like to do and achieve high results. And it is their strengths that should be developed. At the same time, of course, one should not ignore those competencies that received below-average ratings.

When an organization spends all its energy on working with “average” competencies, trying to stretch them out, then it gets mediocre leaders. An outstanding manager grows on those competencies that are initially well developed in him.

Think Steve Jobs or Jack Welch. Each of them had flaws. But they also had 1-2 abilities developed to an extraordinary level. They are what made them great leaders."

In conclusion, we note that the development of professional competencies and qualities of a modern manager requires a revision of the usual approaches to training, they should be based on an effective competency model that meets business requirements, market trends and the specifics of the company.

Contact the Sales Academy center, our specialists will help you and direct the potential of your employees to new opportunities and growth of your company.

The first condition for success is to conduct selection on a competitive basis. What does it mean: not to take acquaintances, to invite only "people from the street"? No, such a formal approach will not help, the HR should have developed an effective methodology for selecting future employees based on the position profile. Then only those candidates who can work in this position in the best way will pass through the sieve.

How are sales managers selected in our company? It all starts with the fact that department heads fill out applications for the selection of a sales manager. It indicates the knowledge, skills, abilities and personal qualities that a candidate must possess in order to successfully work in this position. Based on this application, the recruiter composes the text of the announcement, selects methods for attracting and directing the search for candidates, and also coordinates them with the internal customer.

We use different approaches: placing ads in the media and the Internet, recommendations from friends and employees, direct search. When reviewing a resume, a number of factors are taken into account. They can be divided into two blocks: 1) formal and 2) informal. Formal ones include gender, age, education, work experience (number of years) and business area (certain market or product). Each candidate's compliance with these requirements is always evaluated, but deviation from the "norm" cannot be the main reason for refusal. For example, if the applicant has two years of work experience, and the application indicates three (and according to other criteria the person meets the requirements of the position), then his candidacy should be discussed with the customer. We include informal factors such as career dynamics (for example, merchandiser - sales representative - supervisor), time worked in each company listed in the resume, and periods of unemployment. If the candidate did not stay in one place for more than six months, and the intervals between employment and “free bread” take three to four months, the recruiter should think about whether the company needs such an employee.

We do not evaluate the quality and completeness of the resume in any particular way. The exception is recruitment for positions that require advanced business writing skills (for example, for a human resources manager). Since the candidate may have compiled a resume with outside help, it is difficult to draw any conclusions from this document alone.

Based on the results of the selection of resumes, telephone interviews are conducted, the main task of which is to reduce the number of “random” candidates to a minimum. The first thing that can be checked during the conversation is whether the candidate is really interested in a new job, actively considering various offers. Next, it is worth clarifying the scope of the person’s responsibilities at the last places of work (at the same time comparing the information received with the requirements of the application and assessing the likelihood that the person compiled his resume himself). If in oral communication the candidate shows himself to be quite competent, and his experience approximately corresponds to our expectations, we should talk about the motives that prompted the applicant to respond to the ad (why he left the previous job, what he expects from the new one). We consider it necessary in a telephone conversation to immediately give brief information about the company, the key tasks of the position, as well as benefits and compensation. Thus, a person can already at this stage make an informed decision - to participate in the competition to fill a vacancy or refuse.

All middle and senior managers in our company undergo recruitment training, during which they learn:

• formulate requirements for candidates based on the tasks of the position;
• ask questions that reveal the level of competence of the candidate;
• collect reliable information about the candidate and analyze it qualitatively.

Thus, HR managers and managers "speak the same language", which allows avoiding duplication of the same questions at different stages of the competition. HRs focus on the personal and business qualities of applicants, on the compliance of their motivator map with the requirements of the position and corporate culture of the company, while line managers focus on professional competencies. Typically, a recruiter or HR manager provides the manager, along with the candidate's resume, with his comments indicating the strengths and weaknesses of the person, prospects and possible difficulties in adapting him. Repeated interviews can be conducted both by the manager independently and together with an employee of the personnel department, but the results are discussed collectively.

The next step is an interview with the company. Each candidate goes through at least two stages of communication with our employees:

1. The initial interview is conducted by a recruiter who assesses the applicant's compliance with the requirements of the open vacancy (presence of the necessary work experience, the level of development of key competencies, personal qualities, social intelligence, "compatibility" with the corporate culture of the company).
2. A second interview is conducted by the head of the department - the customer of the vacancy. He acts as an expert: he is responsible for assessing the professional knowledge and skills of the applicant, draws conclusions about the level of his qualifications.

Before starting the interview, it is necessary to clearly define the requirements for key competencies of a candidate for an open vacancy. If we are talking about a completely new position, then corporate requirements for a sales specialist are taken as a basis and adjusted depending on the specifics of the job.

What qualities should a good sales manager have? "Sales" is the "face of the company" in the eyes of customers, it represents its products on the market, constantly works "at the forefront" of communications. Therefore, he must have good communication skills and negotiation skills. Customer focus, initiative, flexibility, emotional stability, self-confidence and a high level of self-control are the basic qualities in the salesperson profile. Equally important is the ability and desire to learn, focus on results.

We use competency-based interviews: during the interview, the recruiter asks the applicant in detail about his behavior in various situations related to professional activities. To do this, a list of questions is prepared in advance, the answers to which make it possible to identify the characteristics of the candidate's behavior in typical work situations. Examples of questions to clarify key competencies are presented in the table.

Empathy (from the Greek empatheia - empathy) - the ability to emotionally respond to the experiences of other people, imagine yourself in the place of another person, understand his feelings, desires, ideas and actions.

A skilled sales manager is able to quickly build trusting relationships with a variety of people. The candidate must clearly demonstrate this professional quality at the interview.

You should pay attention to how he talks about himself and his achievements. When working with clients, the seller, first of all, must build confidence in himself, and only then - interest in the proposed product and the company he represents. It should cause only positive emotions - and appearance, and speech, and behavior.

Analyzing the answers of the candidate, we evaluate how well he has developed the competencies required for this job. The behavioral examples from the past (PPP) given by the candidate allow the recruiter to draw a conclusion about the level of development of a particular competence. A complete, quality RFP has three main components:

situation >> action >> result

There are also incomplete (missing one or two components) and false PPP (general, theoretical reasoning). A sufficient / high level of development of the identified competence is evidenced by bringing at least three full PPP. Therefore, the task of the recruiter is to use additional questions to transfer the conversation from the sphere of general reasoning to the plane of discussing the candidate’s real experience. It is useful to ask specific "behavioral" questions, for example: "What did you do when ...?", "How did you manage to do ...?"; conditional: "How would you behave if ...?" or open-ended questions such as “How do you resolve conflict situations with clients?” tend to provoke mostly “socially desirable” responses that do not help clarify the true abilities of the candidate.

An example of a response containing the full RFP:

- Yesterday a client called me and said that the goods that he was delivered turned out to be defective. He expressed his dissatisfaction in a rather rude manner. I listened carefully to his claims. To clarify the situation and understand why the client decided that the product was defective, I asked a series of questions. Convinced that it really was a factory defect, I suggested that the person come to the office and exchange his purchase for a quality product. The client responded positively, thanked me for understanding.

Situation: “a dissatisfied buyer called”, actions of the seller: “listened, clarified the situation, offered to replace the product”, result: “the client was satisfied”.

Example of a response containing a false RFP:

- Clients are different, but I always find an approach to people, I never go into conflict.

This statement is general, does not provide information about the specific actions of the candidate in a real situation.

I would like to dwell on such an important competence as motivation to work. It is important for us to identify what is the main driving force behind the candidate's professional development, why does he want to work in this area, what does he expect from working in a new place? It is better to start collecting information about the leading motives by asking about the work situation in which the candidate feels most or least comfortable. You can continue the conversation by asking him to describe what he did when he was most satisfied / dissatisfied with his activities. To complete the discussion of motivation, the question should be: why (what) this or that situation was pleasant / unpleasant. The answer to this question will help clarify the specifics of the candidate's motivation. It is very important that a specialist wants to develop in his chosen field of activity, so that he likes his work and brings pleasure.

A successful "sales" knows the product perfectly, is well oriented in the market, constantly monitors the emergence of new products, and improves the methods of its work. He enjoys the process of communicating with customers, the opportunity to satisfy their needs and, of course, the result (whether it is expanding the client base and attracting new customers or increasing sales).

Result orientation is a very important quality for a salesperson. To assess the dominant orientation of the candidate - on the process or on the result, you can carefully listen to his speech. If a person uses perfective verbs more often - “what did you do?” (“concluded”, “expanded”, “renewed”), which means that he is more likely to be result-oriented. If he uses predominantly imperfective verbs - “what did you do?” (“negotiated”, “searched”, “tried”) - on the process.

It is recommended to carefully monitor how the applicant explains the reasons for his failures and difficulties: takes responsibility for himself or refers to external factors (product quality, luck, situation). As a rule, people with an internal reference are more effective in the position of a sales manager. When discussing compensation systems, good sales people focus primarily on a percentage of sales, not a flat rate. They realize that the better the result, the higher the level of payment, and they are ready to make personal efforts to achieve high results. Candidates who are wary of "living on interest" and who have a special interest in the size of a fixed rate are more likely to be less successful sellers.

Now in some trading companies, during interviews with candidates, they often conduct mini-tests like “sell me this pen”. We do not use such a method. The main idea of ​​this test is to test a person's knowledge of the stages of sales and the ability to work with a client at each of them. We consider it more logical to find out this on specific examples from practice, when there is a real product, a client with his desires and stereotypes, and the candidate's actions. “Sales” of our company do not sell an unknown product to an unknown customer out of the blue (and this is exactly the situation modeled by the “sell me now” exercises). The interview itself puts a person in a stressful situation, and it seems superfluous to us to aggravate it.

When it is necessary to test the skills of candidates in a real situation, we use evaluation procedures. Participants are warned in advance that they will be required to demonstrate certain skills; before each such exercise, they have time to study the context and prepare. In our opinion, this is the most effective method for identifying the required competencies.

The main criterion by which we evaluate the "compatibility" of a candidate with the corporate culture of the company is a map of motivators, that is, a description of the most significant, important for a person in his professional activity. For example, if a company operates in a high-tech competitive market that requires constant individual training and teamwork from a sales manager, the desire to acquire new knowledge and skills should be among the applicant's priorities.

After conducting all the interviews with the candidate, the interviewer analyzes the collected information, assesses the level of development of the necessary competencies. The final decision on hiring is made by the customer (initiator of the application) based on the conclusion that the person meets the requirements. The application is considered closed after the selected candidate enters the job (for a probationary period).

Thus, you can find an effective sales manager based on the portrait of a successful sales person. This portrait, of course, has common features: it consists of intrinsic motivation, high ability to learn, energy, result orientation and sociability. At the same time, it also contains specific features related to the characteristics of the product / service, target customer groups and the corporate culture of a particular organization. That is, each company has its own portrait of a successful sales manager.

There are several ways to understand how good a sales manager is. One of them is to determine whether the competencies that are important for a sales manager are in his working arsenal.

This can be helped by special questions or cases aimed at identifying the strengths and weaknesses of a specialist. They can be applied both at the stage of recruiting employees to the sales department, and to already working specialists in order to assess the level of professionally significant competencies.

So, let's get acquainted with the list of core competencies:

1. Expanding the customer base

Naturally, any company pursues the goal of attracting new customers. If the manager classifies himself as an active seller, it will be important to find out the following: How does he expand his client base? Where is he looking for new clients, what are his methods of working with information? How will he identify the decision maker and how will he interact with him?

A good salesperson will provide you with a plan of action to attract a new client to the company. Ideally, he will identify a potential customer base based on the specifics of the company, its product or services; show where he is looking for clients; how it works with the received information; How does he contact the decision maker?

2. Ability to sell by technology

Every person has the ability to do something or another. It is possible that your candidate is a born salesman and will be able to sell snow to an Eskimo or an umbrella fish, but even so, it is important to find out at what level he knows the sales technology. In other words, how exactly does he sell the product: intuitively or according to a certain system?

Ask the candidate about the stages of the sale. If he speaks confidently, step by step, with his examples based on personal experience in the field of sales, then we can safely say that the person has the necessary skills. Accordingly, owns and sales technology.

You can also ask the candidate to evaluate their knowledge, for example, on a scale from 1 to 5.

3. The degree of effectiveness of the manager

You can figure out how useful a particular sales manager will be in your company based on his previous work experience. Ask the candidate the following questions:

• • How often were sales plans fulfilled under your leadership? How often was the plan exceeded?
  • How was your performance compared to other salespeople in the department?
  • Which clients come to the company is your merit?
  • What is your biggest deal? Can you describe the transaction process in detail?
  • What difficulties did you have to experience and overcome when making deals?

Such questions are aimed at finding out the real degree of effectiveness of the manager. If he answers questions clearly and in detail, most likely, the performance of the employee at the previous job was really high.

4. Desire to grow and develop in sales

Also, a good manager usually gives out a desire to grow and develop in their field. Therefore, you need to find out if your candidate wants to continue his career, conquering new heights in sales. The following questions will help you with this:

• What attracts you the most about your profession and why?
• What difficulties do you experience in your position? How do you deal with them?
• What is the most difficult part of your job for you?
• What salary would you like to receive in a year?
• Who, where and how do you see yourself in three years? In five years?
• Explain what "being a successful sales manager" means to you. Are you such a manager? If not, what do you need for this?

5. Working with clients

Give the candidate a brief description of the product or service of your company and an approximate image of the client (needs, income level, status, etc.) with whom the specialist will work in the future. After that, ask the manager what personal qualities, in his opinion, the client will expect from the seller?

There can be two scenarios for the development of events. In the first case, the applicant will name the characteristics corresponding to the company - reliability, availability, reasonable price of the product, etc. Thus, he will focus on the external qualities of the company, without affecting the competencies that may be inherent in him as a sales manager. Well, such a candidate still has a lot to learn.

In the second case, the candidate will list the competence, diligence, accuracy, speed of response to the appeal and other characteristics inherent in the seller. If you heard such an answer, we can congratulate you - the candidate is really experienced in sales.

Ask which of these qualities he possesses. Ask him to list his strengths and weaknesses as a salesperson. What can attract a client in it? These questions will help to understand the level of competence of his work with clients.

6. Work with discounts

Ask the manager to solve the following problem: the client requires a discount that the company cannot provide. Ask for multiple solutions.

A manager who owns this competency will offer from 3 to 5 options approximately as follows:

• • What can we offer you in exchange for a discount?
  • Such a discount will be possible for you when purchasing the XXX quantity of goods;
  • We can provide you with an additional service;
  • We offer you a slightly smaller discount, but in the most convenient option for you;
  • I would love to give you such a discount, but, unfortunately, in our company there are certain rules and I must follow them.
  • I'm afraid it won't be fair to our other clients. We all work according to a certain scheme. I think you would not want us to spoil our reputation in the market.

This case allows you to identify the variability and flexibility of the seller's thinking, knowledge of the specifics of the sales sector, the manager's ability to make contact and search for non-trivial solutions.

7. Conflict resolution

Offer the manager to solve the problem: the delivery time of the goods was violated, but it did not depend specifically on the sales manager. However, the claim was submitted to him. With the help of this case, one can assess the skills of a manager as a negotiator, his ability to work with claims and resolve conflicts in general.

A good seller will provide a similar scheme of actions:

1. 1. Expresses regret about what happened, takes control of the situation. Understands it, discusses possible solutions to the problem.
   2. Finds out the maximum amount of information from the employee who is responsible for the supply. He tries to resolve the conflict, based on the needs of the client and the interests of the company.
   3. Contacts the client, reports what has already been done to solve the problem.
   4. Discusses with the client what the company can do to avoid a repeat of the situation in the future.
   5. Discusses with colleagues how to avoid such problems in the future.

8. Dealing with doubtful clients

Ask your manager to resolve the following situation. The client, looking at the prices, doubts, saying “I don’t know, your prices are too expensive.” How will the candidate convince him to make a purchase?

The manager must listen to the objections of the buyer, take them into account, ask clarifying questions. Only after that the manager should give arguments in favor of the company's product. He can say: “You are right, the question of price is really very important both for you and for our company. May I clarify? Are you comparing with something else or are there other reasons? Depending on the answer, the manager will give 2-3 arguments in favor of your company's product.

9. Working with demanding clients

To find out if the candidate has this competency, ask the manager to recall a situation when his client wanted too much. Which side did the candidate take in this situation? How did you resolve the issue? Do his methods fit into the corporate ethics of your company.

10. Client potential analysis

How does your candidate analyze the client's prospects?

A good sales manager will answer that it is impossible to tell about the potential of the client right away- one can only guess, because there can be a great variety of situations. And you can guess based on the buyer's answers to the manager's questions, the buyer's reactions, replicas, appearance, etc.