Hishem AzzouzHost Of Recruitment Mentors Podcast

Using role-play in sales interviews.

Name: Using role-play in sales interviews.
Uploaded: 2024-09-16T16:00:34+00:00
Duration: 35 s
Channel: Hishem Azzouz
Description: In this segment, the speaker explains a hiring technique that uses deliberately uncomfortable role‑play statements—such as “I think my wife’s going to…

16 Sept 2024 · 1 min

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In this segment, the speaker explains a hiring technique that uses deliberately uncomfortable role‑play statements—such as “I think my wife’s going to leave me”—during sales interviews to gauge a candidate’s ability to ask probing, discovery‑focused questions. The speaker contrasts generic, unhelpful responses (e.g., offering advice or reassurance) with the behavior of skilled salespeople who immediately follow up with clarifying questions like “What makes you think that?” and “What have you tried to fix it?”. The method includes tallying the number of substantive questions a candidate asks; reaching a threshold (e.g., ten questions) signals that the candidate possesses strong sales questioning instincts. The overall purpose is to provide a practical, measurable way to assess sales talent beyond traditional interview questions.

Chapters

So the roleplay we do, it's a bit awkward for some people, but I say, sorry if she's listening, I say, I think my wife's going to leave me. And I just leave them with that, right? I think my wife's going to leave me. People who maybe haven't naturally got it will go, right, what you should probably do is take her out for a meal, tell her how much she means to you, promise her the world, and you know, you'll move through it. It's a nice response. But the natural salespeople say, what makes you think that? How long have you been feeling like that for? Okay, have you tried anything to fix it? What stopped you? And I'm tallying up the questions that they ask me. If I'm getting to 10, then this got it. This guy's got it.