Diagnosing Cultural Compatibility

During the interview process, most employers check for skills, education, and experience, but some forget one of the most important things – cultural fit.

"Recruiting culturally compatible salespeople is the fastest way to sales culture transformation," says Jim Kasper in his book, Creating the #1 Sales Force (Kaplan Publishing, 2005).

In addition to a normal line of questioning during an interview, Kasper recommends incorporating the following questions into your interview process to discover if the candidate is the right fit for your organization.

• What is your understanding of sales culture?
• How would you describe the sales culture of your present employer?
• Specifically, what do you like best about that sales culture? What do you like the least?
• If it were up to you, what kind of sales culture would you develop for a company to be successful in this industry?
• What type of behaviors do you exhibit that are exemplary of the sales culture you just described?
• What do you know about our sales culture?
• We pride ourselves in our sales culture. Why do you think you would fit into this culture?
• On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being vital and 1 being unnecessary, how important are these behavioral traits for success in a sales culture: high energy, congeniality, aggressiveness, positive attitude, cooperation, self-reliance, "coachability," resolve, objectivity, and creativity?

"This brief list of questions will tie sales culture nicely into the job candidate interview process and allow for a quick diagnosis of chemistry and fit," says Kasper.