Recruitment of a Salesperson - Issues and Solutions - Speech or Presentation Example

Part A: Interview Questions

Question # 1: How will you handle oral contracts for the sale of widgets?

Oral contracts have become common in today’s business world of business. This is because increasingly more people are lacking the time to formalize binding agreements in writing. However, oral contracts usually lead to disagreements over the exact particulars of the bargain. Like the average salesman, it is absolutely improbable that the salesperson will recall the content of each discussion he or she will have with different business associates on the field. In addition, it is very unlikely that the outside salesperson would recall a business discussion that happened years or months or weeks back. This is due to the sheer number of business transactions which an individual in such position usually oversee both physically and through the Internet medium (Evans, 2001). To limit confusion it is important for the salesperson to put all agreements and important business facts in writing. In most cases, a precise document capturing only the important points of an oral contract can go eliminate cases of forgetfulness and or business misunderstandings.

Question # 2 how can you respond to a negative review of your widgets or an online war against your business?

From business point of view, the salesperson’s options would be limited. What he or she can do is give an explanation or refutation of the claims in a forum accessible to members of the public in a non-attacking manner. By branding the originator of the online war a discontented former customer that has chosen to not approach the company or its agents for explanations, other members of the public would see him as one who is not constructive in his or her criticisms. In addition, clear indications to suggest that the agents are determined to deliver quality service and that the disgruntled individual is engaging in unnecessarily aggressive indictments, customers and prospects would find it easier to side with the company. Yet, by steering clear of the names of the individuals or their accusations, the sales agent and the company selling widgets would deny the accuser(s) free publicity. Nonetheless, more reasonable accusers may require direct contacts with them in order to find more amicable solutions to the problem.

Question # 3 what is the best way to link pages in order to reach out to more widget users and prospects?

It is legal to connect to any online page, but for some exceptions. The salesperson should advise consumers against linking to a website page if the practice bypassed paid online ads or important details of the website that requires payment before use. Nonetheless, careful linking of pages is important because it prevents unnecessary losses arising from litigation. Ticketmaster has received remarkable compensation from parties it has accused of linking straight to its internal sections of the official website (Evans, 2001). The company wants every user of the website to begin at its primary pages, and pass through several pages of business ads. The prospective outside salesperson should also be aware of the fact that he or she would not connect to a page of some websites if the information arising therefrom is inaccurate.

Question # 4 is the online market subject to any unique legal restrictions on the content?

There are a number of limitations under the law on trading a number of commodities online. The salesperson would be responsible for conforming to all national, state and local laws and directives. As such, the individual would not cite one or two sites allowing him or her to sell the widgets freely as justification for expanded use to other sites. Each website therefore retains the right to create its own regulations as to which commodities it will accept. In general, regulations seeking to prevent the government from editing or otherwise limiting ads leave out private organizations.

As such, the sales agent should consider that these regulations differ by region, state and by local governments. If the salesperson sold commodities within a particular region, it would be his or her obligation to appreciate and stick to the regulations prevailing in that specific geographical area (Nikolaou, & Oostrom, 2015). Interestingly, the fact that widgets are available online gives them the unique quality of exposure to clients from other markets around the world. As such the dynamic market for the product would pile more pressure on the company to enforce international standards of business.

Part B Interview questions derived from memo

Question # 1 what motivated you to seek a new job?

The interview question is tricky in the sense that it evokes the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate on a number of issues relating to both their domestic and work lives. The response would reveal more information about the personality of the candidate and their judgment. In specific, the question is likely to evoke crucial information about why a candidate may have left or is contemplating leaving their most recent job. Excuses such as an individual failing to not like the workplace or poor remuneration or harsh management techniques or a combination of one of the factors would determine the best candidate for the job.

As Evans (2001) suggested, these information would reveal whether: the new candidate has a family; he or she is too much attached to their family members to meaningfully render sales services; the last job was far from home and or family as to deny him or her of the opportunity to be with them, and; whether the new candidate is mature enough and outgoing as to face both new and old clients to initiate sales of the widgets ‘over a glass of wine.’ The question points to the best candidate being an experienced individual, more preferably a man who is unmarried or one who can spend the better part of the day doing sales and lesser time with his family. Such individual would dedicate his energy to the actual sales work as opposed to having a divided attention for domestic errands as well. As Dineen and Williamson (2012) noted, the question would weed out candidates that are highly attached to their families or those that are merely looking for better pay.

Question # 2 what inspires you to sell?

This question necessitates responses about the candidates’ positive qualities as a salesperson. Although the question is relatively challenging to the candidates, the reaction can enable the interviewer to have a clearer picture of exactly what drives them to perform better. By weeding out candidates that give more generic or unclear responses, the employer would have his hand on an individual that is naturally aware of the mechanics of the business (Arthur, 2013)

. The question also provides rare insights into each candidate’s character for easier choice of the best performer. In specific, owing to limited supervision of the candidates, individuals who are goal-oriented would make better salespersons as opposed to those that are keen on pleasing their employer or families.

Goal-oriented individuals can fit within the strict parameters set out by the employer, which include: limited domestic involvements; effective marketing of the company’s products to all types of clients and prospects including alcoholics; a strongly principled individual whose ethos clearly point to the most effective way to motivate him or her when they earn the job; and one who is either a local resident of the markets in which he or she would be deployed. With these two questions, it would be easier to locate a better salesperson that would go to whatever level they can in order to market the widgets under very minimum supervision of the local branch manager.

Part C: Advertising of a sales job

Effective advertising of virtually all jobs means utilizing the company resources, recruitment officers’ time and curbing unnecessary use of money in sourcing for effective staffs. Although there is no single advertising platform for sales jobs, a careful evaluation of existing options can enable the recruiter to reach out to the best candidates to fill any vacant position. In this case, local candidates are given priority, so placing the ad in a local newspaper would not only give priority to local applicants, but would limit the ad expenses. A local newspaper is the most effective way to source for local candidates who are already familiar with the terrain and market dynamics. In addition, such individuals have a permanent residence in the area in question and thus would not suffer any social distractions. Local candidates would not need to move with their families to a new market or transfer their children to new learning facilities within their new localities. Dineen and Williamson (2012) suggested that it is important to further explore which paper promotes the kind of job ad in question and make an attempt to reach out to those with the highest readership for maximum infiltration.

Apart from local newspapers, business publications can also act as excellent platforms for the job ad. As such, it is important so seek any of the business or job-related publications that are widely read within the locality because odds are that potential candidates in the sector are also going through them. Many print media platforms also have virtual editions, which are exact copies of the print version. These platforms can be explored for easier advertising of the job. It is imperative, though, to explore which ones contain job ads which are similar to the company’s and the differences in cost in order to limit expenses even as the recruiter expands the scope to reach the highest number of possible candidates. The company should enquire about whether an ad placed in the print editions of would habitually appear on the online version and vice versa.

As Evans (2001) suggested, placing the ad on select Online Jobsites is also another cost-effective way to reach the maximum number of applicants. Most of such sites offer the opportunity to place an ad for free. The weakness of doing so, though, is that the company may receive many applications from candidates who are not qualified for the job in terms of the strength of testimonials and or the geographical factor. The shortfall then calls for the use of social networking sites, which improve access to more impressive candidates. Through groups on Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp potential candidates can be obtained for the job at no fee.

Lastly, the company may also ask for references from other companies and or recruitment agencies. Resumes and social networking can play pivotal roles in helping the organization to limit wastage of time and finances. By asking colleagues both within and without the company where successful job candidates may be located, the outside sales position that need filling would get impressive candidates. It is important, though, to seek specific information about the effectiveness of each source, the legal, time, technological and financial demands expected of the recruiter for easier minimization of related risks.