Working on a remote team comes with its challenges. Field representatives need to be motivated and self-starting while managers need to be able to monitor team members without being overbearing. The key is to have trust, but trust is something that takes time to build. To get a head start on establishing a team characterized by trust, managers need to focus on the hiring process and specifically the interviews. During interviews, they should ask pointed, well thought-out questions to gauge a candidate’s accountability and commitment to the job. Through this process, managers should be able to build a team that they can count on so that extensive monitoring does not feel necessary. This in turn will create a more enjoyable work environment and company culture. Here is a list of five questions that every field team manager should ask in their next interview:
1) How would you characterize the ideal field representative?
This question can be all-encompassing, and a great candidate will touch all of the bases from self-management to client relationships and to communication within a company. As a candidate answers this question, see if their answer aligns with your own, which probably includes traits such as well-organized, strong communicator, self-starter, motivated, etc.
Follow-up: How have you demonstrated these characteristics in previous positions?
This will give candidates an avenue to share any stories and real life experience that they have working in the field. With concrete evidence of execution, you can rest assured that your clients will follow through on their promise.
2) At what point would you drop a prospective client? (for sales teams)
This will show you whether the word ‘persistence’ is in a candidate’s vocabulary. As a sales manager, you are well aware that your representatives are bound to get rejected on multiple occasions. When this happens, representatives need to be able to go back to that client the next week with a different angle and the same wide smile that she had on her face on the first visit. Your company probably has a protocol for the exact number or range of numbers that a representative should reach out to a specific client before retreating. If candidates share their own standard based on their experience, it could be a great way to evaluate the number your company has traditionally used.
3) How do you establish and foster strong relationships with clients?
Mastering customer satisfaction and customer retention is a crucial skill for field representatives. While it’s important to be able to grab a potential client’s attention and lock in a sale, that is only the beginning. Field representatives must ensure that a relationship with a client becomes long-term. They should know how to anticipate a client’s needs and always have solutions that will benefit both your company and the client.
4) How do you stay motivated?
Often times when working alone and on your own schedule, it can be challenging to stay motivated and complete all of the tasks at hand. Make sure that representatives will stay motivated throughout their job, and most importantly, that they’re motivated for the right reasons, according to your company’s values.
5) What do you think about our products?
Whether you’re interviewing a potential marketing representative or sales representative, all field representatives should be able to genuinely support your product. How do you get a client hyped about your product if you’re not excited about it yourself? When a representative is invested in your company and products, it makes their work more enjoyable and will likely prevent them from leaving your company down the road.
Creating a strong field team can be difficult, but when managers have a clear vision of their ideal members and prepare specific questions for interviews, they will come out of the hiring process with a promising team.
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