Introduction
Are you overwhelmed by your volume of leads? If you are too busy chasing new listings, showing properties, and closing deals to reach out to new prospects, you are leaving valuable business on the table.
When you’re hiring an Inside Sales Agent, you are hiring a focused phone professional whose sole job is to reach out to prospects. When you make the right hire, you stand to triple or potentially quadruple your business!
How do you get started? That’s what this post is all about. Your first step is to set up an effective hiring flow.
How To Evaluate Inside Sales Agent Candidates
If you are ready to bring on an Inside Sales Agent and desire to make the right hire, you’ll want to get as much information on your candidates as possible. We suggest you evaluate candidates in 3 key ways:
- Phone screen – Since they’ll spend the bulk of their time on the phone securing appointments, you’ll want to hear how they sound. Do they project confidence, sound enthusiastic, and speak professionally?
- DISC profile – You’re seeking specific behavioral and motivational characteristics in this person. Adding a DISC, or better yet, a DISC+ assessment into your hiring flow is a key benefit.
- In-person interview – See how your candidates will fit into your company culture and determine if they can put their money where their mouth is by asking targeted, impactful questions.
Let’s break down each step.
How To Do An Inside Sales Agent Phone Screen
The phone screen should give you just enough exposure to your applicants to determine if they are viable candidates. Keep the conversation short, your questions simple, and learn just enough about them to decide if they are worth pursuing further.
Here are some sample screening questions:
- What interested you about this sales role and our company? (Gauges enthusiasm and understanding of the role.)
- What can you tell me about your sales experience? What kinds of products have you sold, and how did you progress? (Assesses sales skills and track record.)
- How do you typically structure your day or week? (Shows time management.)
- How do you set and reach your targets and metrics? (Highlights goal-orientation.)
- How do you build and maintain relationships with clients? (Demonstrates customer focus.)
Now that you’ve had a chance to hear how your candidates sound on the phone, move the best to step 2 in your hiring flow. Have them take a DISC+ assessment.
The Best DISC Profile For An ISA
Not everyone is built for an Inside Sales job. You should seek out a particular personality type who exhibits certain characteristics, behaviors, and motivators. Lucky for you we know where you can get a DISC profile that can highlight both of those details.
What can a DISC evaluation tell you? DISC provides clarity on the behavioral strengths and potential weaknesses of 4 distinct personality types. The DISC assessment looks at these 4 areas:
- D – Decisive
- I – Interactive
- S – Stabilizing
- C – Cautious
We’ve studied the best Inside Sales Agents and know the characteristics that help them achieve success can be found in the Interactive column and the Stabilizing area.
The high I/S DISC combination exhibits persuasiveness and patience. They’re enthusiastic yet stable and consistent. People with a high I/S are typically excellent listeners and great at building relationships.
The beautiful thing about the DISC Plus profile is that not only does it provide you with a look at candidates’ behavioral preferences, it also gives you insight into their motivators.
We look at 7 distinct areas in the Values Index Assessment:
- Aesthetic – an appreciation for form and harmony
- Economic – what is useful to get results
- Individualistic – a need for autonomy and independence
- Political – striving for power and control
- Altruistic – a love of helping people
- Regulatory – the need for structure and routine
- Theoretical – a continuous journey of learning
When you can see what motivates someone you are looking at what gets them out of bed in the morning. What gets them excited to do their job. The best Inside Sales Agents usually have higher scores in the Economic (motivated by commission), Individualistic (in control of their own results), and Altruistic (desire to help people).
When you put together the DISC behaviors and Values motivators, you can see that winning ISA combination come to life.
With the screening interview and the DISC Plus results, you’re ready to whittle down your list to just the top candidates. What’s next?
The Final Interview
This last interview should get you all of the confirmation you need to make the best hire for your team. Here are some specific qualities you’re looking for in the perfect addition to your real estate team, and some sample interview questions to ask.
- Resilience – Someone great at Inside Sales understands that it takes a certain number of “no’s” to get to a “yes.” They should be built to handle rejection. It’s inevitable in phone work.
Interview question: What were your numbers in your last position? or How many ‘no’s’ do you typically hear before you get a ‘yes’?
- Relationship Builder – They should understand that prospects need nurturing. Buying and selling properties doesn’t happen overnight. You need an excellent relationship builder willing and excited to stay in touch with their prospects. Their mantra should be: make a friend; keep them coming back.
Interview question: Talk about your favorite customer. How did you build that relationship?
- Receptive to Feedback – You’ll want your ISA comfortable following a script and appreciating a critique. After all, they could be the first interaction your prospects have with your business. You’ll want to make sure they’re conveying the right message about your company and team, and have the ability to coach them if they need it.
Interview question: Pitch me the last product/service you sold.
- Results-Oriented – A high-performing Inside Sales Agent enjoys crossing names off their list. They get excited when their efforts lead to a successful sale. They are motivated by commission and enjoy being in control of their paycheck.
Interview question: Knowing that you’ll be paid xxx when you move a prospect to the next stage in the sales funnel, how much do you anticipate making in one month? - Reliable – Since all sales begin with them, your ISA should understand the important role they play on the team. They need to perform well to help the team achieve its sales goals, and that starts with them having their butt in the seat no matter their mood, the market, or the weather.
Interview question: How do you stay motivated at work?
These questions should open the door to a robust conversation, but feel free to add in more to probe for other qualities you deem important to work within your team culture.
Conclusion
When you hire an Inside Sales Agent, you’re putting your business on a growth track because with their concentrated efforts you’re getting payback from your marketing and referral strategies, generating more leads, selling more properties, AND freeing yourself up to focus on additional revenue-producing activities.
**Note: The above terminology used to describe the D, I, S, and C was interpreted by Innermetrix. You may have seen or heard different words used to describe the categories like Dominant, Influencing, Submissive, and Compliant or Dominance, influence, Steadiness, and Conscientiousness. All of these variations highlight the same types of behavior based on the science first studied by Dr. William Marston. Innermetrix has chosen positive terms more appropriate to the current times.
