Part A
First of all, it is necessary to understand what does an outside salesperson do. It is obvious that an outside salesperson is expected to bring sales for the company by making the deals outside of the office. Usually it happens somewhere at the places and offices of the potential customers. That is why an outside salesperson should be punctual and sensible in terms of human psychology. In order to hire an appropriate person for an outside salesperson position, HR manager should ask some specific questions in a job interview.
Question one. Have you got any working experience, which could be useful for your future functions at position of an outside salesperson?
Explanation. Being an outside salesperson means that such a person should not only sell, but also arouse the customer`s interest in the proposed product. For this aim, an outside salesperson should know the product perfectly. In addition, an outside salesperson should be aware of the specifics of the customer’s work. It is important because in such a case, an outside salesperson will be able to find reasons why does the customer needs that product. All this is necessary to meet the expected sales amount of the company.
Question two. Have you ever worked with widgets? What do you know about them, their aims and usefulness?
Explanation. Person who sells widgets would be technologically advanced. Therefore, in order to sell widgets with an appropriate passion, a person should have a rather big and positive experience of widgets using. Such a question lets the HR manager estimate the experience of the candidate.
Question three. Why, as you think, the truckers might need the widgets in their work?
Explanation. It is not hard to imagine how people might use widgets in their everyday life. However, the truckers have a rather specific work, which might hardly be imagined with the usage of widgets. Therefore, an outside salesperson should have a creative thinking and personal approach to each customer.
Question four. What specifics do exist in selling widgets to truckers?
Explanation. This question is a widened version of the precious one. If the candidate`s answer to the previous question was satisfying, an answer to question four will show the creative thinking and level of the candidates’ proficiency on practice.
Part B
Being politically incorrect does not mean the same as being not professional. It means that despite being politically incorrect, the boss might be highly skilled and experienced professional. That is why it is necessary to ask him / her some clarifying question that will show the professional strengths of the boss.
Question one. What are the goals and strategies, which you suggest to be beneficial for the company`s successful development?
Explanation. The detailed answer to this question will show the boss`s true attitude to work. In fact, adherence and conscientious attitude to work and company is more important than political views. That is why, HR should firstly took at the employee`s skills.
Question two. How would you estimate your business concerns from a perspective of law? Are all your concerns truly legitimate?
Explanation. Such a question to the boss is rather direct and overt. However, there is a principle of cooperation based on honesty. It says that when two sides agree to conduct honest negotiations, they both benefit more than in case of absence of such an agreement. That is why it is better to ask boss direct questions rather than make him suspect HR manager in disbelief.
Part C
Advertising of salesperson position should be performed through different channels, which potential employees will be able to notice. Provided that the budget is rather small, as usually, the advertising methods will be quite simple though effective.
The first method of advertising is making flyers. Such a method of advertising is one of the most widespread one (Neckerman et al., 2009). The reason is its cheapness, attractive look and availability to spread the information among many people. As we know, the target audience of the advertising consists of people who have a desire or experience of working in outside sales. That is why the flyers should be placed somewhere at the Employment Centers, where the potential job seekers will be able to notice the advertisement.
The second method of advertising is e-mail messages, which will be sent only to the target audience. The target audience might be selected among the registered users at the job searching sites. This is a very cheap and also a very effective method of job position advertising because people who look for a job are really interested in different job offers (Ko, & Park, 2002).
One more, the third one, way to place the ad about an outside salesperson position consists of magazines and newspapers. The newspapers might be even better than magazines because they (newspapers) cover wider population that the magazines usually do. The effective modification of the newspaper is yellow pages (Busse, & Rysman, 2001).
The fourth, and the last method of advertisement, which seems the most suitable, is making posters. That is an extremely powerful way of advertising if to place posters at the place where the target audience will notice them. Posters are funny, well-looking and memorable. That is why such a method of advertisement is often very beneficial.
References
Busse, M. R., & Rysman, M. (2001). Competition and price discrimination in yellow pages advertising.
Ko, E., & Park, Y. B. (2002). Determinants of internet advertising effects: Advertisement types and clothing involvement. Irish Marketing Review, 15(2), 51.
Neckerman, K. M., Lovasi, G. S., Davies, S., Purciel, M., Quinn, J., Feder, E., & Rundle, A. (2009). Disparities in urban neighborhood conditions: evidence from GIS measures and field observation in New York City. Journal of Public Health Policy, 30(1), S264-S285.
