M O N T H LY C O L U M N
SHOWROOMSTRATEGIES
BY HANK DARLINGTON • darlingtonconsulting@gmail.com
Hank Darlington,
owner of Darlington
Consulting, is a 2004
NKBA Hall of Fame
inductee. He can be
reached at
916/852-6855 or
darlingtonconsulting@
gmail.com.
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How to conduct
a winning interview
Your showroom’s most important asset is its
people. Finding, growing and maintaining really good people
are the keys to success.
There also are five things you must do to achieve that level
of having good employees that can, and will make you the best
business in your geographic area.
Repeat after me: Hire the best; Train the best; Motivate the
best; Communicate the best; and Compensate the best.
In my opinion, the most important part of hiring the best
is the interview process. A longtime client of mine recently
interviewed a gentleman I’ve recommended to be the general
manager of her showroom business.
In order to help the showroom owner in the interview
process I sent her a fairly lengthy list of potential questions
she might ask during the interviewing sessions. The questions
and answers should provide major insight into the candidate’s
fit with the owner’s expectations and company culture. It is
important both parties learn all they can about each other.
My client’s goal is to get a good understanding of what will
motivate and engage the prospective general manager to ensure
his success and longevity with the organization.
I helped my client write a comprehensive general manager’s
job description and then formatted what I believe would be an
attractive compensation package. I also formatted a series of
questions the owner might ask the prospect that I believe would
ensure getting the best insights into the candidate’s character,
potential strengths and possible limitations. Sharing these
questions with you will help you conduct better interviews and
make better hiring decisions.
While I’m going to list a variety of questions, you would only
ask those that would be most relevant to your circumstances. A
typical interview may take between 45 minutes and two hours,
so I would urge you to ask a wide range of questions during the
course of the interview. Here are some quick tips to help ensure
interviewing success.
Make the candidate feel comfortable: Allow time for
general conversation that helps you and the candidate to get to
know one another beyond the structured questions.
Use a range of interview questions and techniques: Basic,
behavioral and situational questions should be utilized to gain
a comprehensive understanding of the candidate’s experience
and fit for the position.
Keep the questions consistent: If there is more than one
candidate for the position, ask the same questions to ensure
fairness — and interview them within a short period of time.
Listen and watch carefully: A large portion of communi-
cation is nonverbal. Pay attention to facial expression and body
language. Remember, skills can be taught, while attitude and
willingness cannot.
Consider the candidate’s interviewing experience: If your
candidate has only had two jobs in the past 15 years, chances are
they may not be the best interviewee, but taking into account
their loyalty, they very well might make a great employee.
Basic interview questions are straightforward and require
defined, concise responses by the candidate. Here are some
basic questions that will tell you a bit about their skills,
experience and cultural fit.
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 M O N T H LY C O L U M N
SHOWROOMSTRATEGIES
Understanding the candidate’s overall perception
of themselves:
• Tell me about yourself.
• What are your strengths?
• What are your weaknesses?
• What are your top three or four motivators?
• What demotivates you?
• Why do you think you’d be a good fit for
this job?
Understanding the candidate’s interest in and
knowledge of the industry, the company and
what their role would be:
• What do you know about our company?
• What do you know about the DPH
industry?
• What trends do you think might be affecting
our business?
• What attracted you to our company?
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• Why do you want this job? Gauge their en-
thusiasm when answering these questions.
Understanding successes and identifying limita-
tions from their past work experiences:
• When were you most satisfied with your
job?
• What were the responsibilities of your last
position?
• What did you like least about your last job?
• Why are you leaving (or left) you present
job?
Understanding the candidate’s future
aspirations, desired working environment and
motivation to achieve their goals. Compare their
goals to the goals of your company.
• What would be your ideal company and/or
job?
• Where would you like to be in your career
five years from now?
• Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
• If you were to start your own business in the
future, what would it be?
Test the candidate’s self-confidence and ability to
“sell” you on hiring them:
• Why should we hire you?
• What can you do for us that other candidates
can’t do?
• What makes you unique?
Evaluating what your candidate’s salary
expectations are and what their future earning
potential is:
• What salary are you seeking?
• What is your salary history?
• If I were to pay you the salary you have
2 0 1 7
9/25/17 1:26 PM

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70_sht1017Darlington.indd 74
M O N T H LY C O L U M N
SHOWROOMSTRATEGIES
requested and asked you to write your own job description for the next
year, what would it say?
Always stop periodically and ask the candidate what questions they may
have for you. This could give you some insight into the candidate’s prior
research, any hesitations they might have and which areas have importance and
value to them.
Then, of course, you should be prepared for what questions the candidate
may ask you. Such as:
• What do you enjoy most about working here?
• What don’t you like about working here? What would you change if you could?
• Why is this position open?
• Why should I choose to work here over other opportunities?
• How would I be supervised and evaluated to ensure my success in this position?
• Skills and experience aside, what qualities would make me successful in this role?
• Are there any factors that you think would limit my capability in this role
that I could improve on?
• What are the next steps in the interview process?
Here are some additional behavioral questions you might ask to access the
candidate’s suitability for this particular job:
• What was the last project you led and what was the outcome?
• What was your greatest failure and what did you learn from it?
• Have you had any assignment that was difficult for you and how did you
resolve it?
• Give me an example of a time that you felt you went above and beyond “the
expected” at work?
• Tell me about a task that required you to be a self-starter. What was the result?
• Tell me about your most recent hectic day at work. How did you keep it
under control?
• What examples can you give me that demonstrate your ability to meet
deadlines and react to priorities?
• Tell me about a time when you faced an ethical dilemma. How did you handle it?
• Have you ever been on a team where someone was not pulling their own
weight? How did you handle it?
• We have all had to work with someone who was difficult to get along with.
Give me an example of when this happened to you and how you handled it.
• If I was your supervisor and asked you to do something you disagreed with,
what would you do?
• What traits irritate you about other people and how do you deal with those?
• Describe a situation in which you and a coworker/client were in conflict with
each other. What did you do to resolve it and what was the outcome?
The interviewing process is one of the most crucial phases of the hiring process.
Proper preparation and structure can make a major difference in adding the right
person to your team and insuring they will be there for the long haul.
Remembering tips for interview success and using a range of interview
techniques will put you on the right path to building a successful team.
Good selling!
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