As I wrote last time, the small business owner cannot afford to make too many hiring mistakes. The first place to start is with your next hire. Last question was “Is he ever in doubt?” Here is the fourth of five questions I ask, as a technical entrepreneur, when I am considering whether or not to hire someone.

[4] Does she care deeply about the end-user or the customer?

This is a tremendous question, especially for technical hires. Of course, if you ask almost anyone this question they will answer “Oh, of course!” However, we all know that the character trait of empathy is not so prevalent - especially among smart geeks. Here is why it is so important: companies who do not care about their customers typically don’t stay around too long. Certainly small companies don’t. Small businesses struggle when key people have no empathy for the customer or end users of their products. If you care enough about your next hire to have read this far, then I bet your next hire is key. At one time, I had several programmers who I discovered (after I had hired them) that they really wanted to just stay in their office like a cocoon and be sent tickets or tasks to accomplish and didn’t really want to deal with listening to a griping salesperson or customer. That might be okay for some companies, but not mine. I make my programmers deal with their customers and get on the phone with end users. There is nothing that will clear your sinuses quite like dealing with someone who uses your software or product in her day-to-day workflow and is hating that new feature you just released. Conversely, there is nothing so exhilirating and personally rewarding as getting kudos on the telephone from someone who loves the way you fixed that new feature and how it helps her so much in her day-to-day tasks! Every programmer should spend a day or two twice a year, at least, at a customer site. It does wonders for their attitude and usually is well worth the time and expense. I want someone who cares about the customer as much as I do. I will let other managers hire the ones that don’t. Another of my favorite interview questions: “Do you enjoy rolling up your sleeves and working side-by-side with end users?” Again, the answer itself and the body language will tell you all you need to know about this candidate.

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Questions 1 , 2 , 3, 4 , 5