Nine Traits that Help You Put Your Best Foot Forward in Any Sales Interview – Part Two
This is the second post in a three-part series on Interviewing In a Competitive Job Market.
The following three ideas have been used by some of the most successful salespeople in the tech space. Get ready to take notes and apply this information to your next sales interview.
4. Challenges – If you’ve been in sales any length of time, you’ve probably marveled at how a deal would ever get done without a salesperson.
And that’s because if winning a new client was easy, we’d all be replaced with an email sequencer and a neon blinking BUY NOW button.
As a salesperson, you probably spend a lot of time thinking about your client’s problems. But in the interview, I want you to think about your own problems.
You’ll need to come to an interview with at least three well-thought-out examples of obstacles, challenges, or roadblocks you’ve personally faced along the sales cycle.
Thinking of these situations in advance will save you the trouble of trying to come up with something in the moment.
A few minutes of preparation will help you stand out from the pack.
5. Opportunities – The thing about opportunities is they are always coming and going. The best ones, don’t hang around long.
You’ve missed a few, but you’ve seized others. If you’re prepared to talk about the ones that got away, the ones you took, and the opportunities you’re currently on the lookout for, your interview will be more interesting.
6. Your Value – Sometimes, it’s hard to see what you bring to the table, other times, it’s obvious. But everyone on the sales teams contributes something unique.
Maybe you know the product inside and out. One top rep I placed was known for his research skills, which he attributed to opening doors that had remained shut to his employer for years.
Or maybe you help the newbies? I worked with one salesperson who was on the verge of being fired.
His boss and the boss’s boss called him in and told him he needed to think long and hard if he wanted to keep his sales job.
He left that evening wondering how’d he pay the bills if he threw in the towel. He went home that night, went for a long walk with his dog, and decided he was going to do what it took to keep this sales job.
And then he did.
He said something inside him just snapped, and for the next three years, he was the #1 rep in the company.
He unleashed any hesitations he had when it came to asking for the business. He also spent time with the best reps in his company.
And he did whatever it took to dig himself out of his quota hole.
Eventually, he also made himself available to reps who were struggling.
He didn’t hold back when it came to sharing how he crawled his way up to #1 after almost being fired. Know what you bring to the employer, and be able to describe how you gained these skills. More often than not, some kind of pain preceded the learning that took place.
So, what about you?
Next Post: Part 3 -Sales Process, Sales Methodologies and Daily Habits
