This is the third and final post in a three-part series on interviewing in a competitive job market.
These ideas have been applied by the top 20% of the salesforce in the tech space to win and secure competitive job offers with some of the most promising tech companies in the world.
Be prepared to describe your sales process, give an overview of your sales methodology, and discuss your daily habits and time blocks. Now, let’s dive in.
Describing your sales process at both a high and detailed level is mandatory.
For example, when a hiring manager asks about your discovery process, you should be able to talk in depth about the questions you ask and the outcomes you’re after.
Do you try to uncover the cost of the problem? Are you working toward determining the prospect’s priorities and urgency to act?
Demonstrates Preparedness
Being able to articulate your sales process shows that you have come prepared and are serious about the role. This sets you apart from other candidates who may not be as familiar with their sales techniques.
Indicates Experience
A thorough understanding of your sales process is indicative of experience. Hiring managers look for candidates with the skills to understand the “how” and “why” behind their success.
Showcases Your Strategic Thinking
Knowing your process allows you to discuss it strategically. It shows you’re not just about getting the deal done. You have a methodology, which often involves understanding the client, the market, and your product-market fit.
Highlights Problem-Solving Skills
Sales is all about solving problems. Detailing your sales process demonstrates that you understand how to uncover and identify problems, whether they are client-side or in your own process, and more importantly, how to solve them.
Facilitates Behavioral Interview Answers
Many sales interviews include behavioral questions aimed at understanding how you act in certain job-related situations. Knowing your sales process will allow you to answer these questions with real-world examples, making your answers more compelling.
Creates Opportunities for Discussing Achievements
When you are familiar with your sales process, you can easily tie in your accomplishments. Whether it’s a complex deal you closed or a new technique you’ve implemented to improve lead generation conversion, you’ll have a narrative framework to discuss these achievements.
Tailor Your Responses
Understanding your own sales process allows you to tailor your answers to the company’s values or sales philosophy. This can help show that you’re adaptable and can align with the company’s business needs.
Have you taken professional courses on selling? If so, which ones? What systems, techniques, or philosophies do you apply in your job today?
Can you discuss in depth some of the most popular sales methodologies? At a minimum, you should be able to discuss the following methodologies at a high level: Challenger, MEDDIC, SPIN Selling, and Sandler.
Here is a refresher provided by our friends at ChatGPT. Use it to review the basics of these common sales frameworks.
SPIN Selling, MEDDIC, Challenger, and Sandler are all unique in their approach to the sales process, but they share the common goal of increasing sales effectiveness.
Below is a comparison highlighting their main differences:
| DIMENSION | SPIN | MEDDIC | Sandler | Challenger |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sales stage focus | Needs analysis | Qualification & forecasting | The entire sales cycle | Middle stages — differentiation & value |
| Approach to customer | Consultative questioning | Checklist qualification | Mutual, respectful relationship | Teach and lead |
| Core motion | Questioning to identify needs | Qualifying against set criteria | Qualifying within relationship-building | Teaching something new |
| Best applied to | Complex B2B | Complex B2B | B2B and high-value B2C | Complex B2B |
| Philosophy | Consultative, educational | Analytical, built for predictability | Disrupts traditional power dynamics | Changes the customer's mindset |
These strategies range from consultative questioning and rigorous qualifying to relationship building and even thought leadership.
But don’t worry, there won’t be a test at the end of this post. Review the outline and be able to speak to some of these common sales frameworks.
Can you describe how you run your day?
Do you come into the office and start working on whatever is on your desk, or do you follow a disciplined plan?
I’ll tell you about a recent conversation that quickly took me from interested to bored.
Several weeks ago, I interviewed a President’s Club achiever.
On paper, this rep looked like a real winner. I asked him several detailed questions about how he runs his day and generates new business. After all, he said he spends most of his time generating new business because that is how he became the top rep at his company.
And although on paper, he appeared to have an undeniable track record of high performance, his ability to articulate his day-to-day workflow didn’t match this level of “paper success.”
In fact, after our conversation, I can’t imagine him being much more than a B player.
Specifically, I asked him, “How do you get your leads? How are you finding these prospects?” He said he doesn’t have a BDR/SDR and generates them 100% himself. I asked him how. He said in a nonchalant tone that he uses LinkedIn and asks for connection requests and introductions. And that was the end of it.
Maybe I’m missing something here, but last I checked, the consistent A-players I know don’t hit President’s Club multiple years by sending connection requests. Now don’t get me wrong, of course, they use LinkedIn. They do ask for connection requests and introductions.
However, this is not how they generate enough business to be in the top 20%. You can use automated tools for these tasks, although it may violate user terms, but if used alone, you will not generate enough prospects to hit President’s Club.
And if you’ve ever interviewed with me, you probably know my questioning didn’t stop there.
The rest of the conversation was not valuable enough to share, but said “LinkedIn method” was the purported winning methodology of this rep’s “success.”
If you’re a consistent top 20% performer, there is one thing I know about you: you run your day with time blocks.
You have developed calendar discipline. You don’t rely on automation to do your entire sales job for you. You follow a disciplined, process-oriented approach. And if you think this sounds overly regimented and that time blocks are for inside salespeople, you are wrong.
So, be prepared to discuss your calendar and how you block your time. Discuss the daily disciplines you use to hit your targets because one of the core foundations of a successful salesperson is how they run their day, not how it runs them.
This is the conclusion of a three-part series on interviewing in a competitive job market. Hopefully, you’ve found this series helpful and the content actionable.
Related Reading: Five Quick Ways to Spruce up Your Resume so Hiring Managers Call You for Interviews
