5 steps to interviewing success for a sales position

By: Tom Searcy
Topics: Marketing

(Credit: image courtesy of flickr user moyogo cc)

Great news on employment: Companies are hiring salespeople. Actually, that's now news -- it's happening all the time. There is perpetual demand for people who can make a difference in the area of sales. Maybe your parents told you the same thing mine told me, "If you can sell, you'll never go hungry."

If you have not interviewed for a new position in a while, or have been less successful than you would like, I have 5 steps for you to follow to sharpen up for interviews.

1. Do your analysis and research. In preparing yourself for the meeting, look past what you need to know. Connect with what you like. What do you like about the:

-- Company?
-- Solution offering?
-- Market position?
-- Position?
-- Interviewer?

Your positive energy, due diligence, and organic interests are contagious. If you do your homework and you can't figure out the answers to all five of those questions, go in skeptical. If you can't figure the answers out in the first interview, don't go on a second one.

2. Mentally prepare yourself to be the buyer, not the seller. Buyers ask questions to determine if they want to be owners and to get a sense of what that experience might be like. You need to do the same. What if you get the job offer? When will you figure out if it's an offer you want -- at the time of the offer or closer to the beginning of the process? I recommend making that determination early.

3. Build your career narrative. It's Super Bowl season, when interviewers often ask something to the effect of, "Do you feel like everything you have done your entire career has brought you to this moment?" It's the Super Bowl, so an appropriate response might be, DUH! For you, the question is whether can you connect the dots of your career that brought you to this moment, this critical opportunity, and explain why you are ready for it. That narrative is important to understand for yourself first so you can explain to others.

4. Focus on the change they want. Hiring salespeople is about investing in a change in outcomes. What outcomes do they want? What outcomes are you going to change? Can you name them? Is it product or purchase mix? New customer acquisition? Current customer expansion? Territory turnaround? The point is that the candidate who receives the offer is the one who can create the greatest sense of confidence in the outcome change.

5. Follow "State Visit" protocols. All your details must be impeccable: The confirmation of the appointment, your resume and references, the "thank you" note following the meetings. All the details you would get just right with your biggest prospect, you need to follow here. Even if you do not get the offer, you want there to be no doubt about your quality as a candidate or your professionalism. I have seen lots of hiring processes result in a job candidate getting the position six to 12 months after the initial interview. Sometimes, the way you exit the process opens the door to future options.

I have hired a lot of sales people over time and interviewed many candidates for clients. The winners in those processes nailed these five things.