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Regardless of how much sales experience someone has, it’s fascinating to hear how many people struggle with interview preparation in real life and how they fail to show up as a result.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Being invited in for the sales interview is the first win in the journey to getting hired, but that\u2019s just the start.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Do you grapple to get to the next step in the interview process, let alone receive an offer?<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n How many times have you been heartbroken when you think you’ve landed your dream job only to be told, \u201cwe\u2019re moving forward with someone else?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n There\u2019s nothing more frustrating than getting a seat at the interview table for your dream job, only to be turned down and sent back to the drawing board.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n After interviewing more people than I can count and collaborating with countless executives on their hiring process, <\/span>the common theme is preparation.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The salespeople that left the job interview leaving the hiring managers wanting more have one thing in common… they were well prepared and it came through.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n I\u2019m not talking about surface-level preparation like browsing the company website for 15 minutes.\u00a0 I\u2019m talking about digging deep below the surface, taking the interview process seriously, and committing to going the extra mile because you care about your sales career and making a great decision.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Before we talk about what to do to snag that dream job, it’s important to paint a clear picture of what falls short in a sales interview. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n You can’t teach people to care.\u00a0 Intentionality (or lack thereof) always comes through.\u00a0 It\u2019s obvious when people show up to an interview planning to just wing it and see what happens.\u00a0 <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n When you answer a sales interview question, it’s critical to think about how you’re framing your response.\u00a0 Far too many salespeople use the interview to showcase their personal highlights and achievements at the surface level, forgetting that they\u2019re being interviewed for what they bring to the company specifically.\u00a0 You need to focus on the company’s product, service, mission, opportunities, in the context of the challenges that the sales job addresses.\u00a0 <\/span> If you stop at \u201cI did X, Y, and Z for a company a few years ago\u2026\u201d you\u2019re failing to put your experience in the right context.<\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n You know what they say about assumptions\u2026<\/span> If you assume at any point in the process \u2013 whether it\u2019s about the sales role you\u2019re interviewing for, the company history, or the person interviewing you \u2013 you end up selling yourself short and leaving a lot of opportunities left behind.\u00a0 It’s okay to ask questions and if it’s not, this is probably not a sales team you want to be a part of your dream job.<\/span> Hiring managers pay close attention to this as they’re not just evaluating you for their business, they’re looking at your competency as it relates to the buyer and their journey.<\/span> I can’t emphasize this enough: seek to understand, NOT respond.<\/strong>\u00a0 <\/span> The overwhelming majority of hiring managers appreciate this (I know I do).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sales and interviewing aren’t so different.\u00a0 Thinking of your interviews the same way you would your biggest sales meetings pays off.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The top 1% in sales consistently do these 8 things to prepare for success and they absolutely translate here as well:<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n As you think about interview preparation, it’s important to first ask yourself, \u2018so what?\u2019\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Why should the company talk to you in the first place?\u00a0 How do your current and past experiences move their needle?\u00a0 Putting yourself in their shoes to map back to how you can help them is foundational.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Looking at the job description (if they have one) and go through the must-haves, understand why they\u2019re hiring, and pinpoint details back to the work you’ve done with clear examples of how.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n Research the companies that have invested in them and what they’re talking about.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n The people involved in the hiring process and the content they’re sharing or commenting on.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n Leveraging LinkedIn to speak with people that have previously been in the role to get their point of view and experience.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n Annual reports, top competitor updates, quarterly earnings updates, podcasts, YouTube channels, etc. are all wonderful ways to understand their business well beyond the surface.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n Check out their LinkedIn company page and how people are engaging with it along with their Twitter and other social handles.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n Google (free) and LinkedIn Sales Navigator (paid) saved searches are powerful resources to stay up-to-date on company news, new hires, published articles, etc.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n All of these items equip you with knowledge you can take with you into the interview to stand out from the rest.\u00a0 That\u2019s how you\u2019ll knock their socks off and get your hands on that coveted new job.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Let’s break this down in a role play, shall we?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The first scenario:<\/b>\u00a0 Let\u2019s say the prospective employer recently hired a new COO.\u00a0 Most people would say, \u201cI saw you hired a new COO.\u00a0 That\u2019s great!\u201d\u00a0 Polite, but it\u2019s a flat comment that doesn\u2019t do anything to communicate your value.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n OR<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n You can take that news to create an open, informative discussion.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The second scenario:<\/b>\u00a0 \u201cI see that you just appointed [name] as COO to help you launch the analytics side of your software.\u00a0 It looks like she has 10 years with some of the best of the best in the analytics space, how does that fit within your go-to-market strategy on the sales side and how would that translate to the work we’d be doing together?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n See the difference?\u00a0 It\u2019s all about taking the information you find and contextually understanding it so you can have an informed, collaborative conversation.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Now that you’ve progressed through the initial steps of the interview process, don’t be surprised if you have to do a <\/span>sales presentation<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0 Hiring managers like to see how you’ll be with their buyers and use this as a way of better understanding this side of you in the sales process. This is absolutely part of your interview preparation that you don\u2019t want to skimp on and it shows when you do.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n According to Gartner, businesses <\/span>will miss the equivalent of up to 10% of annual sales<\/span><\/a> lost opportunities because of poor planning.\u00a0 It\u2019s the same with your presentation prep for the interview.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n My good friend, colleague, and client Scott Schwartz sat down with me to break down all the <\/span>details of the sales interview presentation.<\/span><\/a>\u00a0 There\u2019s a ton of wisdom you can apply from this to help you get it right.<\/span>The Most Common Interview Mistakes<\/b><\/h1>\n
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Not being intentional<\/b><\/h3>\n
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\n<\/span>If you\u2019re just window shopping, what\u2019s the point?\u00a0 Taking an interview is an investment in yourself and your sales career.\u00a0 If you agree to sit down with someone and show up ill-prepared, it wastes their time and yours.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
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Failing to focus on the company<\/b><\/h3>\n
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\n<\/span>It\u2019s much better to say, \u201cas the top salesperson out of a team of 15, I did X, Y, and Z for this company, I helped my buyers do X and Y, I developed D, E, and F for my team that resulted in A, B, and C, and here\u2019s why that might be helpful to you given that you shared G, H, and I with me.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\n<\/span>See the difference?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
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Making assumptions<\/b><\/h3>\n
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\n<\/span><\/p>\nHow to Prepare for a Job Interview (the right way)<\/b><\/h1>\n
![\"How](\"https:\/\/avenuetalentpartners.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Cost-of-a-Bad-Leadership-Hire-724x1024.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nInterview process prep 101<\/b><\/h3>\n
From there, your research paves the road ahead.\u00a0 Effective research includes:<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Sales Presentations<\/b><\/h3>\n
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