Interviews at the best of times can send your nerves into overdrive! We know as sales people, the more knowledge you have about your service or product, the better prepared you are to provide a solution and gain a successful sale. Adopt this approach to interviews and clearly visualise an end result...a positive outcome and a new refreshing & rewarding opportunity!
With some preparation and research and an open mind to improving your style, you have the ability to change the outcome to ensure you stand out from your competition by following some straight forward suggestions.
1. Research the company – check out the website and make sure you gain enough of an understanding about the company so you can easily describe their core business. They may sponsor a national sports team or charity or have involvement in the local community – if you share a personal interest in that, this can help with striking up a starting conversation.
2. Check out where your meeting is going to be held if you’re unfamiliar with the location and always arrive on time or no more than 5 minutes early before your arranged meeting time. If you happen to be early, take a walk or use the time to relax before going in.
3. More than likely you’ll be asked to talk about your core strengths – Have a think about your previous work experience and take the time to identify what relevant strengths you’ve gained that you can cross transfer into the role you’re being interviewed for. Have at least 3-5 you can talk about. i.e. If it’s a business development position you’d talk about your natural ability to identify and win new business via cold calling within the business to business sector OR Ability to relate to people from all walks of life and across all levels of a business environment OR You are a strategic thinker who enjoys a creative approach to implementing sales strategies etc.
4. Be clear and precise when answering questions and ensure you maintain eye contact at all times with the person you are talking to. It’s o.k. to take a breath and take a bit of time to answer each question if you need to.
5. Back up negatives with positives. For example, if you were asked to talk about your weaknesses and you said ‘you don’t have industry or product knowledge’, you could back that up by saying - ‘however, I enjoy the challenge of learning and gaining knowledge and I’ll go out of my way to take the time to ensure I’m up to speed as quickly as possible by doing the research needed to be effective to support my customers’.
6. Ensure you give some thought into where you’d like to see your career heading in the future. This will highlight you’re forward thinking approach, motivators, drivers and goals and will open up discussion around what the company has to offer you in line with these.
7. Be prepared to answer behavioural based questions i.e. tell me about a successful sales and marketing plan you implemented, how did you go about it and did you achieve the expected outcome/results? Answering these types of questions involve describing the situation in which an action or series of actions was taken, then describing the actions and finally the result or outcome stemming from the action taken. Be specific to an actual situation or task that you were involved in, rather than just a description of your recommended approach and describe what you specifically did (rather than what others on the team did).
8. Always be prepared with some questions when given the opportunity to ask – be proactive and show an interest! Some examples may be; how would you describe the company culture; what are their core values; who are their main competitors; what training and development programmes are in place; what would be the potential career path/next step from this role; how would they describe their management style; how has the company performed & what goals are they striving for etc.
9. Salary expectations – before going into the interview you should already be aware of the salary/package on offer. A suggestion would be to say you are aware of the package on offer, you believe this reflects your level of skills & expertise and as much as salary is a key driver (especially in a sales culture!), ultimately your focus is securing an opportunity that opens the doors to further career advancement, training and development, a dynamic culture where you can share ideas & be part of a business that strives to be the best and that will get the best out of you.
10. Another couple of general tips is always ensure you dress appropriately for interview in business attire (Suit up!) and put your best foot forward in your personal presentation. When you initially meet the client, look them in the eye, smile and give them a good firm handshake. Have a bit of fun, let your personality come through, have a laugh if appropriate.
11. If you’re interested in the position after you’ve finished your meeting, let the client know, let them see your enthusiasm and leave them with a clear picture that you’re the one for the job.
Be prepared, visualise the outcome you want, maintain professionalism at all times, breath...! Invest the time to invest in you and your career!
Interview Killers!
1. Treat your interview like an ultimate sales pitch. If you’re unprepared and haven’t done your homework then don’t bother...
2. If you’re under the weather and have the women or man ‘flu’...postpone.
3. Cookies and cream go down a treat when it’s your Mum...but not at interview. No home baking!
4. Don’t go overboard – it’s your time to shine but not time to blind your interviewers
5. Ragged and hagged and we could also add hung over...not the look you should be going for. Suit up, look fresh, smell fresh!
6. Never speak negatively about your current or ex employers – there are always lessons to learn from each job and experience and a way to put a positive spin on it.
7. Cut the slang and bad language, even if the interviewer is using it – it could be a test
8. Not listening and talking off on tangents is a no go zone – be aware and be clear
9. Don’t butt in or talk over your interviewer! Let them finish talking before answering their question.
10. No folded arms or closed off body language - be aware of what signs your sending out, maintain an open positive body stance.