Interview Tips: Use Your Sales Tactics to Sell Yourself as the Right Candidate

Interviews are all about selling yourself. Therefore, it stands to reason you should use the sales tactics you’ve learned over the years to sell yourself as the right candidates for a sales role. After all, if you can’t sell yourself, how will you be able to sell the company’s products and services?

Conduct Thorough Research

Just as you’d conduct research on a prospect before a sales call, you should conduct thorough research on any organization you’re interviewing with. Get a good feel for their products and services and what the market has said about them; then compare it against relevant industry data and trends.

Position Yourself as a Solution

You know what you do best and it’s important to sell your strengths, but always use hard data as evidence of your value. You don’t want to give away any confidential information about past employers or clients, but you can take along reports, pay stubs or other pieces of evidence, if they are appropriate.

Practice Important Questions

You want to be relaxed and confident in an interview and you never want to get caught off guard, so make sure to practice answering common questions like:

  • What do you do when you’re halfway through a month and you are not on track to hit your targets?
  • What has been your biggest career challenge? How did you overcome it?
  • Tell me about a conflict you’ve had with another salesperson. What was the outcome?
  • What do you do when a prospect stops returning your calls?
  • What do you do when a client stops returning your calls?
  • When is it ok to bend the truth to close a deal?

Prepare Great Questions

The questions you ask at the close of the interview can be just as important as the answers you gave throughout. Thoughtful questions tell the hiring manager you are interested in the job and can reinforce your fitness for the role. Ask questions related to the job, the organizational culture and any factors you want to know about but were not covered in the interview. Consider questions like:

  • What types of salespeople succeed here?
  • What percentage of the existing sales force its targets?
  • How much flexibility do salespeople have when negotiating deals?
  • What is the management style of my direct supervisor?
  • What are the biggest challenges facing the sales team today?

Close the Deal

As with any sales meeting, make sure you close the deal before you leave. Ask the hiring manager if they have any objections or require any further information from you. Ask about next steps, and if you’re feeling bold, ask for the job directly.

Are You Looking for a New Sales Job?

If you are a talented sales and marketing project manager looking for exciting projects with great ag companies, the recruiters at Magnify Resources want to hear from you. Learn about our current sales jobs or contact us today to learn more.

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