If you Google sales interview tip’s you will likely find an endless amount of information. Most of what is being said on these forums, YouTube videos, and how to sites is generic information designed to draw you to the site. You’ll find buzz words and keywords optimized to rank highly in searches for the keen and eager sales person to find their site. You are another click on their pay-per-click advertising model designed to make THEM money.
The problem with sales ‘how to’ lists is that sales is an enormous topic which can generate an enormous amount of interest from the Internet public. Stay clear of the following types of headlines, if you want to do well in a Sales Interview:
1. Influence your Interview
2. One Best Sales Interview Question
3. Answers to Top Sales Interview Questions
4. Sales Interview Techniques
5. Sales Interview Must Do’s
I will end the list at five but it could go on forever. I will quickly tell you why the above are troublesome and time wasting.
Myth # 1 there are a list of top sales interview questions.
There is no standard list of questions you need to memorize answers too in order to be prepared for a sales job interview. This is not a multiple choice exam at school requiring a predetermined score to get the job.
The focus of a sales job interview is you. You are the only person who can answer questions about yourself. Trying to study what to say during a sales interview is a waste of time because all of your knowledge and experience is hard wired into your brain already. I might as well ask you to study how to breathe, before taking a breath.
You know who you are and what you have done. Your focus should be presenting yourself with confidence and making a great first impression.
Myth # 2 you need to learn sales interview techniques.
If you approach a sales interview with a focus of being anything other than yourself, you are setting yourself up for failure. There is no secret technique to being you. In every interview I have participated in I have always tried to be confident, humble, outgoing and respectful of the interviewer’s time.
You don’t have to convince anyone you are the world’s best sales person. In fact, if you are the world’s best sales person, it would be to your advantage to under promise and then over deliver after you got the job.
Give the best answer you have and try to make a point without rambling on, your interviewer will appreciate your ability to answer their question concisely.
Myth # 3 you should focus on the questions the interviewer will ask you.
I have never focused on what I will be asked during an interview. The list of questions you could be asked is endless so there is no point trying to guess what you will be asked. In fact I make a list of the questions I want to ask the interviewer once they have asked me the questions they want to have answered. Again you are not studying for a school exam. Memorizing answers is useless and will likely make you come across as over-rehearsed.
You will find writing a list of questions you want answered and determining what you think is a satisfactory answer to your question is one of the best ways to prepare for an interview. By having a list of thoughtful questions laid out ahead of time, you are subconsciously telling the interviewer you have given this interview some thought and preparation, which is exactly what an interviewer wants. They want you to care.
You are attending the interview to hopefully get a job that will increase your standard of living and help you provide for you and your family. You need to give satisfactory answers and you should also expect to receive satisfactory answers to your questions in return.
I have been in interviews where I asked a few questions of the interviewer and quickly realized this was not the job for me, whether they wanted to me or not.
This list of YOUR questions will save you from wasting time in interviews for jobs that don’t meet your standards and it will help you find the most suitable job for you.
Just be Yourself
I don’t see many articles across the Internet encouraging aspiring sales people to focus on being themselves during sales interviews. I see many quick fix, how to, or must do lists that serve the purpose of driving site traffic.
If you want to do well in a sales interview BE YOURSELF and write down a list of questions you want answered. In no time you will find yourself taking charge of the interview and your life.
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