chat
expand_more

Chat with our Pricing Wizard

clear

Career Advice for Job Seekers

4 Tips for Interviewing for a Sales Job

William Frierson AvatarWilliam Frierson
June 28, 2012


In many ways, interviewing for a sales position is exactly like interviewing for any other job.  However, there are a handful of interviewing variables that become even more important when it is a great business development role that you are going after.

Below are four tips to incorporate during your next interview:

1. Sell Yourself: This is probably the number one, all-time most important thing in any job interview…let alone when it’s an interview regarding sales.

Sales roles are one of the most important in any company; you are the face of the company and the number one source of its revenue.  Your job in an interview is to convince the potential employer that you can contribute to the company’s success.  When you think about it, if you can’t even sell yourself, how are they to believe that you can sell anything else?

2. Have Evidence: This goes hand in hand with selling yourself.  You can say anything you want in an interview, but without evidence to back yourself up who is going to believe you (especially as when so many people think sales they think of a used car salesman who will say anything to close a deal)? Have some figures to prove that your past successes. And if they don’t lend themselves to cold hard numbers, have an example or two.

3. Ask Questions: Again, this is something that you should be doing in any interview, but this is even more important as many institutions now lean towards “consultative” or “solution” selling.

Companies want sales people who can ask their clients questions, discover what their problems are and then offer a solution. From the onset, display that this is your approach by showing you can listen as well as you speak.

4. Think of the Company as a Client: Treat your interviewer as you would a client you wish to ink a contract with. You wouldn’t (or shouldn’t) talk over a client in a meeting, nor would you just pitch them and walk away.

You listen, offer solutions, and send “Thank you” and “Follow up” notes. If you think of a prospective employer as a client you want to woo, you can’t go wrong.

In closing, have confidence in yourself and make sure that you are always selling, just not too aggressively and you ought to be just fine.

Coming from the media industry, Courtney Kline is a senior recruiter for KAS Placement www.kasplacement.com covering sales, marketing and media recruiting for clients of all sizes throughout the United States.  In a short period of time, Courtney has become a key player at KAS.

New Job Postings

Advanced Search

Related Articles

No Related Posts.
View More Articles