Strategy Statement:
The interviewer is going to be interested in hearing your philosophy behind what makes a successful call.
Sample Response:
I have had the benefit of being on both sides of the counter, not only as a salesman, but as a business owner. From the latter, I learned a tremendous amount regarding the former. As a business owner, I found myself impatient and unresponsive to those salespeople who were not prepared. I would only start listening when it became apparent to me that the proposal had involved some homework.
Another ‘deal-breaker’ situation would come up when I sensed that the salesperson had no genuine desire in knowing what I felt. There is no benefit to be gained from shoving a ‘greatest thing since sliced bread’ proposal in front of a person. Using my experience as a business owner, I now know that the best way to prepare is to PREPARE. Preparation means research. It involves time and (sometimes) HARD work.
If you have a product or service that you would like to offer a business/individual, you need to be sure that your product/service has an actual, relevant, connection to the business. If there is no connection, then you (as a salesperson) are barking up the wrong tree. It would be very tough to encourage a Christian bookstore to advertise on the menu at a local tavern. The connection is very difficult to establish, and the benefits to be gained would be hard to describe.
I also need to keep in mind that my potential client is most comfortable when they are able to tell me their own success stories, and the conversation I have needs to keep that opportunity in mind.
I need to know what the right questions are for me to ask, and to also make sure that my client feels that I am invested enough to pay attention to what they have to say.
Copyright 2010. North Pacific Technology Group LLC. All rights reserved.
The interviewer is going to be interested in hearing your philosophy behind what makes a successful call.
Sample Response:
I have had the benefit of being on both sides of the counter, not only as a salesman, but as a business owner. From the latter, I learned a tremendous amount regarding the former. As a business owner, I found myself impatient and unresponsive to those salespeople who were not prepared. I would only start listening when it became apparent to me that the proposal had involved some homework.
Another ‘deal-breaker’ situation would come up when I sensed that the salesperson had no genuine desire in knowing what I felt. There is no benefit to be gained from shoving a ‘greatest thing since sliced bread’ proposal in front of a person. Using my experience as a business owner, I now know that the best way to prepare is to PREPARE. Preparation means research. It involves time and (sometimes) HARD work.
If you have a product or service that you would like to offer a business/individual, you need to be sure that your product/service has an actual, relevant, connection to the business. If there is no connection, then you (as a salesperson) are barking up the wrong tree. It would be very tough to encourage a Christian bookstore to advertise on the menu at a local tavern. The connection is very difficult to establish, and the benefits to be gained would be hard to describe.
I also need to keep in mind that my potential client is most comfortable when they are able to tell me their own success stories, and the conversation I have needs to keep that opportunity in mind.
I need to know what the right questions are for me to ask, and to also make sure that my client feels that I am invested enough to pay attention to what they have to say.
Copyright 2010. North Pacific Technology Group LLC. All rights reserved.