Job Interview Advice

Lindsay Lohan

Here's my situation, and I'm going to try to keep this as short as possible but it's rather unique.

I work at a good sized company that sells credit cards for large fleets of vehicles. About 4 years ago, we also started reselling gps tracking systems (the big brother, watch your workers type of things). I've been servicing them since we started selling them - customer service, sales support, training others, etc. I also am the person that did the MS Access/VBA coding on all the databases we use in servicing the product and until recently the system sales actually did quotes and orders out of was my creation.

A position just opened for a small/midsized fleet sales rep for this product. I decided I'd like to try my hand in that world and frankly the money involved. I emailed the manager in that area (who works a few cubes down from me, we go out drinking with their department, the teams are close) and he said that he would definitely consider me but to be aware a sales background is preferred. I don't have that. I have a few months as a telemarketer, but no formal/resume-able sales background.

What I do have is product and customer knowledge, something I don't believe any other candidate has. I applied, I am being scheduled for a discussion with him about the role as part of the interview process. How should I address that I have this deficiency without focusing on it and pushing him towards another candidate? Has anyone else been in a situation where they are interviewing with someone that they are fairly informal with in the normal working day - any tips? I'm concerned I may be too laid back/comfortable given how long I've worked with their team.

bowen

Selling yourself is going to be similar to selling products. Show why you're the better choice. Highlight your in depth knowledge is going to be key in keeping customers happy. Happy customers means returning customers. You're not just going to promise the world and fail to deliver and ruin a professional relationship.

Plus you know the company's infrastructure so getting customers the help they need is more simpler. Once you've done all that I'd highlight that you trying to sell yourself to him is how hard you'd work to sell the products to a customer.

Djeet

I'd find out if this is an outbound or cold calling position. This is hugely different from being a customer-facing technical CRM guy who also does sales.

I can't change myself basic nature to be successful in outbound/cold calling. I am awesome on sealing the deal with vetted leads who are calling in since they are already interested from initial pitch or their own research. I'm decent at follow-up, but probably not as good as successful outbound sales.

Lindsay Lohan

It's outbound based on leads generated from campaigns to our existing customers from our fuel card fleets. We do get some inbound customers interested from seeing info on the website, but generally speaking it's outbound but not cold calling.

zepherin

Also understanding the sales environment before doing the interview might help, if it is high pressure sales you are going to want to portray yourself a bit differently than a more lax environment. I've been told by a car salesmen I know that you won't even get considered if you don't act greedy and arrogent. "why do you want this job?" "Because I want to make a lot of money." That sort of thing, YMMV. However I don't know about it from a sales rep point of view.

Lindsay Lohan

bowen wrote: »

Selling yourself is going to be similar to selling products. Show why you're the better choice. Highlight your in depth knowledge is going to be key in keeping customers happy. Happy customers means returning customers. You're not just going to promise the world and fail to deliver and ruin a professional relationship.

Plus you know the company's infrastructure so getting customers the help they need is more simpler. Once you've done all that I'd highlight that you trying to sell yourself to him is how hard you'd work to sell the products to a customer.

I think that's exactly how I'm going to try to sell myself. Plus, last time we were out drinking, one of the two sales guys already on the team was telling the manager they don't think he should hire someone with sales experience from within the company because they think our product is so odd/unique that the normal sales routines just don't translate to the product. Hopefully he listened to that guy!

I'm really friendly with the two already existing sales reps on the team, I know that will at least help a bit. Also, it gives me a sense of how pressured it is - it's high pressure to make monthly goals where it's still a relatively new product and they want it to succeed, however it's not a cutthroat, sell at all costs type of environment. I worry however, that the manager is so used to seeing me in my current role that he won't want to slide me into a different one.

mts

i would emphasize that sales experience comes from actually hands on sales where as the knowledge you have is harder to come by and will be useful in making up fo rthe lack of sales experience at first

Inquisitor77

Show that you've done your research and spoke to your colleagues about the job. Walk in with a good understanding of what it entails based on their input, and be prepared with several insightful questions that show you have both the correct mindset and right skills for the job. For example, if your buddies tell you that they often run into Problem X, ask him, "Folks like John and Sara have told me that Problem X often pops up for them in a sales environment. Do you think this is a common problem across the board? Would you have any recommendations for me should I encounter something similar?" At that point, he will probably also ask you for your thoughts on the matter, so hopefully you will have some sort of response. Keep in mind that responses to questions are generally not about having the right answer. They are about showing a proper understanding of the problem. So you could simply respond with, "Well, based on my limited understanding I'm guessing that Problem X occurs because of Reasons A and B, so I would investigate what causes Reasons A and B to show up so often and try to mitigate those." A great thing to come in with would be a full understanding of their approach to marketing and selling the product currently, and asking questions related to that strategy (why it was chosen, when it seems to work, if they have considered other approaches, etc.).

If you can sell yourself, then you can sell products. Selling is not about being the conceited, slick, and suave greasy car salesman guy. It's about displaying confidence in who you are (including your flaws) and showing that you can build trust between people. Concentrate on being yourself, illustrating your competence, and building a rapport with your interviewer.

Lindsay Lohan

Hope no one minds but as an update, I'm now scheduled for a 2 part interview for Friday. Here's the thing - the second part is basically what I expected with the manager interviewing me. The first part however is a panel interview with their entire team. This is incredibly weird/awkward given I'm super friendly with the team and can't fathom what an interview is going to look like.

Has anyone had a panel interview (currently me + 5 interviewers) to know what to expect? Has anyone had the seemingly strange experience of being interviewed in part by friends? I haven't had a group interview in about 14 years and that was for a teaching job so it was a bit different.

bowen

Panel interviews are a pain. Look people in the eye. Everyone. Whoever asks you a question look them in the eye, then around the room, and try to focus most on the person who asked.

Be prepared for a wide range of questions that test your width and depth of knowledge all in one go.

Lindsay Lohan

bowen wrote: »

Panel interviews are a pain. Look people in the eye. Everyone. Whoever asks you a question look them in the eye, then around the room, and try to focus most on the person who asked.

Be prepared for a wide range of questions that test your width and depth of knowledge all in one go.

Thanks - I think the part that's the hardest in this case for me is the fact that I know them - especially 2 of them - so well. We go out as a group frequently and are fairly raunchy at work to the point that I know one guy's taste in men and bedroom antics and we frequently accuse the other of being a customer of the recent Zumba hooker up here. It's going to be weird to answer their questions wearing a tie and a straight face.

TabooPhantasy

bowen wrote: »

Panel interviews are a pain. Look people in the eye. Everyone. Whoever asks you a question look them in the eye, then around the room, and try to focus most on the person who asked.

This. I do retail sales and making sure everyone in the group feels included in the conversation goes a long way to making them feel more comfortable and secure with the information you are giving them. It also makes you seem that much more confident in your abilities.
If this is not something you are used to doing then you will probably have to actively think about it, but it will pay off in the end.

Joke response: It is probably a good idea to lay off the hooker jokes.

bowen

Yeah in my opinion it was the easiest yet hardest interview I've done. Easy in that being assertive is a hard trick to master but you just impressed ~5 people if you do it, and hardest with just the sheer range of questions catching me off guard and having to think on my feet.

If you nail the first part the second part isn't even hardly that important so long as you didn't fumble like a football player with butter on their fingers.

Lindsay Lohan

Thanks for the input. The good part about the group interview is that I'm fairly certain that I have 2 of the 5 people pushing for me to get the position even without the interview. The other 3 I know would like me to get the job, but I don't have as strong a tie to them. I think pushing that no one could hit the ground running as quickly as I could and the fact that I've stuck with this product already since it was introduced should definitely be advantages for me.

And yes, I'll lay off the hooker jokes (on Friday, no promises for the rest of the week) - it's just an odd position to have coworkers of 4+ years interviewing me!