1) The Mindset-
Revenue is the life blood of any company and the sales team pumps
revenue through a business like a heart. In the same way you wouldn’t want a weak heart
in your chest, a company can’t afford to have a weak sales team. The strength
of a sales team or a sales professional starts and ends with the proper
mindset. Sales can be an extremely
emotional profession. A sales professional faces rejection and battles with
motivation on a daily basis. Without the proper mindset this battle with
motivation and rejection will cripple a sales professional. Success in sales is
impossible without a positive mental attitude and proper mindset.
While interviewing
for a sales position, a candidate must be able to display a positive mental
attitude. You’re selling yourself in the interview and you need to believe in
the product that you’re selling to the prospective employer. If you didn’t
catch that, you need to believe in yourself. If you don’t believe that you can add value to
the prospective employer then why did you take the interview? An employer doesn’t
want to take any unnecessary risks when hiring a new employee. So if you are
presenting yourself as someone “looking to gain experience” then you’re likely not
going to get hired. An employer doesn’t want to let you use their business to
see if you can hack it and gain experience. Employers are looking for someone
who is confident in their ability to do the job, increase revenue, and strengthen
the team.
2) The Story-
The story you tell the employer about yourself in the
interview will ultimately determine your fate. Make sure that the story that
you’re telling is a positive one regardless of the reasons that you are looking
for employment. Below are two examples of
a positive and negative way to tell the same story:
1) Unhappy with current job
·
Positive: I’m looking for a company with more
potential for growth where I can apply my skill set to achieve a greater level
of success (this shows the prospective employer that you’re ambitious and confident)
·
Negative: I’m unhappy with my management team
and culture and need a change. (this shows that you have issues staying
motivated and following direction from management)
2) Got laid off and looking for work
·
Positive: Due to decisions that were out of my control,
I was let go. I gained valuable experience and skills from my previous employer
that helped me achieve incredible success. I’m ready to apply my experienced skillset to
help my next employer achieve goals and win business. (this helps the employer
focus on the experience you gained rather the job that you lost)
·
Negative: My old management felt threatened by
me and the company was downsizing ( this shows your inability to get along with
management and that you were contributing to a failing business)
Employers are looking to hire someone with a positive mental
attitude that can help them increase productivity and revenue. The way you
discuss why you’re interviewing for a position needs to be positive otherwise
you won’t get the job. Every single word out of your mouth should be positive.
Never talk about your past employer, the reason you’re job hunting, or experience
in a negative way. If you’re negative then the response from the potential
employer will be a negative one. The same kinds of questions are asked in every
interview. Prepare positive responses and make sure you’re ready to show off your
positive mindset. Challenge yourself to see how often you can use words like
valuable, incredible, skillset, and success during the course of the interview.
Your prospective employer will associate those words with your character and
potential.
3) Simple Math
The number one thing sales managers spend their time doing
is managing the volume of prospecting efforts taking place on the team. The
most fundamental part of the sales process is generating a high volume of
“reaches” to prospective clients. A “reach” happens each time a sales
professional “reaches” out to a prospective client via email, phone, or a
drop-in. Failure in sales can usually be
traced back to a low volume of “reaches”. You can be a great closer but if your
pipeline dries up due to a low volume of “reaches”, you will never meet your
sales goals.
You
will have sales management fall in love with you if communicate an ability to consistently
maintain a high volume of “reaches” to prospective clients. It’s simple math: 5
days a week multiplied by 20 reaches per day= $$$$$$$$$$$$
