1.  The Negative Sell:

1.  
   • “You are probably overqualified for this position”
   • “This position, is almost 100% New Business Development, all you will do all day is make cold calls.”
   • “There are other positions open in Marketing or Account Management that you might be more interested in, would you like me to get you in touch with those hiring managers?”

One of the most common traps is the “Negative Sell.”  The negative sell can come in many different forms, but most commonly hiring managers will bait you with other positions internally that may or may not be open to try to get to the bottom of your primal interest.  You may be telling the interviewer that you are willing to hunt for new business but would much rather work as an Account Manager?  Are you unemployed and getting desperate, thus willing to take a role that you are overqualified for?  Are you an experienced Sales Person, tiring of the rat race, and thus looking for ways to get out of sales all together, (i.e: a Product Marketing, training, or something else).  Or are you an entry level sales person that ended up in sales purely out of default, still under the assumption that marketing, advertising or PR, would be the “sexier” career choice? 

In the market that we are currently in, where interviews are hard to come by, the key to overcoming this trap and ensure a positive interview you must have the following:  Tact and Focus.   

Be tactful and show focus to the job you are interviewing for:

(Example Reponses)

 “Everything I’ve learned about your organization leads me to believe this is certainly a company I want to be a part of.  I am here today to focus on learning more about the Account Executive Role.  I feel strongly, that based on my experience I could be both happy as well as highly successful in the role.  Do you have any questions or concerns that would lead you to believe I was not a good fit for this role, and is that the reason you are suggesting other avenues to take?”

There certainly are instances when you go into a company, interviewing for one role, and ultimately end up getting an offer for a different role.  The above response would allow for that while not disqualifying you for the role in which you initially applied. 

2.  The Bad Cop

Another very common trap in sales interviews is what we like to call Bad Cop.  You have had one or two interviews and great rapport with all the people you’ve met with until…..THE BAD COP.  Right off the bat, this interviewer is confrontational.  You show up on time, and they say you are late.  You answer their question and they always have a rebuttal.  No matter what you say, you just don’t seem to say the right things.  They object to everything you say, and purposely don’t answer your questions…they may even get up and leave the room while you are mid-sentence.  At the end of the interview, they may flat out tell you that you are not a fit. 

If this hasn’t happened to you yet, then consider yourself lucky.  This tactic is used by hiring managers and many times by outsourced consulting firms who are hired by the hiring company to simulate a challenging prospect you may encounter while in an actual sale.  This can commonly look like a terrible interview but it is in fact a trap the interviewer is trying to get you to fall into.

The key to this is to anticipate what might be coming and remember it is not a personal attack, this is an interview trap.  Just like in sales, you have your awesome prospects, and those that…well… are not so awesome.  Great Sales People find a way to win over any audience.  So keep your cool and remember their challenging personality could simply be a trap to gauge how you would handle yourself.  Take your time overcoming their objections in a non-defensive way.  Ignore their blatant disrespect by spinning conversation back to positive aspects of your background whenever possible.  Of course, no one wants to work for a jerk, however, get through the interview by treating it like a sales call, don’t let your feathers get ruffled and then later in the process probe and qualify who this person is and in what capacity would you work together. 

3.  The Comfort Zone:

Oh, the comfort zone…how easy it is to sink right into the casual conversations about your weekend activities, how much you hated your last boss, or the fact that you are really looking for a sales role that pays the most money but requires the least amount of work.   The Comfort Zone might as well be a hole full of quick sand because when you fall into The Comfort Zone there is no talking yourself back out.  You’re done.

At first read, you may say, “I know better than to do this,” however it is easier trap to fall into than you may think.  The more experienced your interviewer, the more artful they are in creating, “The Comfort Zone”.   Even with all of today’s technology, sales is still about people and ultimately, people buy from people they like and trust…they also hire people they like and trust.  Thus, within that conquest to relate to the hiring manager, to get him/her to like you, it is one’s natural inclination to walk down the same conversation paths as the hiring manager. 

The key to this isn’t unlike any of my other advice….it is all about preparation.   Be cognoscente that these traps exist, so you are on your toes, looking out for them and tactfully sidestepping them.   Definitely relate to your interviewer, but avoid all potential topics of controversy or inappropriate nature.  You can have a very dynamic conversation, full of positive affirmations, head nods, laugher and eye contact without saying anything damaging!!!! 

After all, “failure to prepare is preparing to fail.”  Think of a mouse trap….it only works if it catches the mouse off guard.  Once the mouse knows that it is there, the mouse can easily take a different path to bypass the trap.  Some mice even get skilled enough to take the cheese out of the trap without it closing on them.  These Mice go happily on their way with a belly full of cheese.  So, next time you’re gearing up for your next interview, put some time into anticipating these common traps and others. 

Interviewing is a skill.  With a little preparation, you will soon find yourself facing interview traps with confidence and leaving interviews not overcome, but leaving with offers!!

We have all been in an interview and things are going reasonably well.  You can’t get the best read on what the interviewer is thinking but you know that s/he does not completely hate you.  Just when you’re feeling confident, they throw out that question that you have heard a thousand times before and you never know how to answer it the right way.  You spew out a bunch of sentences that you hope will form an audible answer but it’s a crap shoot.

I am going to take up a few blogs and explore some of these questions, how to approach them, how to prepare for them and, more importantly, why the hell do they ask these questions in the first place .

First Question:

“Where do you want to be in 5 years?” 

It is one of those questions that a hiring manager will ask and wants a direct answer but what the answer is does not matter as much as how you answer it.  I recently wrote a blog about ‘the message’ that you are trying to deliver.  My point in that blog was that it is not always about what you say, but how you say it.  That is what this cookie cutter question is all about.

There are many different ways to successfully answer this question but only one way to blow it – not have an answer.  If the first word out of your mouth is “err” or “ahh” – you’re all done.  Just pack it up and walk out.  If your answer is, “Jeeze, I never thought about it,” give them a fist bump and move on.  Let’s be honest, no one has a crystal ball and knows where they will be in 5 years – but you have an idea of what you’d like to be in the future.  That’s where you answer should start.

First, let’s talk about why they are asking this question.  They simply want to find out if you have direction.  That’s it.  Do you know where you are going in life?  Are you steering the ship or are you along for the ride?  Employers are looking for drivers, not riders.  Put yourself in their shoes – do you want someone who is going to sit around and wait to be told what to do OR do you want someone who will always be busy and taking initiative?  They simply want to know if you are proactive or reactive.

Now, let’s figure out how to answer this, here is the secret:  answer the question honestly.  Tell them who you want to be and it does not have to be professionally.  Remember, it’s not about what you say, it’s how you say it.  If you are confident and you have a plan – they will accept it. The answer can be, “I want to be a good husband to my wife and father to my kids.  I want to be in a home with a yard and continuing to advance myself professionally.”  Simple and general and most importantly, honest.  Here’s another, “I want to be a top producer in this company and I plan on doing that by following the training and looking to you (interviewer) as my mentor.”  This is a little intense but it is very direct and ambitious.  The interviewer will not question your dedication to advancement and will probably move onto HOW you plan to accomplish that.

So the next time you are in an interview just remember that there is no cookie cutter answer to this cookie cutter question.  However you decide to answer, you have to own it and make it your answer…it is your future after all.  Take a few moments and write down a few things that you would like to accomplish in the next few years and how you plan to accomplish them.  Make them simple and attainable goals and make sure that they are important to you.  Do not do it because you want to be ready for an interview but do it because you want to set real goals.  Without goals, you are just along for the ride and who knows where that will lead you?!  It is more fun to steer the ship than it is to be strapped in the passenger seat.

By Kimberly Collins

How many of you job seekers would love to be a fly on the wall, listening in on a group of Sales Managers and Vice President’s while they discuss their favorite interview questions?  Which question is their “go-to” question, which questions they save to the end of the interview to hopefully knock you off your game?  Consider your wish granted….the following is a list derived from a Sales Manager Networking group where the topic was “The Ten Favorite Interview Questions You Ask”!

1) “You are going to go home and talk to your family and significant other about your interview today. They are going to ask you about our company….what you are going to tell them?”
The manager who listed this question uses it to determine a candidate’s true listening skills, can they listen and articulate back a message. 

2) ”If I asked your last Boss what you could improve in order to sell more, what would he say?”

This is a creative way of asking about your weaknesses. 

3) “What questions do you have for me?”

This manager has been taught to score the interviews with prospective employees.  They award five points if the candidates asks  a) how they did/if they have concerns,  b) will they hire them and/or recommend them,  c) what is the next step and d) can we set it up.  This manager (and every manager) wants a salesperson that can demonstrate in an interview, that they are capable of moving the sales process forward.  If they can’t do it in an interview, then they won’t be able to do it in front of a client. 

4) “I’d like to give you a choice. You can tell me about your background or, I can tell you about the position and then you can tell me about your background. What would you prefer?”

Asking this question, allows the manager to determine if their candidate leads with feature/benefits or first determines the prospects needs and then aligns the products capabilities with those specific needs.

5) “How do you overcome price as an objection?”

Asking this question allows the manager to see if you understand how to lay the groundwork for value and differentiation.  If you are an order taker, you probably will not be able to answer this question….UNLESS YOU ARE PREPARED!!!

6) “Tell me what you know about my company.”

This manager wants to see if you can tell him/her something more than the basics.   It shows they have prepared for the meeting by researching your firm and are taking this seriously. 

7) ”Tell me about a sales situation with a customer that shows why people buy from you.” 

The details of this story allow this manager to understand your selling style.  

8) ”A piece of paper is passed across the table.  It has a name and a phone number on it.  The manager asks the candidate to call the number and make an appointment.”  

This manager wants to see if you have the confidence to take on the challenge – not necessarily if you say the right “pitch” and get the appointment. 

9)  What have been times in your career when you have struggled as a professional and how have you handled them? 

This manager wants to determine your tolerance for adversity.  If you have yet to experience a set back there is no way of knowing how you will react to one when it comes.  In addition if your idea of setback is a “normal” day at their company this will show them you are not the right fit. 

10)   “Why do you like sales?”

This manager looks for very competitive, money motivated sales professionals.  If you don’t say “money” as a main reason you are in sales, he is not interested in you. 

Some of these aren’t shocking, pretty basic if you say the least.  But the more you understand about whom you are talking to and why they are asking these questions, the better you can prepare.  What are some of the questions that you have been asked recently or in the past that have knocked you off your game?  And….if you are a manager….what is your favorite question to ask and why do you ask it???