How Salespeople Can “Sell” Their Way to Their Next Job
Are you or someone you know on the hunt for their next career move? No matter what the economy is doing, or what external factors are in play, the job market is always a competitive place (sometimes more competitive than usual in times such as a global pandemic). If you’re a salesperson, one thing to keep in mind is that your competitors, or other applicants, have innate skills to “sell” their way to their next job. It’s important to ensure you’re making yourself a competitive candidate by following your own type of “sales process” when you’re applying and interviewing for a position.
According to HubSpot, the 7 stages of the sales cycle are:
Prospect
Connect
Research
Present
Handle objections
Close
Follow up and generate referrals
My question to you is, are you using all of these steps during your job seeking process? If the answer is no, you should reconsider. Below I’ve highlighted how each of these steps should be used to find your next career move.
1. Prospecting
Before jumping right into applying for just any job, take some time to really understand what you’re looking for in your next job. What kind of position do you want and what kind of company do you want to work for? Take your time to do your research and identify people that you can connect with to help you learn more or help your foot in the door.
Pro Tip: Consider using LinkedIn to prospect the hiring manager, the HR team that may be reviewing your initial application and other team members to learn about their experience with the company. For more tips on using LinkedIn to find your next job, check out this post.
2. Connecting
Once you’ve decided which companies you want to apply to, and have identified the people you want to chat with, connect with them! Prospecting and connecting are important to make sure you’d actually like to work with the company, and sending personalized inmails or emails to the individuals that work there, can also help you stand out from other applicants. One inmail has the ability to move you from the “overlooked” pile to the “interview” pile immediately.
3. Research
At any stage during the process, make sure you are prepared and have done your research about the position you’re applying for, the company, and the individuals you will be interviewing with. Some questions to ask yourself:
Do you know what skills they are looking for? Do you have these skills? What stories can you tell to demonstrate these skills? Are they highlighted on your resume?
What are the company values? Who works there? What would you like to know about the company?
Who are you interviewing with? What has their career path been like? What do they like to do outside of work?
Make sure you’re prepared not only to share concrete stories and examples about yourself, but also be prepared with a list of questions you have about the company. Remember, an interview is a two-way street, you should be getting to know the company just as much as the company is getting to know you.
4. Present
The thing about interviewing for a sales job, is that there is almost always a presentation involved. After sitting through several sales presentations, I can tell you there are a few key elements to a successful presentation:
Be concise. Use as few slides as possible to get your message across and use more visuals than words. The cleaner your slides look, the better.
Storytelling. Instead of just sharing abstract concepts, share concrete examples and stories when possible.
Practice, practice, practice! Don’t read your slides or come with a script; it looks rehearsed and unauthentic. It doesn’t matter if you’re presenting virtually or in-person, treat them the same.
Don’t pitch. Ask questions throughout your presentation and pause to make sure they don’t have questions for you.
Be confident. As a salesperson, you need to command your presence and demonstrate that you know what you’re talking about.
Be unique. The people you’re interviewing with may have seen 100’s of presentations in their time so as you can imagine they can get a bit repetitive. Think about what you can do that’s different than anyone else to ensure you stand out and are memorable.
5. Handle objections
Okay, so during your interview you might not need to handle specific objections, however, you may have to answer questions related to your past metrics, process, and performance. Make sure you practice how to answer specific interview questions and be ready with numbers, facts, figures and stories to back up your answers.
Pro tip: Write a 2-3 page summary on your sales career highlighting all of your key achievements, failures and learnings; this will help ensure you have these examples and stories top of mind if asked.
6. Close
What’s the most important part of any sales process? The close! I can’t stress this enough, make sure you close your prospect (or interviewer). A good salesperson always closes, so a candidate will stand out when they demonstrate this skill first hand. A few examples of closing questions (depending on the step you’re at in the process) are:
“Based on what you heard today, what feedback do you have for me?”
“Based on what you saw, heard, and experienced today, will you be recommending me for this position?”
7. Follow up
Last but not least, don’t forget to follow up with your interviewers after each call or meeting you have. Of the 100+ candidates I’ve interviewed, I would estimate 1 out of 4 actually follow-up with a personalized email or inmail. The candidates that follow up are always the ones that are kept top of mind.
There you have it; 7 steps to “sell” your way to your next job. Next time you’re applying for your career move, keep your sales process in mind!
Happy “selling”!
