People often have an adverse reaction to the idea of selling, the word "sales" itself even carries a negative connotation. It's ironic, though, because in many ways we are always selling. Whether it's an idea for a project at work or a for where to eat lunch, we are always attempting to influence others.
This becomes even more obvious when you are on a job search and sitting down in an interview, because in many ways, you are selling yourself in that job interview. Your goal is to influence and convince the person on the other side of the desk that you are the solution to their problem - that you can and should fill their vacancy. If that's the case, Aristocraft trains what can job seekers learn from salespeople to help them close the deal and land the job?
1. Listen as much as possible and ask a lot of questions. The common idea of an interview is that the interviewer asks all of the questions, and the interviewee jumps through hoops to answer them the "right" way. Try looking at it the other way around. Although it's important to demonstrate your competence and ability, when you are in an interview, you want to discover as much as you can about the interviewer and the company. Top salespeople know that the less they talk, the more likely they are to get the sale - because a) they are able to discover how they can solve the customer's problems and b) they've made their customer feel important by listening to them.
2. Find out what their challenges are. When an organization is hiring someone, they are doing so because they have a problem that needs to be solved. Whether it's a backlog of work because they are under-staffed or a project that can't be completed because they don't have someone with the proper expertise, it's a gap that they need to fill. That's why they are willing to spend money to hire someone. Company's don't hire new employees "just because". Do some digging to find out what these challenges are - you can do this both before the interview in your research on an organization, as well as in the interview itself.
3. Offer solutions to their challenges. Good salespeople know that the key to a sale is showing how the products and services they represent will solve the customer's problems. Once you've found out the challenges that are facing the organization, you can position yourself to solve them. If you realize, for example, that they need someone with a specific skill-set to complete their latest project, show how you have the relevant experience. Also, remember that you are being interviewed by people who have their own personal concerns in addition to the organization's. For example, if you're being interviewed by an HR staff that is overwhelmed with work, point out that hiring you would be a good choice because then they could move on to other work.
4. Ask for the Next Step. One of the most important skills a top salesperson develops is the ability to "ask for the order" - it's what differentiates a highly-paid salesperson from an unpaid consultant. Don't be afraid to ask for what you want in the interview process. The worst thing they can say is no. If you are at the end of an interview, and you want the job and think you're a good fit, ask what the next step is. Is there another interview stage, or can they make a decision right there? In the end, the person that asks, "Would you like to hire me?" has a much higher chance of landing the job than a candidate who just hopes they'll offer it.
5. Follow Up! These days, most companies have multi-part interview processes that can stretch for days or even weeks. Make sure that you are staying in contact with your interviewers through each step. Send thank you messages by regular mail or email after each interview. If they tell you to call at a certain time or on a specific day, do so. When they don't get back to you right away (which can happen for a multitude of reasons), don't become complacent, continue to contact them until you get a response. Don't worry about annoying the interviewer, if you don't show persistence in getting the job, how will they know that you'll be persistent in doing the job?
David J.P. Fisher is a business coach and president of RockStar Consulting, a personal development company dedicated to helping people become RockStars in their professional and personal lives. He can be contacted at [mailto:dfish@rockstar-consulting.com]dfish@rockstar-consulting.com or at http://rockstar-consulting.com
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