How to Land a High-Paying Sales Job

Mark’s note: Danny is a former Marine who started a successful career in tech sales. He wrote this to share with you all how you might do the same.

I happen to know that a young officer in the reserves just landed a great role wth Salesforce through doing what Danny says. Point is: it works.

The rest of this post is in his own words.

There are THREE phases to landing your dream job.

1. Pre-search Homework

2. Networking

3. Interviewing

Let’s walk through each in detail.

1. Pre Interview Homework – Learn about:

·       The Company

·       The Role:

·       Yourself:

2. Networking – The Most Important Part of Your Job Search

Conduct a filtered LinkedIn search. Goal:  Find veterans who are either a) doing the job that you want to be doing in the industries you’re interested in, and/or b) veterans who are in decision-maker / hiring manager positions for those roles

·       Watch ***this video*** for a step-by-step walkthrough of how to conduct these searches.

·       If you already know the company and position you want to shoot for:

·       The goal is to conduct informational interviews. Ask them about their role, their company, upward mobility, how they like their team, anything you would want to know about the position. Make a good first impression, be a normal person, offer value if/where you can. 

·       Most veterans want to help other veterans. So they’ll take the call, and then if you’re not a total weirdo, they’ll keep you in mind when a position pops up internally on their team.

·       Here’s how companies typically try to fill an open position:

·       By conducting informational interviews with current employees and bonding with them over shared military experience (and just being a good person), you’re planting a seed that will bear fruit in the future.  My sales orgs paid employees $4,000 if they referred a candidate who was hired.. that’s a hell of an incentive for them to help you if they like you as a person and think you would succeed in the role.

Do this obsessively for at least 1-2 months and I guarantee you will have opportunities materialize out of thin air.  Just be consistent and be extremely personalized in your outreach.

Once you network your way into the hiring process, your next priority is preparing yourself for interviews.

We’re going to cover what hiring managers are looking for, some common questions you’ll likely get.

What are employers looking for when evaluating Sales candidates?

·       How long will it take you to get up to speed & be of value?

·       Do you have any contacts in the industry?

·       How do you prospect / get new customers?

·       Are you a self-starter?

·       Can you represent the company well?

Some common questions you’ll see right out of the gate:

1.       Tell me about yourself & why you are a good fit for this role?

Most people’s stories are boring. Focus your “about me” on the development of traits that will translate into success in the position you’re interviewing for. Example answer:

·       First and foremost, I’m an energetic, positive, and resilient person who has developed a passion for sales over the last few years.  I have the right personality to continue succeeding in sales, I never give up & I do the work to ensure the job gets done.

·       (customize this for you, this is an example of something I’d say)From a young age I’ve always tried to improve my abilities, whether it was in school, competitive sports, best my 4 brothers in wrestling or Mario cart, or becoming a more effective leader in the Marines. That has translated well to sales; I’m always looking to improve my skills in building customer & prospect relationships, as well as in overcoming objections with an intent to constantly increase my success rate.

·       I feel I am a good fit for this position because you are an innovative, forward thinking company on an impressive growth trajectory. Combined with my own career aspirations and enthusiasm for hard work, I believe it would make an excellent combination.

2. How do you:  Handle Customer Objectives:

Might not come up, but if it does, it pays to have an answer. Here’s an example:

·       “Good question, it’s a challenge I really enjoy. For me, it’s a 7-step approach. Start off by making the prospect feel that they are being heard and demonstrate a genuine understanding of their position. Then explain how my solution has helped many other people, often providing a real-life case study of someone who has benefitted from our products/services.

·       Then, take the opportunity to open a proper, in-depth conversation with them, so they know I am taking the time to listen and address their concerns. After listening, I always acknowledge and address each specific issue or objection, then go back to the “end result” so they can visualize where they will be after implementing our solutions.

·       Next, move on and explain the low risk factor associated with utilizing our solutions, adding further benefits (cost benefits/savings, time to market, production error cost avoidance, etc). I stay open throughout the dialogue, honest and transparent about our services as I feel this is important in continuing to build trust and reach the all-important conversion.”

3. Best way to establish a customer relationship?

·       Example answer à My 5 step process:

 4. How do you approach strategic account development/management?

·       To me, driving New Business growth in my accounts comes down to 4 key focus areas:

Additional Interview Strategies + Recommendations:

v  Use the STAR method during interviews. Answer questions with a story whenever you can. Have 4-5 of these stories memorized, using your past experience to show how you overcame challenges relevant to this position.

v  Ask GOOD questions

Ø  Toward the end of the interview (whether phone or in-person), the interviewer will ask you if you have any questions for them.

Ø  I don’t care if you think that you crushed the interview – you NEED to ask good questions.

Ø  If you say “nope I think I’m all good!” YOU ARE A LIMP NOODLE and will not stand out from the other candidates.  This part is what sets you apart.

Ø  Here are a ton of example questions. Tailor for your specific situation / interviewer:

o   How long does it typically take for a new sales hire to add value, and what can I do to shorten that timeline?

o   Have you hired for this role before (in this territory?) Has it been successful? Why/why not?

o   (For Account Executives):Is there any kind of inside sales support to assist in the prospecting / warm lead generation, or is this an alone-and-unafraid hunter role? Does post-sales support assign a project manager or dedicated support engineer to each new account?

State and Liberty designs dress shirts for athletic-cut guys. The fabric feels like performance wear but looks completely at home as part of professional attire.  And the best part?  They don’t need to be dry-cleaned- simply throw them in the wash. Shop for your new look HERE and use code “vetpro10” to save 10% on your order. 

o   What do you see as your biggest challenges / risks in the next 3-6 months?

o   What is your highest priority in the next 6 months, and how can someone like me help?

o   Why do your customers buy from you, and why don’t they buy from you?

o   What behaviors do your most successful sales execs exhibit?

o   Can you tell me a little about the growth of your company, as well as where you expect the company to go in the next several years?

o   How did you come to work for X? (or – Why did you decide to work for X?)

o   What does the career progression for sales executives look like at X? Assuming I exceed expectations, how long does it typically take to advance in position / responsibility?

o   Who are your personal top 3 customer prospects for this region that you’d like to work with?

o   For your reps, is it typically more difficult to fill the pipeline or close the pipeline?

o   What do you love most about working there?

o   Who’s the most successful recent hire and why?

o   What’s the company’s biggest challenge this year and how will this position help overcome it?

o   How will I measure my performance so I know I’m having a positive impact on this challenge?

o   What additional skills or experience do you wish I had that would make me a better fit for this job? (Now you have an opportunity) to overcome that objection

Ø  The ultimate outcome of asking questions is that you extend the interview with a natural conversation. If you go overtime with a hiring manager and they don’t cut you off – that is a VERY good sign.  (Don’t read into it too much if they end the interview at the scheduled time)

Next up is the #1 most important element of a sales interview:

v  CLOSING (Very important that you close each person in EVERY step of the interview process).

Ø  It amazes me that sales candidates do not treat interview like a sales opportunity. It is literally the perfect time for you to show you know what you’re doing and can command a room.

Ø  How do you close a hiring manager? Here’s an example:

o   “James, I really enjoyed speaking with you & am interested in moving forward, what are the next steps?”

Or even better:

o    “I enjoyed speaking with you and am very interested in moving forward… at this point, do you have any hesitations or concerns I haven’t addressed already about me being successful at (X Company)?” 

Ø  I cannot emphasize closing the hiring manager enough (and his boss, and his boss’s boss, and whoever the hell you speak with). It proves to them you’re a closer.

Ø  When you get to the final interview, I’ve found that creating some constructive tension can tip the scales in your favor because Hiring Managers aren’t accustomed to sales candidates CLOSING them. It goes a long way.

Ø  Example from my final interview (in person) for my current position:

§  Me: “I enjoyed speaking with you and am very interested in moving forward – at this point, do you have any hesitations or concerns I haven’t addressed already about me being successful at (X Company)?”

§  Hiring Manager: “Nope, I think we’re all good here. Great job.”

§  Me: “Awesome. Should we set a time for me to talk to HR?”

§  HM: *chuckles and looks at his VP* Yes well you did great, we need to circle the wagons as a team and set our decision in stone, then we’ll reach out to you next week.”

§  Me (push a 3rd time, just to create some constructive tension): “I completely understand. It’s just my experience that usually when people want more time to decide, it’s because they still have hesitations. Are you sure there are no other questions I can address while you have me here in person?”

§  HM: (*chuckle*) No, I assure you, we’ll talk next week.

And we did talk the following week over dinner, where I was offered the position (over 6 other candidates that had 4-10 years MORE sales experience than me).

Bonus – Following up

Follow-up:  Always follow up the afternoon/evening after your interview… whether the interview was by phone or in person.. with a Thank You email. Format something similar to:

Conclusion

Real success in your job hunt comes down to connecting with the right people.  “Networking” is not a dirty word. If you want to make ridiculous $$ in a sales career, you must get comfortable with outreach. Do everything you can to personalized your outreach so that it feels “warm” instead of “cold.”

This applies to the job hunt and to your sales career after you land your first position.

Go create your own luck, and don’t hesitate to reach out if I can help you in any way.

Danny