How To Pitch A Stock In An Interview

You lot can include all the fancy words and accolades you want on your resume. What interviewers actually want to come across is your sales skills in action.

If you're gunning for a sales job, it's about guaranteed you'll be asked to do a mock sales pitch for your interview. Smash this pitch, and you'll have a much better shot at that job you want.

So, how can you gear up yourself up for success at your next sales interview? Let'southward talk near:

What is a mock sales pitch in an interview & why exercise you take to practise 1?
How to prep for the mock sales pitch interview
3 sales pitch examples for your interview: learn how to pitch yourself
Creative mock sales pitch ideas for an interview

By the cease of this article, you'll be fix to walk into that role (or log into that Zoom meeting) with full confidence in your mock sales pitch skills.

What is a mock sales pitch in an interview & why do you accept to practice i?

A mock sales pitch is part of an interview for a sales position, where you'll demand to give a total sales pitch to the interviewer. They might enquire you to sell them a random object from their desk, the product you would be selling if you got the chore, or the product you lot sold at your last job. The purpose of a mock sales pitch in an interview is to guess your sales skills.

Your resume and cover alphabetic character explain who you are and what you've done, and the questions you answer during your sales interview volition tell the interviewer more virtually your personality and whether you'll fit with the team.

But the best way to get a sense of whether or non you tin can cut it equally a salesperson is to watch yous pitch.

That's why—nervus-wracking every bit it may be—about interviewers will have you run through a mock sales pitch during your interview.

Want to ace your sales interview? Hither's how to prepare a winning mock sales pitch.

How to prep for the mock sales pitch interview

Wondering what to do before your sales interview? Hither are 5 tips to help you gear up successfully and woo your interviewer:

1. Take a clear understanding of the company and the product

If the hiring director asks you to practise a mock sales pitch in your interview, you lot should know what you're going to exist selling. In virtually cases, this ways getting to know the product that this company sells.

Of grade, the interviewer doesn't await you to have adept noesis of the product, only yous should know enough to sell it properly.

So, enquiry the company and the production. Go to know their way and personality through the sales re-create on their website. Watch whatever videos or demos they have that talk about the product. Read what customers say about them. If information technology'south a SaaS product, outset a costless trial and get to know it from the inside.

While doing research about the product, questions might come up up. Ask them—shows you lot're interested and taking this procedure seriously. In fact, here'due south what Scott Schwartz, VP of Sales at HHAeXchange says nearly this:

I love when candidates send me questions earlier the presentation and collaborate with me… it shows me they're paying attention.

The more you know virtually the production and industry, the meliorate. So, why not ask someone who really knows?

2. Know the prospects you lot'll be selling to

Your interviewer wants to know that you take the skills to adapt to their key audition and speak with prospective customers finer.

And then, as you learn almost the company, dig into their client base and get a sense for their ideal customer contour. What kind of companies piece of work with them? Are their customers all in a certain industry? Is the main target market a particular department within a visitor, or fifty-fifty a specific function?

When yous walk into a mock sales pitch with a clear understanding of who the visitor'south main customer is, you are already setting yourself autonomously from other candidates. Prove to the interviewer that yous tin can speak easily with prospective customers. Take some fourth dimension to pick up on the lingo, or sympathize their main concerns.

Once again, if yous accept questions about the visitor'south customer base of operations, attain out earlier the interview and ask. This will bear witness that you're willing to put in the extra effort and that you really want to reach the customers, non only get the job.

iii. Remember to showcase your sales strengths, not your knowledge of the product

Similar we said above, no one expects you to exist an expert on a product you lot've never sold. Instead, focus on this: what makes you stand out every bit a sales rep?

Throughout your sales career, nonetheless long or curt, you've honed your skills and adult your unique selling style. This is what you want to showcase in a mock sales presentation during your interview.

For example, are you adept at discovering needs? Do you accept a unique way of turning objections into benefits? Are your questions e'er spot-on? Recollect of the mock sales pitch as your opportunity to put your best skills on display, and set up accordingly.

iv. Remember about how you lot'll answer common sales interview questions

While you lot can never exist 100% sure what y'all'll be asked during a sales interview, at that place are a few sales interview questions you volition most probable hear in some form or another.

Here are some guidelines on how to answer some of the more mutual sales interview questions:

Why are y'all interested in sales?

Yous desire to take a clear reason why y'all're in sales, and accept a strong narrative around information technology. I of my main questions, when I interview people, is to enquire why.

For some people, the reason will only exist that they want to brand a lot of money. For others, it volition exist because they have a lot of experience and insight into the particular industry, because they like to communicate with people, or many other reasons. There are no good or bad reasons—but they should be your honest reasons why, and you should have clarity around this.

Why do you desire to sell this production? Why do y'all desire to piece of work with this company?

Believing in a product is a good motivation to sell it, which is why most interviewers will enquire some variation of this question. Know something about the product and the target marketplace, and you'll testify you took the time to develop an interest in this sales job with this company (not simply any sales chore with any visitor).

When was the last fourth dimension you missed quota?

If you tell an interviewer that you've never missed quota, they'll assume y'all're lying. Because let'south confront information technology, all salespeople miss quota at some betoken. The point of this question is to poke at your vulnerable spots and see how you handle the force per unit area. Then, talk about missing quota, why you lot missed information technology, what yous learned from the experience, and how you've improved since then.

What was the well-nigh difficult/most significant deal y'all've closed?

This is your opportunity to impress, so make sure you prepare beforehand by choosing the right sales story to share. Frame the story well, recall most the skills y'all used to overcome challenges, and give real figures of the bargain if possible.

5. Come up into the interview with a plan of action

Hiring managers love proactive workers. And then, what are your plans starting Day 1 of your new job? How do you programme to start learning the systems and products you'll be selling? What's your process for getting to know the unique sales process of this visitor? How will you go to know the customers and the competitors?

Truthful, most companies will have specific onboarding processes that respond these questions for yous. But when you come into the interview prepared with a programme of action to get yourself started, yous prove you're ready to hitting the footing running and that you're the type of worker that takes initiative.

I mostly look for people who focus initially on learning—if someone tells me they'd like to start out in the new company by talking to different people on the team, to gain internal cognition, that'due south always a good thing.

These guidelines are your starting bespeak to prepare for the interview and mock sales pitch.

3 sales pitch examples for your interview: learn how to pitch yourself

At some point, the interviewer volition probably enquire: "And so, tell me about yourself."

This is probably one of the nearly common (and oft virtually dreaded) interview questions. In a sales interview, though, this isn't just a friendly opener. It'due south an opportunity to give a pitch that sells yourself.

So, how tin can y'all develop a sales pitch that proves yous're the right hire for the position? Here are 3 sales pitch examples for an interview that volition sell yourself equally a sales professional:

1. Use common manufacture bug to capture their interest

How can you help solve the issues that this company is facing?

Y'all know the common struggles and challenges facing sales teams because that's your world. So, use that noesis to sell yourself as the solution.

Here'due south an example of this from Zety:

Photograph credit: Zety

This example pulls at a common industry trouble and shows how this salesperson created a solution to that problem.

2. Build a narrative with your experience

It's no secret that stories are memorable and help get your signal beyond better.

But that's not an excuse to reply with your life story when asked to tell the interviewer virtually y'all.

Instead, frame your career story with a narrative that sells your skills and expertise:

"I like to think of myself as a follow-up wizard. At my terminal visitor, I was tasked with reactivating tons of expired trial sign-ups who never became paying customers. Using analytics and e-mail metrics, I started to develop specific follow-up processes for the different types of customers we served. The VP of sales liked my procedure so much, she got the entire team using it. And in 4 months, the sales team's share of MRR increased by xiv%. The all-time part is, since I created this process based on our customers, I know how to re-create a metrics-based follow-up procedure for the next visitor I bring together."

3. Build a pitch based on questions

Creating a sales pitch for an interview is the aforementioned as building a pitch to hook new prospects: you lot need to know their needs before you can present a solution.

So, what are the needs of the visitor y'all're interviewing with? What are they looking for in a sales rep?

Here are some questions you can inquire the interviewer to better frame your responses to their needs:

Is this a new or existing position?
What did y'all similar about the last person who filled this position?
What was missing from the concluding person who filled this position?
What are your goals for a new [function] in relation to the company?
How practise you hope to benefit from filling this position?
How is the success of this position measured?

When yous inquire these kinds of questions, you tin connect the benefits of hiring you to the needs they've expressed.

Pro tip: Want to fix for your mock sales pitch past checking out real examples of live sales pitches? Check out Chapter 7 of the Ultimate Sales Pitch Guide to see 14 abode-run sales pitches proven to close deals.

Artistic mock sales pitch ideas for an interview

You lot've gone through the basic steps of preparing for an interview that includes a mock sales pitch.

But how can you lot take your mock sales pitch to the next level?

Ready the stage where y'all can

Sometimes y'all may lack some context during your mock sales pitch. Roleplay can feel a bit stiff and bad-mannered, so embrace that and coil with it. Where you lot lack context, create it.

For example, outset the mock pitch with something like this: "I'm going into this pitch assuming you were an inbound pb and that we've established bones production fit on an initial telephone phone call."

Where y'all can accept some control of the situation, do so. This will allow y'all to pitch in a more natural style since you've been able to set the scene and everywhere knows where they're coming from.

Focus on qualification

Qualification is a huge role of the sales process, and the hiring manager volition want to be clear that you know how to ask the right questions and weave those answers into your pitch.

So, become really proficient at qualifying your sales leads. Don't autumn into the trap of giving a monologue simply considering the situation is a chip bad-mannered. Focus on understanding the prospect's needs and delivering a solution that fits those needs.

And yes, this can fifty-fifty work for the dreaded, "Sell me this pen." Find out why the prospect needs a pen, and what they want from a pen, then you'll know how to sell it to them effectively.

Let your personality smoothen through

You lot are a unique soul whose style and personality shine through every day as you hit the phones. That should non change simply because you lot're doing a mock sales pitch.

The pitch may exist simulated, but the results are but as real.

And so, let your true personality smoothen through. Be as natural equally possible, and make a witting effort to relax before yous begin. Talk to your interviewer similar you talk to your prospects every single solar day. Treat this equally a real sales pitch that you lot're giving to a real client, and you'll feel more than like yourself as you pitch.

Remember to close

While it may seem a flake obvious, you should think in advance nearly how you want to close this deal.

In a real-life sales environment, you would have a specific phone call to activity prepared to move this prospect along in the sales procedure. Since you're working with an imaginary sales process, gear up an imaginary call to action for your mock sales pitch, and push for that adjacent footstep at the cease.

This is part of the pitch that you lot would never skip or minimize in real life, so treat it the same in your mock pitch.

Prove how well you take and use feedback

Many sales interviewers will provide feedback and then ask you to exercise a second mock sales pitch in your interview.

How you answer to this feedback tells interviewers two of import things:

Whether you're humble enough to accept criticism from your dominate or from peers
How well you lot listen to and apply feedback

Basically, the hiring manager wants to know if you're coachable. A salesperson who accepts and applies feedback volition be quick to adjust their strategies and processes to best fit the customers, not cling to one-time strategies but because they're comfortable with them.

Coachability is an important quality for a salesperson, so apply this opportunity to demonstrate that you know how to use feedback in a practical way.

Even if the interviewer doesn't give you feedback, y'all can proactively ask for their stance once your mock sales pitch is finished.

Nail your side by side sales interview and mock sales pitch

Any kind of task interview tin be terrifying, but a sales interview with a mock pitch is even worse.

That said, when you're well-prepared, you lot tin go into that interview with confidence.

Preparation for a sales interview is more than just researching the company and getting to know the product (although that's important). You need to be set with the right attitude to sell yourself to the interviewer.

Recall of the unabridged sales interview as but another pitch, and yous'll come at it with the same amount of energy and finesse that you have as you sell every single day.

Merely there's always room for improvement.

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I of the nearly of import skills to main for whatsoever sales rep is the follow-upwards. Whenever I interview a sales rep and I see that they have groovy follow-up skills, that'south a big plus. I've written an entire book on the subject field, and y'all tin can get it gratuitous today:

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Source: https://blog.close.com/sales-pitch-interview/