Some Basic Interview Questions That Will Tell You Everything
Success is a team sport. It takes sales, marketing, and sales channels to work together in a cohesive, strategic way to succeed. Marketing feeds the sales channels fuel they need to create opportunities for sales. Sales is where all the planning, strategy and collaboration can die if you don’t have the right people with the right skillsets.
Over the next couple of weeks I’ll be discussing what great sales people do. Before I go any further I want to make it clear that everything I present has been time tested by me, my teams and other associate. The concepts are all rooted in practical application and experience.
I am a Miller Heiman fanatic. For me, it’s the best example of what sales strategies targeting complex organizations looks like. So, to be clear my concept of sales is focused on selling complex, high value solutions to complex organizations
Defining a Complex Sale:
A complex sale includes the following elements. The buyer has multiple options; You and your organization have multiple options; Numerous levels of the buyer’s organization are involved; The decision making process is complicated.
By the way, most sales include 2 – 6 influencers and are complex.
Complex Sale: One in which more than one person must give their approval or input before a buying decision can be made.
“THE NEW STRATEGIC SELLING” BY ROBERT MILLER AND STEPHEN HEIMAN
So what does a great sales think and believe. Here’s some questions you should ask any salesperson that may work for you.
Basic Sales 101 Questions:
How would you answer this question? The first step I had to take in my sales career was accepting that sales is a craft that demands practice, constant learning AND a process.
A sales professional believes sales is a profession, has a conscious, planned system of selling (visible, logical, repeatable) and is never satisfied.
“The new strategic selling” by robert miller and stephen Heiman
The feeling that sales is manipulative can be a show stopper. Great sales people change lives and create wins for everyone.
Take some time to think about how you and a salesperson should answer this one. The answer will defines a sales persons goals and will influence how they sell. HINT: closing a deal isn’t the definition of a successful sale. So, if closing deals doesn’t define success, what does? Customer satisfaction, ability to increase revenue with your accounts, and your feelings about the deal all come into play.
This is so important. When a salesperson doesn’t win a deal or something goes south, do they know why? Most sales people don’t. ANOTHER HINT: It’s never the customer’s fault. If you find salesperson saying things like “Buyers are Liars!” or customers are idiots, you may have a problem. That’s not why things have gone wrong. It has something do with a breakdown in the sales process and approach.
Below you’ll find a slide deck for this article. I hope you enjoyed this post and will stick with me. Post 2 is coming soon.
Real Deal Strategy 