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Hi John:

I have a job where I am part presales, part post-sales and
part technical support for a very small software company.
With a couple of years of experience under my belt, I’m
looking to move into full-time presales at a mid-sized
company. For a variety of reasons, I’ve never had to
interview for a job, so any advice for me in positioning
myself for the interview?

Steven – Denver, Colorado, US

Hi Steven,

First of all, best wishes for your interview. Here are a few
personal tips for the interview, some general and some presales
specific. These are things I used to look for during my 20+ years
as a hiring manager.

  1. Show up with a reasonable amount of research on the
    company. Check out the website, Google the company
    and its executives, and search for any items of
    customer/user feedback. Be prepared to give a short 2-3
    sentence explanation of what the company does. I would
    also expect that people coming into my office had
    reviewed my LinkedIn profile.        
  2. Be on time, (actually be 10 minutes early), and have
    copies of your resume, plus any other supporting
    material. Always accept coffee or soda beforehand.
  3. Dress appropriately. It may seem like basic 101
    interviewing – but I can recall a few dozen people over the
    years who didn’t get hired because they were way too
    casual. You can always take off a tie or a thin strand of
    pearls to dress down. Dressing back up is hard. Ask the
    recruiter for guidance.
  4. Be polite and professional with everyone you meet – this
    includes the receptionist, the cafeteria workers and
    everyone else who doesn’t have a part in your interview.
  5. Be specific in your answers to any questions. Cite real
    customer examples, and throw in as many numbers as
    you reasonably can to support your answer. ("As a result
    of my customer health-check program we generated
    three add on sales and two services engagements worth
    ..")
  6. Be prepared to give a short 10-15 presentation. Have a
    back-up plan for the presentation. (I used to ask
    candidates to prep a PowerPoint pitch, and then tell them
    the projector was broken and ask them to whiteboard it
    instead.) Panic would ensue.
  7. Focus on what you can do for my company and for me.
    Wait until you get some commitment from the company
    before you start asking about benefits, work conditions
    etc.
  8. Don’t go negative. If your previous boss was a complete
    jerk or the CEO is running the company into the ground –
    I don’t want to hear it. Because if I hear negatives about
    your former employers I know that someday you may
    speak that way about me.
  9. Have some customer and salesrep references printed
    out. Even an email “attaboy”  counts as it shows you
    understand the importance of third-party reference selling.
  10. Have some sensible questions to ask me – ask about the
    typical sales cycle, the number of reps you might work
    with, specific vertical markets, a new product
    announcement. (See point #1)


In general - how you interview is a free sample of how you sell. I
want to feel that you are honest, capable, will fit into the
company and will bring value.

Good luck!


   
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