Guest Post Author: Daniel Disney

Daniel Disney is one of the world’s leading LinkedIn and Social Selling experts and is the best-selling author of The Ultimate LinkedIn Sales Guide and The Million-Pound LinkedIn Message. Daniel has generated £millions in sales from LinkedIn and now trains companies large and small all over the world on how they can leverage it to its full potential. Daniel is also the founder and owner of The Daily Sales, LinkedIn’s largest community of salespeople with an audience of over 680,000 followers growing by 10,000 each month. Find Daniel on LinkedIn here.

Let’s set the scene, you’re on the market for your next sales role.

You narrow in on a great opportunity, engage with the hiring manager on LinkedIn, send in your CV and get the interview!

When you turn up on the day you suddenly see lots of other people waiting to be interviewed.

How can you set yourself apart from others and put your best foot forward in the process?

How can you stand out?

It’s always going to be competitive for the best sales roles out there. It’s challenging enough just to get the interview, but then it becomes even more competitive to secure the role.

Having interviewed and employed hundreds of salespeople throughout my career here are 5 tips to help you ROCK your next sales interview and put yourself in the best position to be the candidate who ultimately lands the offer.

TIP 1: Speak to salespeople working there prior

The best research you can do for an interview is to actually speak to people already working at the company you’re interviewing for. Ask them what it’s like, ask them for some insights into the role, some of the common challenges, some of the objections, as much information as you can get.

This offers a whole host of benefits. It will show the hiring manager that you genuinely want the role and are willing to go the extra mile. It will give you insights to bring to the interview and it will help construct questions that you can ask the interviewer as well.

Not sure how to do it? Just hop on LinkedIn, find the company page, filter to the people with similar roles as the one you’re considering.

We also recommend connecting with at least one FORMER sales professional from that organization, and note that RepVue users can easily send a request to all former users who have rated the organization you’re interested in by clicking the ‘reference request’ button right on the sales org profile page. RepVue will connect you with another user willing to serve as a reference for you!

TIP 2: Do some hypothetical prospecting

You’ve got your interview, so why not start doing some prospecting for them? Research their product, look at their ICP (you can base it from the companies in their testimonials and case studies often found on their website). Then build a small prospecting list from the web and from LinkedIn, with plans on how you would engage those prospects.

Even if you make mistakes, you’re doing what 99% of others interviewing won’t do, and you’re showing extreme initiative. It should also spark some great question/answer with the interview team.

TIP 3 – Invest in your own training and development

Going into an interview and being able to demonstrate that you have invested in yourself is a big bonus. The beauty of this is that there is no minimal amount you need to spend. It could be just buying and reading 2-3 good relevant current sales books. It could be paying for a $25-$50 online course, or it could be putting yourself through an online masterclass or attending workshops.

Either way it shows the hiring manager that you are truly dedicated to the role and willing to invest in yourself to succeed. For example, if you are going for your first SDR role, get a book on being an SDR, or watch/listen to an SDR podcast.

Many interviews will include a question such as “what did you do to prepare for this interview”. Be ready with an incredible response.

TIP 4 – Interview them as well

Always come prepared with at least 5-10 questions that you have to ask them. You may only have time for 3-5 of them but be prepared as some questions will probably be answered through the interview anyway.

Try to make these questions impactful as well. For example, asking “how much holiday do I get” might make them feel like you’re already looking for a day off before starting! However, asking “What call listening software do you use” shows that you’re serious about coaching and development.

The most important set of questions you can ask will be related to providing yourself with detailed information such that you can clearly understand and then articulate their value proposition to potential customers. Treat the interview like discovery, knowing that a top trait many hiring managers are looking for is intellectual curiosity.

TIP 5 – Do a competitor analysis

Find 3-5 of their competitors and do an analysis.

Look for companies that they list in their testimonials, look at their LinkedIn activity, look through their website. You could take it to the next level and try to speak to salespeople working there and getting some insights into how THEY sell.

All this information is going to be extremely valuable to the company that you’re interviewing for and shows real effort.

Finally, it’s important to remember that these tips don’t require a lot of money.

These tips don’t require a lot of time.

But they will make a HUGE impact on the impression you’re able to leave the hiring manager.

Don’t just send a CV and show up to an interview without doing serious prep.  Don’t do the minimum amount of prep possible and glance over their website.

Make the effort.

You might be surprised at the results!

BONUS TIP – Get UNIQUE insights into the company you’re interviewing for

Whenever you’re applying or about to interview for a sales role, check the company’s profile on repvue.com.

You’ll find extremely unique insights into the company gained from the salespeople actually working there.

You can explore data like the % of team hitting quota, detailed compensation data, scores related to culture, product-market fit, lead flow, diversity and inclusion, and much much more.

Signing up is easy, fast, and anonymous – just take 2 minutes and click rate now from the RepVue home page and you’re in! Want to see what companies have a published profile already (7+ unique user ratings to have a profile) – explore all published sales orgs here.