What do you do if your direct sales interview requires showcasing your experience and achievements?

I have found a great way to showcase is to have details, colour and facts. Too often I have interviewed a sales person stating example customer names they won and when asked to describe a selected one they struggle to put colour and detail to the story, implicating they did not run t he deal and were not hands on close to it in the process. Only detail those you know you can talk to from genuine experience.

High impact decisions are key in sales, if you can highlight what have been your success case scenarios based on the decisions you had is going to be fundamental to convince a recruiting team about your skills, an interview is nothing but you selling yourself.

It's no secret that every organization wants to hire top sales talent. Highlighting your accomplishments, rankings, and awards are a great place to start when telling your story. Just remember, the ranking or the award is just a result, what matters most is describing how/why you earned it. Inspect your story for a few key elements: - Are you able to describe the goals you set, why you set them, and what you did over a sustained period of time to achieve? - Did you face adversity, get help or coaching, and make adjustments along the way to overcome? - Did you succeed in an environment where you were facing tough competition? - Can you demonstrate genuine curiosity, an appetite for learning, and a commitment to constant improvement?

If your direct sales interview requires showcasing your experience and achievements, start by preparing a detailed portfolio that includes sales figures, client testimonials, and relevant case studies. Develop a narrative that outlines your sales journey, focusing on major successes and the strategies you employed. Quantify your achievements with specific metrics, such as revenue growth or increases in client engagement. Be ready to answer common questions about your sales techniques and challenges you've faced, and provide examples of how you successfully navigated difficult sales situations. Also, express your enthusiasm for sales and your understanding of current industry trends to show your commitment and expertise.

Try to present what, when, who and how. What did you accomplish When did this happen Who were impacted by your intervention How did you managed to overcome the situation.

I recommend validate achievements with proof points. A great one here are reference comments from customers, employers, colleagues, employees etc For example if you have a great customer story where you won and are hanging your hat on it - ideal is that you have a reference comment from that customer validating how great you were - ideally have it on your linkedin profile posted by them as it adds extra credence and validation.

Ask to do a roleplay and show how you can acknowledge, empathize, and reassure that you're trustworthy to do business, if you can demonstrate your skills in real time in any scenario, that might be enough proof that you can sell and coach.

Don't just go pitching your skills and experience all over the place - play it like you do sales - ASK and LISTEN. See what they are really interested in + figure out what the new job will demand from you. -> Based on that you showcase your skills and more importantly, how those skills result in their environment. ⚡

Give examples of relationship building pathways as a pattern to growing your company's efficiencies in multiple departments, ie. analytics, orders, sales, logistics, administration. Show you have multiple skills, understanding process as a contributor.