Prepare for the interview

Put your best foot forward and win an offer you are proud of by thoroughly preparing before the interview!

• Create an account for the platform you are interviewing through using your full name as your username.


• Add the person you are interviewing with, make your personal invite great
  • “Destiny Brandt sent me, I have influenced $10M in new logo revenue, 150+ dials a day, excited to win a spot on your team at day, time, time zone”


• Dress to Impress, practice good body language (smile, sit up straight, speak clearly, and make eye contact. Remember, confidence is key!


• Have sticky notes with your questions and notes visible to you.


• Have a notepad and pen ready to take notes.

Sending a Pre-Interview Note

When you are in sales you send an agenda
Or you have a VERY specific reason why you don't

So many great sellers miss an opportunity to build trust
What happens before and after a call builds trust or kills a deal

Ideas for a pre interview note

• Sales examples (see STARLT format)
• Episodes of your favorite podcasts (we love 30 minutes to presidents club), book recommendations, content (see other areas of website for suggestions)
• Screenshots of dashboards, receipts, shout outs
• Quota math calculator - the WHY beyond your numbers
• Specific to them (or previous) drip campaigns/examples of how you would do outbound
• Anything else you did to get ahead (buyer matrix, discovery questions)

This really sets the stage
Most of this can be used as a template for other roles you are considering

Sales examples


STARLT example

• Situation - The goal
  • Quota of $1m
• Task - The specifics
  • Build buy in with multiple executives (insert titles, link actual buyers if you can/want)
  • Close $250k deal to get to 120% of quota for the quarter
• Action - The play
  • 18 step cadence
  • 5 executives
  • Uncovered - Link actual outbound messaging, methodology used, screenshots if you want!
  • Prospecting - Play was call/vm/dm/email, did XYZ, resulted in decision maker/result
  • Show the entire cycle, the more specific the better!
• Result - The outcome
  • Deal size
  • Contract terms
  • Sales cycle length
  • Where did this get you to quota
  • Awards?
• Lesson - What was learned
  • Multi-thread
  • Help your champions champion for themselves
  • Use X methodology
  • Never negotiate with your outbound numbers
  • Be proactive with delays like legal & procurement by calling them out
• Take away - Moving forward
  • How does this experience relate to this role - quota, buyer, buying process, stage of org
  • This can be a g eneric take away if you are interviewing with companies that are almost exactly the same
  • Or you can add their name/title to make this look personalized even if it's just a template you use over and over

Tips

• Build these out
• Add to them
• The more links & receipts the more trust - faster offer, better comp, and more negotiating power
• Showing rather than telling
• Linking actual methodologies shows these aren't random wins, but a foundation you use to set meetings

Prove how you have:
Made their company money
Saved their company money
Improved something while there

If you notice a company interviewing you is asking specific questions:

• Add those scenarios to the log, relink in your follow up
• If they are asking, others will too!
• Getting people to champion you is about matching their intuition about how they feel about you
• Align with things they can look at, write it down, be specific and show early and oftern

Questions to ask

Most questions are fair game, but are they getting the employer more excited about you doing the job?

Questions without context come across as junior.

Giving context shows your frame of reference, asking for specifics shows your discovery abilities.
Like good discovery you do not need a lot of questions, you need great questions that go deep.

If your questions are one liners..
Chances are they are NOT good
You sound like someone who doesn’t have enough of an idea of what you have done and how you will do it there

Questions that DO NOT WORK:

• What does success in this role look like?


• Tell me about the best person you have ever hired for this position? What do they do that works?


• What are the top qualities you look for in someone when filling this position?


• What is your leadership style like and what is the best way to come with you with questions, support or ideas on how to grow the business?


• Has anyone ever failed in this position? What can I do to not make their same mistakes?


• How many people have you interviewed for this position and what has been missing that I can be sure to cover for you? SMILE!


• What is not on the job description that will help me go above and beyond on this role?


• What challenges does this company face that I can help with in my position?


• If I wanted to get set up for success in the first 30 days what are things I can be doing day 1?


• What books, resources or podcasts can I study so I can hit the ground running in this job?


• What is the biggest objection I will face and the best way to overcome that objection?

These questions are better

• I know the why behind my numbers
• X touch points
• Y deal size
• Z close rate to get to $1m in self generated pipeline
• I know that because of these deal sizes being X, I will need to close Y deals by the end of my first 90 days to hit my ramp goals
• What else is a measurement of success within that 90 day window?

More examples of strong questions:

Questions That Add Value Questions Based on Interviewer

Phases of asking value based questions

Next Steps

Getting intel & keeping your champions/decision makers close in the interview

• Get insight into the next call
  • Who is next, what should you prepare for?
  • Does x seem like a good question to ask?
  • What do they like to talk about? Not like to talk about?
  • Should you prepare x (offer something, drip, more examples around your experience building pipeline with limited resources at your current startup?)


• Can you get their phone #?
  • Like sales, getting access to your champion early and on is critical


• Ask for feedback but narrow in
  • “Based on the core aspects of (founding) sales roles - prospecting, discovery, needs analysis, pricing and closing (on a plg motion) are there other examples you should provide to her or the next person in the interview cycle to “show” rather than tell in my follow up email before you determine next steps? Or have I built enough trust with you in order to move forward? Either way ill be sending a follow up with more context"


• Get Access
  • Can you have their #?
  • Like any relationship you dont depend on businesses to tie the loop together, you prefer direct access and insights


• Self-assign homework and ask for their eyes on it/another time to connect with them
  • Especially if this is a champion, it can be great to get another meeting with them, or if this is your decision maker but they have a bar raiser meeting you next, having the next meeting with both can really put you ahead
  • “Destiny I am going to work on the technical questions I'll be asking your founder if you give me a chance to meet them, can you share with you via email by x? Or write a drip campaign/outbound cadence with how I would target x persona using what I learned from you today. Can you share that with you? No pressure to get back and give feedback or can call you/send you an invite for x (before or after the next call)
  • Or BOTH if you are talking to your direct boss who you feel is really going to champion you (can’t hurt to ask for a prep + debrief essentially so you can win together)
  • Another way of getting another meeting with your champion can be to teach them something in exchange for more time
    • Give an AI prompt
    • Show them how you'd build x
    • the best sellers teach without expecting and if you have things up your sleeve you can teach this can really help stay credible throughout the process and put your best foot forward both in interviewing and with buyers

The closer

So many sellers suck at closing

"Do you have any hesitations about me" in the last 5 min ain't it

Treat them like your champion

• Get on another channel (phone number)
• Get another meeting(s) just like you would with your champion
• Get intel on next person in process
• Get that booked too and ideally with meetings with your champions sandwiched - before to prep and after to debrief
• “Can you review what I am going to send x persona 15 min before and Ill call you after to debrief?”
• Recap
• What I learned was X
• I am going to (assign yourself homework) build more examples on my sales story doc around (insert part of the sales cycle they were asking about)
• Include a few more screenshots in my brag book and start (doing something extra)
• Write a drip campaign campaign/ buyer matrix to show you rather than tell you
• Send an email as a follow up that does not sound like everyone else and is of value in the decision making process
• Think about other value adds you can give in between cycles
• Podcasts, books, specific to them homework, news articles, events, more yearbook receipts
• Stay relevant in between cycles
• All things that can be templated depending on how niche your interview pipeline is

Show the employer you have interest in continuing the interview process by trying to set another meeting. This approach can also show them that you can close the deal and ask for the sale/Next step in the interview (or sales) cycle.

Before you Close, be mindful of the last 6-8 minutes of the call.

That is the “Closing Time” So you want to naturally want to approach the close- vs having an awkward or forced end.

When asking questions, and closing an interview show a huge amount of curiosity, by answering questions with another genuine question, naturally introducing the close.

Interview Closing Examples:

• “I would really enjoy continuing the conversation about your X role and can be available to speak again at xyz time. Is there any way you can help me coordinate the next steps in the process or should I reach out to my recruiter at IDR?”


• “What do next steps from here look like? I am so eager to learn more and add value to this organization by setting a high volume of meetings and driving revenue!”


• “What is the overall goal of this call, and can I provide you anymore information regarding my track record of success or background to help you feel confident in moving me along in this interview process?”


• “I bet you have talked to a decent number of candidates to fill this and similar roles. At this stage in your interviewing what has been missing in the candidates? Is there anything about my sales background that I can highlight to make sure I am covering any gaps? My goal is to make you feel confident enough in me as a seller and culture add so you are willing to invite me to next steps so I can win an offer on your team!”


• “Have I earned your YES to move on to the next interview or are there gaps I can sell you on to make you feel proud to move me forward?”


• “Is there any reason why you would not take me on to next steps? I would love your support going forward and continue to add enough value in this process to show I am a top performer and someone who can sell into your buyer. I want to work here so any advice you have for me would be really appreciated! That is if you are comfortable to share any areas for improvement or insights from your view. (be careful asking this to HR/recruiters as they do not usually like overly direct questions- this question should be saved for a Sales Leader)


• Don’t forget to send them an 11/10 follow up message

Follow up with a message

A good follow up message can make you stand out and shows that you are excited for the role!

• Make sure this follow up is in the body of an email. Do not make as an attachment.


• Have someone read over the message to check for any grammar, punctuation, or spelling errors.


• If you were unable to set up next steps at the end of the interview, include your availability in the last section of the message.