I've often said that you have to sell yourself during a job interview. The hiring manager is the customer, and you are the "product." That's a fairly simple concept. But it's incomplete.
Imagine that Joe is a salesperson at the local Toyota dealer. The Toyota Tundra has just been named Truck of the Year. The truck has been advertised constantly on TV and in the newspaper. It's the dealership's best-selling vehicle. There's a special promotion going on that ends today, and if Joe sells one more vehicle before closing time, he'll meet his sales goal and receive a nice bonus. But the dealership closes in 20 minutes, so he has little hope of doing that. Then Joe sees a guy drive in, park his 10-year-old pickup truck, get out and walk over to look at a new Tundra. "Looks like I'm going to get that bonus after all!" Joe thinks as he rushes over to greet him.
Joe: "Hi. Welcome to City Toyota. I'm Joe."
Customer: "Hello."
Joe: "That's a beautiful truck, isn't it?"
Customer: "Yep, sure is."
Joe: "Did you know it was just named Truck of the Year?"
Customer: "Yep."
Then Joe proceeds to tell the customer all about the Tundra's outstanding qualities, it's features and benefits, and it's amazing value. He talks about it for several minutes, being sure to leave no detail out, and finally concludes with, "This is absolutely the best truck you can buy. Don't you agree?"
Customer: "Yep. It's the best truck I've ever seen."
Joe: "Great!"
Joe notices the lights are being turned off and the manager is at the door ready to lock up, so he says, "It's closing time, but I can ask the manager to stay so we can get you in that truck tonight. Shall we go write it up?"
To Joe's dismay, the customer says "Nope," turns away and starts walking back toward his truck.
Joe follows him and says, "Wait! There's still time. You can drive a new Tundra home tonight!"
The customer keeps walking and gets in his truck.
Joe: "I'll knock two thousand dollars off the price right now. No one else has gotten a deal like that on a new Tundra. What do you say?"
The customer starts the engine and just before driving away, says to Joe, "I came in to buy a Prius."
Here's the key that most job candidates miss: you need to know what the customer wants before you can sell it to him.
The problem is that job candidates THINK they know what the customer wants. After all, they're responding to an advertisement (job announcement) that spells it all out, right?
Yes... and no.
Imagine a manager tells his HR department to hire him a new administrative assistant. Everyone-the HR person who creates the job announcement, the job applicants who respond, and even the manager himself as he conducts the interviews-thinks the manager wants someone who can screen his calls, prepare his correspondence, schedule his appointments, record minutes of his meetings, make his travel arrangements, file his paperwork, etc., all in a competent, friendly, and professional manner.
Each question during the job interview is designed to determine how closely the candidates match those qualifications and expectations. The candidates respond to those questions by talking about their skills and experience as they try to sell themselves.
The more prepared candidates talk in terms of "benefits" in addition to "features." For example: "I have 10 years of experience recording meeting minutes." (Feature) "I'm familiar with what's required, won't need to be trained, and can have accurate minutes posted within 30 minutes of the meeting's end." (Benefits). They'll also talk about accomplishments, not just responsibilities. For example: "In my last job I was responsible for handling the administrative needs of six people." (Responsibility) "I created a prioritization system to ensure all six individual's needs were met in a timely manner, and I never missed a deadline." (Accomplishments)
Only one candidate, Mary, does something different. She wraps up her answer to the interviewer's opening question ("Tell me about yourself") with a question of her own:
"How can I help you by solving your problems and making your job easier?"
This question takes the manager by surprise. He responds half-jokingly by replying, "Make our customers stop complaining, and give me three more hours in every day so I have time to do everything I need to get done!"
Mary then asks more questions, such as "What do most customers complain about?" and "What do you feel are your biggest time wasters?" She listens carefully to the answers, asks follow-up questions to draw out more details... and achieves two very important goals:
(1) She shows the hiring manager that she's genuinely interested.
(2) She gets the manager to reveal the real "product" he needs and wants, and is thus able to position herself as that perfect product.
The manager didn't want an "administrative assistant." He wanted a problem-solver who could make his life easier. Knowing this, Mary answered every question during the interview in a way that showed she understood, would be able to solve his problems, and could make his life easier. In other words, she was exactly what this customer wanted to "buy."
Remember Joe? If his first question when greeting the customer had been, "How can I help you today?" he would've earned that bonus. His mistake was focusing on what HE wanted instead of what the customer wanted.
That's the biggest and most common mistake job candidates make.
By being genuinely interested in solving the hiring manager's problems, you will more effectively sell yourself as the product he really wants-and get the job!
For more information on Bonnie Lowe and her winning interview strategies, check out her Job Interview Success System.
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Couldn't agree more with the article. You have to become a marketer; you have to know the wants and needs of the customer before you can build or sell a product to them. Getting Mary's question in early may be difficult unless you do research on the company first. Somewhere in the process I would ask "if I were to start tomorrow, what are the three most pressing issues I need to solve."
In sales nobody cares about your widget and what it can do except you. Find what the manager wants to solve. Talk to those points and how your skillset is relevant to solving them.
Ed Warner
Bonnie, sound advice which I will definitely be using going forward. I got a chuckle out of the customer's response, “I came in to buy a Prius.”
You hit it right on the "HEAD"!! This is, by far, the most common mistake most Sales People and others make........ They are so interested in telling you about themselves and what they can do for you that they forget that they need to CLEARLY UNDERSTAND what the TRUE needs are first!!!
If the customer came in to buy a Prius near closing time, why was he lingering around the truck? Maybe his deep seated needs and wants were somewhere in between a Prius and a truck-- something else the sales person should be probing for. Note that part of the root cause of the problem is management's bonus plan, force fiitting a pre-conceived solution and diverting Joe's attention away from solving the customer's problem or at least intriguing the customer enough to want a second "interview".
Great article! I need to keep reading this article before I go on my next interview and remember to apply these points in my next conversation. Hopefully, it will help me land my next job! Thanks for sharing.
Good article! I often wait till the end when they ask 'do you have any questions for us?'
Then I ask what would be their Ideal candidate for this position. This has allowed me to reiterate many of the points that were discussed earlier. Then I ask for the job.
Great article! We all need to absorb as much knowledge and advice now a days when it comes to interviewing! Thank you for sharing!
If you remember that YOU are interviewing THEM it makes the interview a lot easier. You should go into the meeting with lots of questions about the company and the team you will be working with. I have found my years of audit experience makes interviews easier.
Excellent and interesting article. It sure provides worthy information for all job-seekers. I think finding a cunning way to know what your future employer wants exactly done is a trump card in hand. But the question now is, can the approach be applied to all jobs?
Impressive article.
Bonnie,
Very astute article and very accurate. Many people are unaware of the science of the interview, the prep, the psychology and the sell. Great analogies in the article to help the uninitiated. I used to prepare my staff for interview using a combination of my own experiences and the star technique.
All the best.
Jamie Deighton
Great article.. To overcome this problem knowing what the client is seeking. Suggest that during those phone interviews that most of us are required to go through today, this an idea time to ask this question; What is the important function that you are looking for this position to perform? I.E. what is your greatest concern or problem that you want me to take off your back?
Great article, I found this extremely helpful. I will put this information to good use.
I'm drolling on this article, mouth watering, top class quality. Awesome, i'm out of words, lovely!
Great material! I teach a class, "Interviewing For Success" & advocate exactly what this article states. Ask good questions (of the interviewer), listen (REALLY listen) to her/his responses, observe their body language - all with the goal of discovering what their "pain" is / needs are ... only then should you "market" yourself & in "marketing" get across those experiences, talents, competencies you have that will help solve their problem / ease their pain.
Really great article! I like how the very vivid story of the car salesman sets the stage for the interview advice. I also like the distinction of Features vs. Benefits.
I completely agree! Without knowing what your target looks like and in what direction it reside, chances are quite remote that you will successfully acquire it. Wonderful words of wisdom that can help every interviewee achieve their interview objective... being offered the job!
Great article! It addresses the fact that you need to know the reason your interaction is happening in the first place. There is a problem and the most appropriate solution is being sought. Hence a problem well defined is a problem half solved. In responding to the interview, you then should ensure that only what meets the requirements or is a solution to the problem is communicated. (your life experience might offer more than the job requires) Imagine spending valuable time of the interviewer telling them how you are a great marketing expert while all they are looking for is someone who can sing. It might be important to you but does not meet their needs. It all about their needs and how you meet them. I will definitely use the advise in this article.
Great article, thanks for sharing !
This was very informative. It's much like a SPIN "interviewing technique" where you gather the requirements for doing business.
Excellent article, Bonnie. I will be utilizing this technique in all my interviews going forward. Really, it's a bit like life in general, I thought. We should always be more interested/focused on others rather than ourselves. Thank you for sharing this advice.
Great article. It goes to show 1 fundamental quality any successful person should have: The ability to listen. Listening to your boss, your team, your friends, helps you to identify what the real problem, or requirement, is. If you listen and respond to it chances are you will definitely get you you want.
On this case, a job, but it could be anything.
Bonnie,
Great one! Colleges need to add a class on interviewing with the hiring manager into the curriculum...It would greatly improve many candidates chances in the phone screening/interviewing process! I look forward to reading more from you!
Interviewers prefer to put the candidate in a chair and pigeon-hole them into a tight space with a collection of canned questions that are, at best, ridiculous and have little to do with the position.
As a former professional public speaker, I prefer to "present". I deliver my printed matter, at the onset of my presentation (they usually have that before you walk in the door) and I make my best effort to stand, present, and respond.
Very practical article - within the question lies the answer! And that we should look out not only
for our own interests, but also for the interests of others. God bless us with this productive
attitude and apply it wisely in rebuilding our manufacturing economy.
Qualifying a candidate's needs and selling with feature/benefits has always been an integral part of sales. Telling a candidate that all they need to do is "sell themselves" should be enough for any true salesperson.
Here's a secret though: Not everyone looking for a job is a salesman! Many people looking for a job need to learn a good sales process before they jump into any kind of face to face interaction. Here's a basic process that works well for an interview.
1. Preparation. Know who you will be talking to, know about the company you will be interviewing for, know the job description. Memorize all you can. Make a list of what they are looking for, and match your skills to their needs, but be ready to improvise as well. You cannot assume that every need they have is listed in the job description.
2. Greeting. You will not recover from a limp handshake and no eye contact. "You only get one chance to make a first impression." Smile. Find out the names of everyone you talk to. USE THEM.
3. Qualification. As listed in the article above, you have got to find out what the "customer" wants. Failure to do so will result in selling something they don't need, and they will show you the door. The more questions you ask, the more intelligent, and the more insightful you will look. Focus your questions on finding out what the interviewer thinks they need for that position. You need to dig. The first answer you get will usually be generic. You need to find out the real purpose of the job. Why is the position open? What did the last guy/gal do right? What did he or she do wrong? The most important part of this is CONFIRMATION!! I'll talk about this in the next step.
4. Demonstration. Their need vs. Your skill set. "So let me make sure I understand what you want. Your biggest need in this position is someone who can interface with our tech team, but can also have the people skills to interface with your customers, right? In my last position with XYZ, I had the opportunity to work with our IT team, and then was required to pass that knowledge on to our customers. My interactions had a direct result on our sales, they went up by X percent." You need to confirm what you think their need is. How do you do this? You simply ask. Mirror back their needs to them and make sure you have it right. If you do not confirm, you might have the wrong idea. The cool part is, they'll tell you what you need to know. People love to correct mistakes. Then you pick their top three needs and cover how you can improve upon them.
5. Close. The goal of the face to face interview is three fold. 1. Demonstrate you can fit in to their culture. 2. Demonstrate you have the skills needed to improve their company. 3. Get a job offer, or at the very least, schedule the next interview. If they do not talk about the next step here, you ask about it. "Thank you for your time. I appreciate you working with me, and teaching me so much more about the exciting opportunity ABC company has to offer. After all you have told me today, I feel that my skill set would be beneficial to the XYZ position. Do you agree?" If they do, they will set you up for the next step. If they do not, ask why. Somewhere along the line, one of your skill sets did not match up to their expectations. At this point, you have nothing to lose, so find out what it is, and explain to them how it is not an issue, or that it is something you can overcome. Leave on a positive note, use their names, use the secretary's name.
If you follow these steps, you will be a candidate who stands out in their minds. Good luck!
Great article, Kevin. Thank you for sharing.
I have interviewed many people for sales positions. If they don't follow this process of discovery/fact finding, I won't hire them. One of the mistakes I've made in the past is to not follow up a candidate's response, no matter how good the response is, by asking them how they would accomplish the tasks in my group. If that question doesn't elicit further questions like "do sales people receive enough leads to reach their targets? or "how do you want leads handled?" and "do you have the resources to support the sales process and how are they engaged?", etc., then I know they may be a viable candidate but will need some development, most often by me going with them on the first few sales calls.
Thank you, Kevin! I've suggested to English majors at Niagara University that they get this e-book. I've been mailing them a daily reminder to get cracking on the job search, and reposting the daily reminder on a blog (http://nuenglishgettingalife.blogspot.com/). Many thanks for a valuable collection!
This is why I struggle with resumes and especially cover letters. In an effort to cover everything the job description ends up focusing on like-to-haves as well as urgent requirements with each requirement seeming to hold the same weight.
I've done this myself. For example, I've posted openings for Web developers and in those postings I ask for X years of experience in X language, numerous "soft" skills, and UNIX skills.
What the candidates don't know is that my organization has a very difficult IT environment when it comes to development and as a Web developer you basically have to be 1/4-1/2 time Systems Administrator as well, so the UNIX requirement was the order getter while the programming language(s) was the order qualifier.
Obviously I've adjusted my postings, however, it's clear that others have not. If you try to cover all of the bases in your documentation you will overwhelm the hiring manager but if you don't, you might miss the piece that sets you apart.