How to Break Into Tech Sales: A Strategic Game Plan
How to Break Into Tech Sales: A Strategic Game Plan
111: Strategic steps for landing a role.
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Welcome reader! If you are one of those unlucky ones suffering from the constant need to improve your previous work, we know how you feel. Considering that tech sales are the new investment banking in terms of popularity. That is the exact reason why we decided to rework our previous work. In our last article about breaking into tech sales, we promised it would be the final one on this topic... We are making the same promise for this article - a long read full of practical tips.
What You Need to Know
Introduction: For our first-time readers, we are sure this will serve as a solid starting point for many. We suggest you start with our efficiency blueprint and approach to increasing your life's quality. High-income career → use the cash to start your own business → invest and reinvest the cash to accumulate more. That is the proven formula many have used, and one was originally laid out by Wall Street Playboys years ago. The blueprint makes more sense each year because we are becoming an economy operating on two polarities. On one side, you have high achievers and overperformers. On the other hand, you have individuals doing nothing and wasting their precious time. There is no surprise, considering how the economy has shaped over the last couple of years and that the middle class has been extinct - giving less hope for the average. The dream and beauty of the middle class was that it was achievable for everyone. What happens when that dream is gone? Either you realize the opportunity and become a high achiever, or you take the simple route and give up. Why are we mentioning this? Because you need to have an end goal for your career. Originally, the guide was written for a different environment - a remote one. We would encourage you to be smart about it and go for offers that are not remote as well. Why? The market and economic situation are hard, and there are small chances that a company will give you a remote role if you have zero experience. That is the reality and something you should keep in mind while applying. After you get those initial two years of experience out of the equation, you can land a remote role.
Future Proof: Everyone now knows that the middle-class dream is gone. The motivation for the majority? Gone with that realization. The first results are already showing up, and more young people are choosing degeneracy over being professionals. Another important factor over the last few years is the popularity of AI and rapid technological advancement. Everyone is realizing where things are heading. None of us knows what the future brings, but there will be automation and full-on workforce replacements. We will also see the rise of one-person companies and large projects previously thought impossible without a team. This is not a doomsday scenario. Quite the opposite is true. Many young people are entering the outdated workforce. Great example? Auditors. Most of those prestigious firms have a huge workforce without even trying to become more efficient. Half of the headcount operating in the audit department could be cut with a few Python scripts and simple automation. Deploy three professional software engineers to replace x number of auditors. Not bad in our books. The gap between what is already possible with the current technology and how the real world operates is big. Why are we mentioning this? The reason is that going the sales route will provide you with a certain hedge. Hedge against being part of the automation and from those who will be pushed out. We mentioned an argument regarding the SDRs being replaced with an AI voice and outsourcing solution a few times. However, until then, we have a few more solid years, which should leave you with enough space to land in a decision-making role. Being an account executive is something you should strive for - your biggest priority as soon as you break into the industry. Decision power equals fewer chances to be replaced. The rule applies to all roles and every industry.
Last But Not Least: Before you stop reading this because you have zero interesting tech sales. The methods and approaches in the article apply not only to landing yourself in the tech sales role. The same methods apply to any industry and all white-collar roles. If you are in the job market or looking for the next opportunity - read the rest of the article. While reading swap the tech sales terminology with any other role you try to break into. It doesn't take rocket scientists to realize you can apply this to your situation and roles. Less regarding technical roles as each will require different technical knowledge. Your goal? Doing what others are afraid to do to get the results others won’t. Humans are social creatures, and techniques for one industry will work for another. If you are only looking for promotion in the current environment, do yourself a favor and read the corporate etiquette cheat sheet.
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Requirements
Overview: Learn the industry you will be operating in and understand the fundamentals of SaaS. Something that is not mentioned around enough. Since it requires deeper thinking. Will it make you better at sales? Not quite. But will you make a better businessman all around? Absolutely. Focus on what matters. Your goal here should be to cut the unnecessary fluff and stick to the methods that work - the ones you will find here. Methods, at their core, are straightforward. But they got overcomplicated as time passed. Everyone tried to sell you something, which is why they made it look complicated. Evaluate your options. Use common sense. Go through the G2, RepVue, Clutch, or other relevant websites. One where you can get feedback on how the company is operating. Read all you can about the product you will be selling - it’s important. Learn to differentiate between products the company is selling. Giving you a better understanding of competitors in the same niche. Does the product belong to the nice-to-have or must-have category? Details such as this matter. There are no reasons you would want to be in an environment where you will have difficulty selling. Incorporate "hacks” into your interviewing to make an impact. Not something you will find on the front page of LinkedIn. There are reasons no one is mentioning it. Simulating your future daily activities (cold outreach, setting up calls, cold calling) will separate you from the rest. The easiest way to impress those you need to impress - the hiring manager. Combining all the above points and creating a systematic approach to crush sales interviews is what it's all about. Once you are set with a proven system that works - no chance you will not be landing a tech sales role or any other. It’s only a matter of time and luck. Persistence is also something you are required to possess to succeed. Any of our readers got this, and there are zero chances this won't work out. Step one? Believe in yourself.
Note: Throughout the article, you will find the term hiring manager. We are using it to make things easier - the better one would be the decision maker, considering different companies have different structures. All our readers understand that the interview process includes multiple decision-makers - not just one.
Mindset: As with getting any other role… The only way to lose landing a role is to give up. Getting a role in tech in the current environment has not been easy when you compare it to how it used to be a few years ago. Yet, in the last six months, at least ten people have posted how they have landed a role in the Telegram group. Meaning? It is possible for those who are prepared. Persistence, unbreakable character, and confidence. Funny enough, all of them are required if you plan to be successful in your sales career. We mention mindset because you can't get much out of this without a proper approach.
Industry Terminology: You need to know the basics of the industry - it will make things easier for you. There are no excuses for not knowing the terminology. We are just mentioning the most common ones and their abbreviations - no reasons to make this any longer. Alphabetical order - skip if you already know them.
Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR): Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR).
Average Customer Lifetime (ACL): The average customer contract length before churning.
AM: Account Manager.
AE: Account Executive.
Average Contract Value (ACV): average revenue you derive from a single customer in a given period
Average Revenue Per User (ARPU): average revenue realized per user.
Account: Refers to a record of primary and background information about an individual or corporate customer (Including data, preferred services and transactions with your company)
B2B: Business-to-business.
B2C: Business-to-consumer.
Base Salary: This is the amount you are paid per hour or year for performing your job.
BDR: Short for Business Development Representative.
Burn Rate: The cash a company spends monthly before generating a profit.
Booking: Scheduling a product demo, call, or meeting with a prospect or client.
Buyer Persona: Archetype of buyer role.
BDM: Business development manager. (Common name in EU)
Buying Signal: A verbal or non-verbal cue from a prospect is ready to make a purchase.
Close: Sales term which refers to the process of making a sale.
Cold calling: When you call someone who is not expecting your call.
Cold emailing: Email sent to a prospect without any previous engagement or relationship.
Channel: Where interaction takes place. (Phone, email, LinkedIn)
CRM: Customer Relationship Management -software that lets you keep track of activities with your customers / potential customers.
Churn: Rate at which customers cancel their subscriptions.
CTA: Call to action.
Commission: Additive pay based on sales.
Customer Journey: A series of touchpoints a customer has with a business/brand to become or stay a customer.
CTA (Call to action): Something you or the person you are speaking to will need to do.
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): Average value of recurring profit over a customer’s time doing business with the company minus the customer acquisition cost.
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): How much does it cost a business, on average, to acquire a new paying customer.
C-Suite: Top-level executives in a business (CMO, CEO, CFO etc).
Cross-Selling: When a sales rep has more than one type of product to offer consumers this could be beneficial.
CSM: Customer success manager.
Customer Success: Strategy adopted by B2B companies to optimize business with customers, reduce churn rate, drive profits and increase the predictability of recurring revenue.
D2D: Door to door sales.
Disco / Discovery Call: This is a meeting with a prospect or client typically booked by an SDR. This initial meeting aims to give the client a basic understanding of what your company can do for them.
Demo call: A call where a client is shown a presentation deck or a live demonstration of the software/service they would be getting from your company in exchange for money.
Dialer: A piece of software that automates dialling phone numbers.
Enterprise: Refers to large corporations.
Engagement: Interactions carried out by the prospect with the SDR - measured in action and time.
Enrichment: Improving the quality of existing data. For example, an SDR may use contact enrichment to improve the quality of their contact information.
Gatekeeper: Something (usually a person) who controls access to a person.
Key Accounts: "VIP customers" prioritized by sales reps and customer success. Losing those has a big impact on the company.
Lead: The classification within your database for individuals/companies you are trying to contact or manage a relationship with.
Lead Nurturing: Refers to engaging and building long-term relationships with prospective customers through different techniques.
Life-Time Value (LTV): Total value of a customer from a business perspective or in terms of revenue before they churn.
Low-Hanging Fruit: Prospects that require minimum input to turn to customers.
Monthly Recurring Revenue(MRR): Total subscription revenue realized monthly.
MD: Managing Director.
MM: Mid-Market
ICP: Ideal customer profile.
ISR: Inside sales rep.
Inbound: Prospects approaching your company and expressing interest in your service.
Onboarding: Process that new customers go through after signing the contract.
OTE: On Target Earnings. How much will you make before taxes when your Salary and commission combined.
Outbound: SDR reaches out to potential customers who haven’t already been interested in the business’s product.
Objection: A prospect's challenge to or rejection of a product or service's benefits - normal in a sales process.
Pipeline: Used to visualize and track prospects as they move through the different stages of the sales process.
Prospect: Potential customer who has been qualified and is now in the sales process.
Pain Point: Prospect's pain point or need is the most important thing for a sales rep to identify in the selling process.
Quota: The sales number you need to hit.
Qualified Lead: A contact who is interested in learning more.
Renewal Rate: Rate of customers staying with the SaaS/renewing their contract.
Revenue Realization: When the cash from a contract finally hits the bank, revenue is realized.
Rapport: Close and harmonious relationship in which the people or groups concerned understand each other's feelings or ideas and communicate well.
Referral: Generating sales leads where a third party shares information about a new prospect.
SE: Sales engineer.
SMB: Small and medium-sized businesses.
Segmentation: Breaking down a large market into groups with specific criteria (industry, budget, role, etc.).
SaaS: Software as a Service.
SDR: Sales development representative.
SQL: Sales qualified leads.
Sequence: Order in which you send outreach. Also known as a cadence or play.
Sales Cycle: A repeating process characterized by a predictable sequence of stages a company undergoes as it sells its products and services to customers.
Sales Funnel: Visualization of the sales process that defines the stages through which prospective customers go through
Signalling: Process in which a consumer conveys readiness to purchase your product or service.
Trial: Period of no cost, or low cost, access to the product for evaluation purposes.
Targeting: Refers to the specific group or subset of potential consumers a company plans to sell its product
Total Available Market (TAM): Refers to the total revenue potential for a specific product or service
Triggers: Set of signals or occurrences that meet certain criteria to be considered an opportunity to make a sale.
Unique Selling Point (USP): A statement conveying the unique features that differentiate a company and/or its product from the competition.
Upsell: A sales technique in which a seller induces the customer to purchase more expensive items, upgrades, or other add-ons to make a more profitable sale.
VM: Voicemail
Note: We encourage you to pick the SaaS Sales Method for Sales Development Representatives - How to Prospect for Customers. it's a few bucks that will help you better understand what the SDR role requires. The Kindle version of the book is 1$, which makes it hard to beat.
Resume
Basics: Now that we have covered the overview part and what will be required from you. The next on the list is the resume. Resume often being blowout of the proportions. Most fail to realize that the resume is nothing but your personal sales letter. You are selling yourself to the decision-maker. It doesn’t have to be the prettiest thing. However, it needs to showcase your experience that you can support with compelling stories. Experience that will be beneficial and relevant for the role you are applying to.
The basics of a solid resume are straightforward:
Clean looking layout
One page
Keywords relevant to your role
Max up to the 3 roles
Max up to 3-4 bullet points per role → demonstrating quantifiable results
If you're already following the basics outlined here - congratulations. You are in the top 20% of candidates. Before anyone comes after us on the "keywords". We are sticking to the most optimal approach here. If someone decides to apply through HR (website/application). Your resume will be scanned for relevant keywords required for the role - the reason your resume needs to include keywords is to pass the filter process. Not enough keywords? Straight to the bin.
Clean-Looking Layout: Go for a clean and appealing one-page layout. Featuring a maximum of three roles. That’s all you need to have a clean-looking resume that will catch the other side's attention. Don’t worry about anyone saying you need multiple pages with pictures and six different colors because that approach doesn’t work. Readers from Europe already know about the Europass layout. Avoid that at all costs. A one-page-looking resume will take you further. Do you think individuals in important positions have time to read 3-page resumes? They don’t. Usually, having bigger problems to deal with. It's the same principle when we talk about the roles. No need to mention what you have been doing in your college days if you already have more relevant work experience. If you are yet to get your first job, you must leverage everything available to stand out.
Professional Experience: The idea behind it is straightforward. The first step involves changing the resume section titled "work experience" to "professional experience". Allowing you to use it to your advantage. What used to happen back in the day - misfit software engineers would "simulate" work experience by implying they already had one required for the role. They would list a certification of a certain company with all the relevant keywords. Your goal? Find a course or certification that you can use to your advantage. There are quite a few you could use here. But the easiest example you can include on your resume is the "Salesforce Sales Development Representative Professional Certificate". Salesforce offers a few variations of the certification you could use to your advantage. In each case, you are not lying in listing the key activities the course covered. Why? Because you did all of them. The best part is that they do count towards your professional experience. The key here? Do it in a way that showcases relevant experience. One that helps with your future role. The great thing about it is that it bypasses HR screening - to a point. In case you are having problems getting first-round interview calls. You will be asked what Salesforce means on your resume. Similar to other bullet points. You need to have a clear story and explain it so you are not trying to trick them. You listed it because you found the experience relevant to your interview - professional experience. Don’t mention any tricking or how you tried to bypass the HR screening process. We are sure there are a few honest readers out there. You do not want to be honest in this situation - remember you are there to get a role. Another approach would be to use the contract stacking to your advantage. Listing the experience you got by doing contracts and listing what you have done for others. Doing this puts you in the top 5% of candidates because you have relevant experience while others don’t.
Template: To simplify things and provide a solid overview of how the resume should look. Stick to our template or something like LaTex Jake's resume. We leave that for you to decide what you prefer more - both will work.
We must use the MEGA as a hosting solution because Substack does not support the .docx format.
A well-crafted resume opens doors, a poorly written one closes them.
Winning Interviews
Tools that you will need:
Findymail - get emails from recruiters, hiring managers, etc. You get a few free credits.
EasyApply - something to help you automate.
Sly Apply - make your application process easier. Shout out to
Note: We assume you know how to use Findymail and LinkedIn to locate your potential team members and use that knowledge to your advantage. If you don’t, spend 20 minutes learning how to do that and understand what is required.
Interview Preparation: To win interviews - you must approach them strategically. Especially now that tech sales are becoming a new investment banking - competition is improving. What does it mean to approach it strategically? You will keep track of everything. That is the only way to get better at something. Compare yourself to where you are now vs. where you have been. A spreadsheet file is all you will need. Below is a great example of how you could structure your interview spreadsheet. Google Sheets will take care of everything and cost nothing. The layout is simple: Role, Job Link, Company when you applied, and empty cells for the interview comments. Keep the list of potential referrals you have connected with and may use to your advantage. After a few interviews - you realize it’s the same thing repeatedly and that it comes down to the practice. If you nail the concept, it can be done again in the next interview - reason why creating the system is important.
Simple example you can use. The easiest way to track how things are working out.
Creating A System: It all comes down to tracking how you did before and what you can do next to achieve better results. Throw in the interview experience, which you will pick up along the way - results are guaranteed. We also call it sequence-based interviewing, which will be explained further in the article. The greatest thing about sequence-based interviewing is that it builds confidence, builds the pipeline, and prepares you for the "better" choices. You just lost the great company because you bombed one question? Not a problem. When you have more interviews coming in the same week. When creating the system, you will realize that not every company carries the same weight. You should categorize companies into target and non-target ones. The question is how do you separate target from non-target companies? It gets tricky since it depends on multiple factors. Subjective factors. Do you mind working hybrid or does it have to be fully remote? Do you mind moving into a new city because you will be required to do so? Can’t give specifics here since it’s subjective. But we can comment on how to separate good companies from bad ones. Choosing the right company can become quite complicated. Your two best indicators of how good a company is or, better said, how easy it will be for you to hit the quota comes to 1) Product market fit and 2) Solution: nice to have or must have. Let’s not lie to each other. This is the basic overview of what you should be looking for. Not saying it’s impossible to hit quota if you are going to sell a "nice to have" solution, but it will make things more challenging than a must-have one. Especially when global economics are not looking great. You can be the best salesperson in the world. With a terrible product, you will not do much. A huge factor in your success? Choosing the right product. There are many websites, such as RepVue, where you can check quota attainment and other specifics to help you choose - take that information with a grain of salt. Since we are already discussing quota attainment and vetting. Your best indicator of how things work would be to contact someone from the team. It’s not the most comfortable thing to do, especially for newcomers. Something you will have to get used to as the job requires it. Why not start immediately? Make your life easier and follow the cash.
Interview Cycle: We don't recommend applying to your target companies immediately. Target companies? Something we covered further in the article. Especially true if you haven't entered the interview cycle yet. What do we mean by the interview cycle? Something we will cover a bit later. The point here is to emphasize that treating interviews as practice is key to improving - when discussing Tier 3 of your interview sequence. All the early testing comes in handy right here. Not getting interview calls? Your CV is off. Not getting second rounds? Something you do during the interview goes wrong, or you don’t have a good enough framework for the questions and answers part of the interview. Once you've completed ten to fifteen interviews, the difference in your approach, confidence, and ability to secure a role you want will multiply at least 5x. This is not a joke. You don't want to attack the "Goliath" companies without being prepared for what is coming. With non-targeted mass applications, you will lower your chances of landing a job. You should practice on the companies you aren't afraid to lose. To wrap up the breakdown, the logic behind the article comes down to:
Splitting companies into tiers
Sequence application sending based on tiers
Testing out your CV
Practicing your Q&A
Getting feedback from decision-makers on your interviewing
Do not be embarrassed by your failures, learn from them and start again.- Richard Branson
Finding The Right Company
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What No One Will Tell You: Poor choices and why individuals are not hitting quota… The reason is simple. The solution they are selling often doesn’t have a real market fit. Market fit is too broad a term - their solution doesn’t have a real market need to simplify it. To dumb it down even further no one needs it. With the current market trends and situation, things are showing their true colors. SaaS solutions that brought in a small revenue are doing even less now. While the established ones are bringing the same and more despite the current market. Since our whole Substack is about maximizing your potential and being as efficient as possible. The key here should be to apply these principles as best as possible and position yourself comfortably. As with all other 9to5 roles, aim to put the least input possible while getting the most output. No one is saying tech sales roles are easy. Anyone who tells you the same amount of energy required to work in established SaaS companies and startups is trying to sell you something. Our advice? Stick to the big logo. The difference is night and day. We leave it to you to do deep vetting and research on companies. Remember that competition is improving daily as tech sales roles become more popular. Make sure you use every method and tool to land a role. Outworking your competitors is one way to do it. Another way is to play games that few know about.
Something To Keep In Mind: Before we further expand on the right SaaS product and how to choose the best company to work for. The best way to put it is that you want to work for a SaaS company whose solution either generates more money or saves the company money. Saving or, better said, allowing them to reach a higher revenue by implementing the same. This is the best and easiest explanation one should aim for. What do you think is easier to sell: an in-house social media platform" for their employees and company or a solution that can replace two full-time equivalents and cost half the price of those? Most don’t talk about this. This is the true secret to having that nice software lifestyle everyone is talking about. We are repeating ourselves. It will not be easy. But that is what it’s all about. It's easier to sell a product with market fit when compared to one that is nice to have. The one without real added value to their PnL. Those are the first things that get cut when things go south and the economy is down. What you should take away is that you don’t want to work for just any SaaS company. Aim for the solutions that bring real value and base your targeting on those.
More Things To Keep In Mind: For the first few companies, you should be smart and practice with companies you are not scared to lose. Don't start blasting out your target companies right away. With a target list, remember that you don’t strictly have to stick to it - be flexible. Job offers are posted daily. If you are completely lost regarding targeting or where to start. One advice you could use is to target companies with higher ratings on sites like RepVue. Another solid option would be to check Glassdoor and ensure they got a rating above 4.0 - you are reading reviews from sales individuals or those departments. Those ratings are not set in stone but should serve as a good baseline. A last piece of advice could be to stick to certain niche or criteria types of software. Some individuals have switched careers. This can provide an unfair advantage because they understand their prospect’s problems and where the industry is heading. Each interview should provide a new opportunity to learn about yourself and how things work regarding tech sales interviews. Don’t take it personally if you get negative feedback while starting - write it down and work on it. But at the same time, be honest with yourself. Another reason to begin by applying to your non-target is to gain experience before pursuing opportunities with bigger companies. The same principles of vetting should still be applied. If you decide not to go a building target list route - completely fine. Keep reading because the principles below still apply. To keep it simple your target should be based on the following:
Does a SaaS solution increase/save revenue? - your most important answer
Location - aim for a fully remote role (hard in the current environment)
Personal interest (category/niche based)
RepVue and Bravado ratings and forums - sounds silly but it's not
Treat applying as a practice
Where to Look and What to Find: You will use Wellfound, Crunchbase, G2, RepVue, Bravado, and LinkedIn. We can't tell how long this will be relevant, but so far, they should be on your radar. The great thing about G2 is that you can reverse-engineer your research. In the sense that you can gain a clear overview of how the product fits into the market.
Example of Slack review.
You should have a clear understanding of the above image. Go to G2 or any other review website. Enter the company name and start by reading reviews. Now you have a database of reviews about the company you are applying to. Regarding RepVue, look into it when building a target list. RepVue summarizes compensations per company and its ranking system. This gives you a solid overview of the product market fit for a specific company. Don’t sleep on this when creating your target list or vetting the company you are about to apply to. RepVue has its ranking list, so register and look at their rankings. There is not much to add about Bravado. The RepVue - should also provide you with data you can use. Combining RepVue and G2 reviews should give you a solid overview. Bravado used to have a solid forum to check in case you are looking for specifics on the company, culture, and whether you can hit quota. The better way to find out how things are working out? Connect with someone inside and find out how things are working out - it should not be hard to find out what percentage of the team is hitting the quota.
Interview Game
Applying To Non-Targets: If you are following everything we outlined. You should have the system set up and in place. Companies which you are interested in. Split them between those you consider target and non-target companies. Better said testing out the waters. You will have to start taking steps that other candidates are not brave enough to do. Unfortunately (for them), they rely on LinkedIn's "Easy apply" button for a role, which is the opposite of what we preach. Your goal should be to seek referrals and impress hiring managers. Simulating the daily activities you will do in your tech sales role. Our primary goal for the first ten to fifteen companies should be to test how interviewing works out for you, not just in the interview part but the whole setup. If you're not getting first-round calls - something is off with your resume. Are you getting calls back? Passing the interview rounds? Have you already received an offer for one of your non-target companies? These are all indicators that you should pay attention to - Feedback you receive that you should use to your advantage. There's a good reason we created a complete system earlier. Feeling confident? It's time to move to target companies.
The goal in the non-target applying round should be to:
Practice your Q&A
Exposes your weakness
Test out your resume
Applying To Target Companies: What’s left? Well, the only thing that counts. Getting yourself into the desired company. We are not saying you should not accept an offer if it appears on your non-target list. But there is a reason it was on the non-target list and not on the target list. Most readers will expect the miracle outreach method and interview trick we will uncover in this part. The truth? The opposite of that. If you followed what we preached and did what you were supposed to do - there are zero reasons you would change anything when dealing with target companies. In case you were successful in previous interviews. There is no difference between interviewing for target and non-target. To be more precise. The only difference will be your stress levels. In this sense, you will understand how well you behave under pressure. This will test your stress tolerance abilities - one of the best indicators of sales career success. To clarify further on that… Stress is a deal killer. Not only in the interview game but in general. Humans like to stress themselves when they feel something is important → target companies will carry more weight than non-target ones. This will apply to most cases. Often what we want the most runs away from us. Our best advice would be to do exactly what you did before while dealing with the non-targets. No magic here. The key is to maintain the same 'not caring' approach you had with non-targets. There are no special companies. We are confident that anyone after ten - fifteen interviews should be able to secure the role in tech sales. As mentioned earlier luck and your preparation levels will play a certain role. Not much you can do about the luck part. But you can do a lot when it comes to preparation. Treat target companies as same as you would non-target - it's just another interview.
Sequence-Based Interviewing: Something we have seen the first time back when coding became popular online. Smart individuals began recommending a sequence-type interviewing approach. The approach involves interviewing while building your interview skillset. Success will depend on your delivery and how effectively you sell yourself to hiring managers. The process of selling yourself begins even before you secure a role. During the interview process. Sequence-based interviewing aims to build confidence, create the pipeline, and prepare you for better choices. You just lost the great company because you bombed on one of the questions? Didn't create a good connection with the hiring manager? Why worry when you have four interviews in the next few days?
Sequence-Based Interviewing - Tier 3 Companies: This is a full-on practice round. The purpose of the round is to prepare you for what is coming and how you should position yourself during the interviews. In each case don’t put the companies you care for in Tier 3. The post-interview self-critical report is crucial and must be done after each interview.
Not getting invites? CV problem
Not getting second-round invites? You are doing something wrong during the interviews
The main goal should be to practice your Q&A and test out the waters
Sequence-Based Interviewing - Tier 2 Companies: Most will stop during this round. Because Tier 2 companies should already be good enough choices to see you working for them. You should include all the companies you can see yourself working for. There's nothing wrong with that. Feel comfortable, or are you in a tough spot? Stop and accept the offer with Tier 2.
Positive signs should start showing up - working on the feedback you receive from hiring managers
You should expect At least one - two offers if done right
Sequence-Based Interviewing - Tier 1 Companies: These are where the best ones will land. It's much easier to land here if you already have some experience and know how to market yourself. Again, this comes back to being a subjective choice. We advise getting under the big logo and following the money regarding company tiers and personal choices. Tier 1 companies are your goal companies.
High-priority companies - the ones you want to work for
Most will not even get to this round because of their situation or because of their low-risk tolerance - talking about entry roles
Interview Self-Critical Report: Each company should take at least two weeks if you bypass the CV screening. Sometimes even longer if it happens during the summer and vacation season (common in Europe). Based on that plan accordingly. Most people might think, "Okay, that means I have at least two months to complete Tier 3". Not really. Your goal with Tier 3 is to get as many repetitions as possible in the shortest time. Because it will serve as a base for further interviews - a testing ground for your CV and your Q&A. Tiers 2 and 1 will require you to take a smarter approach.
Self-critical report should be completed once the interview is finished
Write what went well
Write what went bad
Be honest and critical with yourself
Keep it all in one Sheet - think about it in terms of CRM
When You Should Stop: By the time you are close to finishing Tier 2 in your interview sequence. You can expect at least one to two offers if everything goes well. When should you stop and accept the offer? It's hard to say because it's subjective. If you did everything correctly when setting up tiers - Tier 2 companies should already be good enough to work for. If you are desperately looking for a new role or have a low-risk tolerance you might as well accept a Tier 3 company. If you are experienced and not afraid to push for something better. Your best bet would be to push (skip Tier 3) and go straight into Tier 2 or Tier 1. Maybe a few quick interviews to improve your skills - the ones you don’t care about the outcome. But any more of that would be a waste of time. Instead, your time would be better off spent attacking the Goliaths. Still wondering when the right time to stop is? The right time to stop is when you feel satisfied with the offer. Subjective since we don’t know your background and current situation. Be realistic with yourself. Practicing what we mentioned above gives you a huge chance of landing the role. Things get easier once you have enough interviewing experience under your belt. Additionally, the confidence you will gain based on your interview pipeline will be on another level. The outlined approach will make winning the interview game easier because you will have a complete overview of how to approach mass interviewing.
Landing Role
Selling Yourself: Most hiring managers figure you out in fifteen minutes. Signs show during the interview process. That’s why you must leave the best impression and sell yourself. The idea here is to keep it as practical as possible. Since there are millions of articles such as this one. We are giving you a game plan for using things your way. Selling starts before you even land a role - during the interview process. Most of the questions you will be present during the interview should be answered in three to four minutes. With the specific purpose of positioning yourself as effectively as possible for the role. One for which you are interviewing. You want to lead with the story or example for most questions. On top of that add your previous experience to sell it as best as possible. You want to emphasize the activities you had - did to show off your fit for the role you are dealing with. Trying to get into a CSM role? Do you only have experience as a receptionist in a local hotel? Perfect. This means you were building connections with the guests and making their stay at the hotel as best as possible. Throw in the subtle mention of how regular guests asked about you because you knew their room preferences. This is a simple example, but you should understand the big picture. Your goal? Make yourself as natural as possible. Opposite to that if you are trying to break into the SDR role. Talk about your experience with the "discovery questions" you use to determine what customers like and tailor the offer to their needs. Another tip to keep in mind? Learn to shut up. Most can’t stop talking about themselves once they start. One of the easiest ways to mess up and push the whole interview into an unnecessary self-oriented rant that will not move you forward. Don’t be one of those.
The worst fault a salesman can commit is to be a bore. - David Ogilvy
Common Interview Questions And Tips: We can't cover all of them. However, the ones mentioned here should cover the most common examples you will encounter during your interview. What else should you expect? The demo part. The company will request a short video, or you will have a mock sales call with the sales rep on the other side. Learn and understand the STAR method. You will use it throughout your interview journey. Another important one? Work on mock sales calls - getting as many reps as possible. This breaks down into situation, task, action, and results. Over time, you will develop the ability to apply this pattern to all your questions, and interviewing will become much easier to the point of being automatic. Describe the situation you were in and how it applied to your role, the task given to you while in that situation, and how you resolved it - finishing up with the result and what you have gained from that situation. Make sure they are all associated with positivity instead of the big problem. This way you will make it seem like a challenge and opportunity for you to grow - no matter how bad that situation was. Another thing to remember when entering an entry role is that how you speak is more often more important than what you speak. Learn to communicate and deliver your points.
Q: Tell me about yourself.
Tip: 100% chance you will get this question first. Subjective one in the end. The hack for answers is that you will always be led toward the position you are applying for.
Q: Biggest failure?
Tip: When you get asked questions about your biggest failure - the important part? Tell the story in the order where you first describe the problem → how you overcame it, → how you applied lessons to your benefit. With failures/problems → make sure they are big enough but not the red flag.
Q: Why sales?
Tip: We heard several variations regarding questions such as Why sales? Some like to lead with the challenge part of the game while others also like to build with reward/input type of answers. Best one? Hard to say. However, our recommendation would be to go along the lines of human growth and people and build up the skill set needed in every business aspect. - money being a deep motivator. Companies, departments, and recruiters are becoming more sensitive each day. We would not be mentioning an answer such as that one.
Q: What is your biggest weakness?
Tip: Similar answers to the biggest failure question. You don’t want the big red flag over your head. But instead, a weakness that could be fixed. Something that works great, especially with entry roles - problems with prioritization. You are so eager to accept new challenges that you get lost when it comes to activity importance. Repeating the key here is to play it off and make it seem genuine without being a red flag.
Q: Why do you want to work at Company X?
Tip: For each company you will interview, dive deeper into the recent trends and information you can find. Do your research and find insights about the company → sell it to the recruiter. With questions like this, your goal should be to make them feel comfortable and focus on themselves - an easy way to open them up.
Q: How would you sell our product?
Tip: It depends on the product and company you will interview with. The best and safest answer here would be the importance of the discovery phase. Instead of the typical approach of trying to push the product straight away. Go into discovery mode and push for prospects’ answers. Dig deeper into their pain points and what matters to them. Once you have gathered enough information, set up the next steps. They want to see that you can perform your future daily activities. The devil is in the details. The manager could ask how you would research who needs "our" product. Your goal should be to focus more on the prospecting part of the game (if you get a question variation). In each case, you have answers to both.
Q: Why are you planning to switch companies?
Tip: If you are already working somewhere, there is a big chance you might stumble upon this. The key here is not to show off your current employer in a bad light. You get the idea. Stick to a story related to the product or the company’s vision compared to its competitors. While also communicating your desire to position yourself in a better role.
Q: How do you feel being told "No"?
Tip: We are talking about sales here. You will be hearing "No" often. They are looking for how you are reacting - emotional state. What you want to do here is convey a story that shows you are detached from the outcome. You have a system and a plan and are working based on it. Hearing "No" will not move you away from the goal. It’s a part of the game. More to cover down the road. However, the questions here should provide a great baseline for landing a tech sales role.
What You Should Be Asking The Hiring Manager: An important thing to remember is to learn how to pitch the company you are interviewing with during the interview process. Your goal should be to sound as natural as possible. It's the same thing you must do when you land a role. Impressing the hiring manager? Put yourself in the hiring manager's perspective as they look for a new SDR. What qualities are managers looking for? They are looking for someone who can sell, sound confident, and be a natural - full package. Why would hiring a manager make his life any harder when he has someone pitching before even having a job? Logic. Now, throw in the mix of questions about where the hiring manager must qualify the company. Keep it light and take mental notes. Remember that you are talking to the human sitting across from you. Nothing humans like to do more than talk about themselves. Gather and use data to your advantage - this is where the magic happens. Remember that this works best when supplemented with a story and understanding current market trends. To make this work you must dive deeper into each company you are interviewing with. It’s quite easy once you have the framework in your head. Prospect and sell yourself into the role. You are not just having a transactional conversation. You ask A, and they give you A. Show them your deeper understanding, knowledge, and drive to go further than others - that’s what you want to achieve.
Question: What learning material is available for my role?
Question: How did you end up ___?
Question: What is your main competitor?
Question: What is the approximate market share size?
Question: How do you recommend new hires to be successful in ___role?
Question: How do you plan to adapt to ___ (market trend related to the product)? Question: Biggest change that is coming in the next two years that will impact the company's business?
Question: What would you like to see someone manage to learn in 30/60 days?
Example Of Question Supplemented With Story: This is how the interview should be structured - flow. Instead of the standard question/answer framework, the goal should be to treat it as a conversation and position yourself as someone who would be fun and professional enough to spend eight hours each day.
You: Who is your main competitor?
Hiring Manager: Our main competitor is Y and Z
You: That makes sense because Z is doing X, a similar solution to your company. I remember reading they lost 30% market share because of bad ___. Making it a perfect opportunity for a (company you are interviewing with) to ___
SDR Specific Questions:
Question: What percentage of SDRs are hitting quota?
Question: What is the biggest reason SDRs who fail at x don’t understand, and how would you suggest new SDRs to avoid them?
Question: What sets the top performer apart from the rest? Tip: Take mental notes and use them. Information can be used to your advantage if done right.
Question: Do you plan to grow the current team more? Tip: This tells you a lot about the company's current climate. You do not want to work in a company decreasing its sales team.
Question: What is the average time someone gets promoted from SDR to AE? Tip: Similar to the above. Tells you a lot about company cultures and how things are working out. The answer we are looking for is < 2 years.
Question: How often do SDRs get promoted to AEs compared to external hires? Tip: You are looking for a positive answer here. It tells you much about the company and how they are treating their SDRs.
Question: What are the most common objections from prospects? Tip: Perfect for discovering pain points in the industry you sell to. If you reverse engineer it, it can also be used in other interview rounds.
Question: What is the average turnover of salespeople? Tip: A high number equals sweatshop/call center vibes.
Question: What tech stack is your company using? Tip: Make sure they are not cheap on this. Better stack = easier to fill the pipeline
Question: Can you give me an example of a sales rep who was recently struggling and how you helped them/coached them to be more successful? Tip: This is the ultimate question to ask the hiring manager. With questions such as this one, you will make them qualify themselves.
The biggest risk is not taking any risk... In a world that is changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.
– Mark Zuckerberg
Interview Finishers: What we mentioned above comes down to practice. Putting in more reps is the only way to get better with interviews. Trying, failing, and repeating the cycle. All magic there is. Having stories behind your answer and being enthusiastic about your future role will get you far. No hiring manager will turn down a candidate that shows extreme competence. Presenting yourself as someone who can handle the heavy load while being coachable is what is all about. Whole secret when breaking into tech sales or any other role. What are the last questions you should be asking your interviewer? Something to make them remember you and leave an impact on them. While interviewing one of the goals is to learn how to frame and reframe yourself. Your previous and current experience should be presented to serve as a benefit for the current role you are applying to. To dumb it down even further if you were a server. Your goal should be to show off the social skills and rapport-building skills you have managed to develop during your server job. Good at storytelling? Turn the whole experience you had into an SDR-like experience. Mention you have managed to upsell, do proper discovery, and the importance of conversing with customers. Hiring managers pay attention to small details as such. It all comes down to selling yourself to the hiring manager. You should always finish with the next steps. This means you ask how the process will look going forward and when you expect to hear from them. Most often, you will get a straight-up answer. Often you will have to follow up with them. Individuals get busy, different individuals come for interviews... Things can get messy. It’s normal so don’t panic if you don’t hear back immediately. Never hesitate or feel bad about following up
1. Interview Finisher: "Why do people choose X company over the competitors? Wondering what makes you different from other competitors." Tip: We are talking about very direct questions that can make them qualify themselves. Using this approach through companies with big logos is harder, but it works wonders when talking about smaller companies or someone who has yet to take a bigger market share.
2. Interview Finisher: Shoutout to
for the gem. We saw it on his Twitter profile last year. Since then it has become a standard type of advice. "When you think of best performers, what qualities do they have?" Wait for their answer. Once done, hit them with the follow-up: "Hopefully, I have shown at least a few. Considering that, are there any reasons you feel this would not be a good fit or any more concerns to touch on your end?". A powerful finisher is one way to put it.Extra tip: Once the interview ends, ensure you are not asking questions that don’t add value. The finisher is what it is all about, so you better make sure your question makes sense and leaves an impact.
You already know what to do…
Summary: We have reworked our older articles, improving them and allowing everyone to find a proper career path. If you follow our advice and implement it into your strategy… There is no reason you won't be landing a role in the next few months. Multiple messages from our readers confirm that this works and that they have landed a role. Every two weeks, someone in our Telegram group lands a new role following the principles outlined here. You already know what to do. Read and start implementing as soon as possible. There are no barriers to what you can achieve with execution and strategic approach - not only in landing a role but in everything in your life. Tech sales combined with our blueprint and avoiding life traps in your 20s will make you wealthy in the long run. Stick to what works and bet on the proven methods to get results. Before we wrap up, if this guide helped you break into the sales role, we would appreciate you contacting us and letting us know. Drop a comment, DM us, or let us know in the chat.