iShark

Account Executive

Final Interview for AE - Need Help!!

FYI - This is my second AE role with just over 1 year of selling.

It's my final interview. Pretty cool autonomous pentest company.

My last interview is a 30 min presentation - I can present anything Id like ( I was planning on presenting their product since its easier sale than what I'm currently selling)

Details below

I was planning on doing a 15 min discovery, then a 10 min high-level demo of the product, and the last 5 mins scheduled a follow-up call with our SE to start a POV. (please feel free to provide suggestions here too)

First 30 minutes, we want you to present a solution to us. Feel free to use 3-5 slides that will help you tell your story. Sell us any product you like (most reps uses their most current product), walk us through how you’d qualify a prospect, and take the meeting from beginning to end to see if there’s an opportunity, before engaging with an SE. When the meeting starts, jump right in and treat us like you would with any prospects.

(We are a mid-size healthcare organization, located in the Bay Area. We are about 5,000 employees, and going through lots of growth with hiring and possible M&A.)

– CISO

– Director of Info-Sec

– Security Engineer

How would you structure your meeting? & What questions should I ask each individual?

Also, what's the best way to negotiate your comp plan? and any red flags to look out for?

🔐 Cybersecurity

🗣 Interviewing

7

22 comments

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poweredbycaffeine

WR Lieutenant

6

☕️

Want to stand out? Sell them something that is not related to the company or industry. Maybe a trip to Disney or a luxury resort on Maui. Maybe you sell them a new Tesla or similar consumer product.

Show that you’re knowledgeable of that product/solution and get them excited.

Or sell your own solution. If you fuck up theirs then you’re already behind.

TheLaughingWolf

WR Officer

2

Business Development Manager

Or, here me out here. Sell them their competition. If you can convince them to buy from their competitor you would be the Sales Master 1000.

braintank

Politicker

5

Enterprise Account Executive

I'd always advise pitching your own product vs their product.

funcoupons

WR Officer

4

👑

Yup. They're going to be way more critical of someone pitching their solution vs one they don't know everything about...

iShark

Contributor

1

Account Executive

Makes sense !

CuriousFox

WR Officer

3

🦊

Another reason I don't appreciate homework for a damn interview. 😒

iShark

Contributor

0

Account Executive

Thanks for the feedback!

iShark

Contributor

5

Account Executive

Quick Update Everyone-

Just had my final interview - @tennisandSales, really appreciate your perspective and believing in me - b/c I ended up presenting there product. & from there own words “I literally blow it out of the water”

Next steps are negotiating my comp plan any suggestions champs?

FYI - I’m working with a recruiting agency.

bandabanda

Tycoon

1

Senior AE Mid Market

Way to be bold and get it done!! Nice work.

Negotiation - I've used this article, works great ( https://cultivatedculture.com/salary-negotiation/)

- don't be the person who says a number first. If they ask for a range, ask for a range back.
- aim 10-15% higher than what you want. Justify it. Mine has sounded something like this "My company has made it very clear they want to keep me around, so in order for a move to make sense I'm looking for X base, X OTE."

This said, there are tons of other people here with more experience than me in this department.

iShark

Contributor

1

Account Executive

Hey thanks for this very helpful ! They extend an offer - which is way lower then what I originally asked for.

bandabanda

Tycoon

0

Senior AE Mid Market

Yikes. What's your play now?

CRAG112

Valued Contributor

0

Account Executive

They intentionally low balled you because they don’t want to go higher than what you asked for initially.

tell them “thank you for the offer. I love that you made it and am excited to work here. But it’s not anywhere near what we spoke about. I think (12% higher than what I asked for) makes great sense. I did kill the demo of your product after all.

ClutchDeluxe

Valued Contributor

0

asking people for money

I love it! Well done!

TennisandSales

Politicker

3

Head Of Sales

I like what the team is saying here.

BUT

my first thought was that you should sell THEIR product. If you can do that, and do it well, you will get MAJOR props.

(again only do this if you feel confident you can do it well by doing all the research you can)

braintank

Politicker

3

Enterprise Account Executive

The odds you can pitch it better than them are slim

iShark

Contributor

0

Account Executive

That’s exactly what I was thinking - there product is super easy to sell too - All you have to do is copy and paste the script into your command terminal run it and within hours or minutes you’re able to get a comprehensive report of how the autonomous pentesting technology was able to compromise the network, Plus the best thing is that were able to show you how to remediate these compromises step-by-step so that any IT manager even with little to no cyber security experience can do that

ClutchDeluxe

Valued Contributor

0

asking people for money

love this perspective, I'd do the same. You don't have to sell it better than them - they will train you. But showing that you're gutsy and can do your homework to put together something worth presenting? Gold stars all round

SADNESSLieutenant

Politicker

1

Officer of ♥️

Ask them great questions to kick it off.

So what brought you to meet with me
Today?

What would you like to know more about in todays meeting?

WhAts the biggest challenge you are facing currently with x?

Are you talking to any other vendors? If so, what intrigues you about them?

FILL THE GAP. Sell the value.

Ask about timeline, budget, need. Then work to sell that value to them and make yourself indispensable to their happiness and goals.

iShark

Contributor

1

Account Executive

The is brilliant! Thanks

Pachacuti

Politicker

1

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

Dont present their product unless you know their product inside and out. They know it MUCH better than you and you will just fail.

Present something you already know. They care about HOW you sell, not what you sell. How do you ask Discovery questions, listening skills, how you lead them to a next step (closing, next meeting, etc.)

iShark

Contributor

1

Account Executive

@SADNESSLieutenant @poweredbycaffeine @braintank @funcoupons @CuriousFox @pachacuti - thanks for your suggestions, comments, and or perspectives

SADNESSLieutenant

Politicker

0

Officer of ♥️

.

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