salesgamer

Account Executive

Interviewing w VP, Sales

My first interview is with the VP of Sales for a Series B, SaaS firm. I cold-emailed the VP (went straight for power) and secured a conversation this coming Monday.

I want to impress the VP right off the bat, and am well prepared for typical interview questions with stories/ examples.

However there are other candidates as well, and I want to set myself apart. What should I do?

🗣 Interviewing

20 comments

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Pachacuti

Politicker

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

I think you have already impressed him with your cold email. Just show up looking nice/professional, do your research, and express a high level of interest and that’s about all you can do.

FinanceEngineer

Politicker

Sr Director, sales and partnerships

Yeah, you got it right. If I was hiring, and I had someone contact me with the appropriate messaging, I would put them higher on the list. However, OP still needs to bring his A game as we don’t know how good/experienced the others being interviewed are. Just stick to your experience and show how good you are at closing/moving things along.

punishedlad

Tycoon

Business Development Team Lead

^^^^

RickC137

Opinionated

Account Executive

If you really want to impress, come prepared with screenshots of your salesforce dashboards showing that you lead the team, and know how to close business.

saaskicker

Celebrated Contributor

Enterprise AE

My biggest advice for these is coming with a potential intro (if you can secure before even better) to someone in their ICP.

There was a company I wanted to work for and I found out their ICP, tapped my network of people in that realm and asked if they would be interested in X or having a convo about X.

I then went into the interview with the standard questions, and halfway through I said "I reached out to my network and have someone who might be interesting to talk to about this, they are the head of X at X company, mind if I intro you both via email after this call"

I landed the job, and ended up getting to work the deal. Closed a deal 3 weeks into my role on ramp.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Now that is getting a jump on the job! Impressive.

ChickenDinner

Politicker

Account Executive

Impressive. I dig that

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

Damn.

Lambda

Tycoon

Sales Consultant

I have always been a fan of just being myself
Why lie to impress him if he/she will eventually see your true colors in the job
You have the drive and the ambition as can be seen by securing the meeting so just keep pushing for waht you want

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

Do all the research you can about the company, product, industry and the VP.

Then true to find opportunities to share what you know.

I’d you can do this without seeming annoying…then you win

Justatitle

Big Shot

Account Executive

1.) check social media see how active he is and if he writes a lot on linkedin about certain topics that are relative for sure bring them up
2.) What excites you about this company that led you to cold email him and say you want a shot at a role there?
3.) ask about their current issues and if you have experienced the same challenges in prior companies and how you/your team overcame them
4.) Maybe the MOST IMPORTANT, be authentic in who you are VP's are lied to on a daily basis and can usually detect BS before you even say it.

coletrain

Politicker

Account Executive

Respect for the power email. When you get in there, know your stuff and the company’s stuff. Google news about the company, see if you can gauge ICP, ask about why a customer goes with someone else. Get them to verbalize why they gave you the time of day.

notdavemoss

Valued Contributor

CCBW

Don't ask if they ever find a need to press charges. Save that for your orientation day.

Diablo

Politicker

Sr. AE

You already have some great responses, all the best. Be rep you, tried to get on a coffee chat with existing peer that can enlighten you a bit more on the product and cultural side.

Red5

Praised Answer

Head of sales

When hiring I’m less looking for people with ‘good responses,’ and more looking for people who are driving to an outcome in the interview: finding ways to let me know why they’ll be a good fit for the company and team, asking about the icp, territory, sales cycle, etc. - and trying to qualify how effective they will be for themselves as well. If someone has no idea what they’re signing up for, how can they be confident they’ll do well? My $.02.

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

Sales Rep

Look over the academy here, great info there

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Congratulations! You did a great job securing the interview. Do not forget to close the deal in the interview.

htxjoe

Good Citizen

Sales consultant

Confidence is key

GingerBarbarian

Opinionated

Lead Sales

It is going to be difficult to say without knowing more. I would suggest reaching out to other salespeople in the organization and asking about their day-to-day. Walking into the meeting with an idea of what the role requires (KPIs tracked, quota attainment, etc) will set you apart.

celestine

accountant

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salesgamer

Interviewing w VP, Sales

20 comments

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