Official thread

WR Spiff (Closed): What's the most creative way to nail an interview?

You know what I find always spices up 5 PM on a Monday? Commission and competition. You've heard of spiffs, but have you heard of War Room Spiffs? You'd be lying if you said anything but no because we're rolling them out today...for the first time ever.


Every once in a while, I'll spice up your life with a War Room Spiff. One topic. One winner. 24 hours. 25 Commission prize.


Today's topic: Most creative way to nail an interview. Post your answer, upvote your favorites. The user with the most upvoted comment by tomorrow at 5 PM Pacific will get to taste that sweet, sweet victory (and Commish). Get at it, folks.

🏹 War Room
💥 Contests
54
CuriousFox
WR Officer
21
🦊
After I passed the phone screen the recruiter emailed me the confirmation along with the hiring manager's information. I immediately noticed he had an out of town cell number. So I reached out to a Pitmaster that owns a restaurant (been on Food Network several times too) and had her send me her recommendations of the "best" items the manager must try.

I copied that into an email welcoming him to our town, that I was looking forward to our meeting, and oh by the way this is where you're eating tomorrow night.
GrindingSales
Politicker
2
Account Executive
Nice work Fox!
CuriousFox
WR Officer
1
🦊
Thank you!
Incognito
WR Officer
1
Master of Disaster
FWIW - I think you should win. 
CuriousFox
WR Officer
2
🦊
I mean, I thought it was a BOSS ass move 🤷‍♀️
rekled
Opinionated
1
Strategic Account Executive
Wow... very nice. And I'm hoping you got the job?!?!?
CuriousFox
WR Officer
1
🦊
That's another story for a different time 🤣
Ladycloser
Fire Starter
17
Sales Executive
Send over a "brag book" after the first interview with the hiring manager. All your awards, screenshots of your leader boards that you were at the top of, anything that proves your results to be true, and/or that directly relates to what they are looking to as said in interview. The type of stuff you'd send after a discovery call.

either that or add hiring manager on insta and send rlly good memes so they can't say no <3
Dontboreme
Executive
0
Account Representative
Haha oh man. Adding  them on insta and sending them memes is a new one for me
Incognito
WR Officer
0
Master of Disaster
Lolz I do this on LI on the regular! 
MontBlanc
Notable Contributor
12
Senior Account Executive
Bring a lead to the interview, literally present the opportunity within the interview process and book a meeting for their sales team with the qualified prospect.

I did this for my first sales job (junior sales rep) and it ended up closing within my first few weeks on the job, was a great way to get ramped quickly.
queenops
Opinionated
2
Maker of Sales
this is hardcore
GrindingSales
Politicker
1
Account Executive
Fearless!
Nairobi
Politicker
12
AE
During video interviews, when they ask me to introduce myself, I show a slide with what I've done for the past 2 years that I've divided into quarters. I include everything useful to know about me; work, volunteering, hobbies, etc. If you want to win points for personalization, make the colors of your slide the colors of the company you are interviewing for.
PEOSalesSavage
Opinionated
1
Senior PEO Consultant
Nice! 
Kevinbacon
Opinionated
10
Sales Manager
Don't just ramble off your accomplishments and experience like a list of product features.  

You wouldn't sell a product that way and you certainly shouldn't sell YOURSELF that way.  

Do the discovery early on in the interview and figure out WHY they are hiring 

Figure out the sales cycle/average deal size.  What is the COST of letting this role sit vacant?  What opportunities are they missing right now?  What immediate impact would having the right person in this role have on them today? 

Show them how your experience is relevant, and how hiring you today would impact the business. 

After that move in for the kill - Ask them point blank if they think you are a good fit and ask if you said ANYTHING that would stop them from extending an offer to you right now?  MAKE THEM SAY IT.  If they have a concern or objection you can address it right then. 
queenops
Opinionated
3
Maker of Sales
"cost of letting this role sit vacant" is not one I've heard before. That's clever. 
Incognito
WR Officer
1
Master of Disaster
Yep. Definitely gonna use “cost of letting this sit vacant/ missed opportunities “. Excellent advice!
Incognito
WR Officer
8
Master of Disaster
So, you know you've seen those Allstate commercials with the character "Mayhem" - right? Dean Winters is the actor. 

Guess who my letter of recommendation is from.

100% legit with a handwritten signature. 

*edit for context because I’m not as cool as I think I am - I sell insurance*
beerisforclosers
Politicker
8
Account Manager
For any interview, I decide the 5 key things that the hiring manager must know about me. I think through some anecdotes that clearly demonstrate those 5 things (think STAR method). No matter what they ask, I wordsmith my stories to fit their questions. I ensure they know those 5 things about me when I leave the room.

Interviewers don't know what they need to know about you. You do. I find this approach makes me feel in control of the interview, and I always leave knowing the person on the other end of the table had tangible examples of why I'm the right fit.

I also send a "brag book" like @Ladycloser :) 
justatopproducer
Politicker
7
VP OF SALES -US
Add the execs on LinkedIn when applying. Butter them up a little, and ask them educated questions. Hell, I have even told them I am applying to their company and at what position. It shows initiative that you want to be apart of their company. When you pass the first few interviews and (if) the final is with one of the execs you already have the warm intro to your interview. 

This is my most creative way to get the job. Other than that, a brag book is becoming the norm. As well as business plans to show your path to success. I did that in my recent position and they rolled it out to the other 3000 consultant/reps in my company. Said "this is the best business plan I've ever seen". Even asked me afterwards if I plagiarized lol. I told them I am like 3M, someone may have had the idea first, I make it 10x better and more efficient. 
Chep
WR Officer
6
Bitcoin Adoption Specialist
Use the employer’s product or service extensively so come the interview you are prepared to talk about why you want to work there, what about the product/service you love, and what about the product/service you want to improve upon. Great for interviews and booking meetings. People love talking about what they're doing and if you can add an insight they haven't thought about your 💵
OMG_It_has_a_watermark
Good Citizen
6
Head of Sales
Research. 

Funding rounds (investors), expansion discussions, board members, marketing collateral, read through every case study, and repeat the details in the JD for alignment. 

If your and SDR 1/2 your job is research, show the interviewer you know how to use Google and LinkedIn. 

If it's a sales role, bring competitor knowledge and talk about differentiators. 

There is no better way to gain control in a conversation than asking the right questions. 

Don't make it about you. You can say you're Mary Poppins and 99% of the people A. Don't care and B. Aren't going to check. 


Put the interviewer back in the hot seat. 


It will give you respect off the bat, help you negotiate higher salaries, and show that you might be in conversations with other companies and put pressure on them to pay attention to you. 
Cornholio
Opinionated
4
Account Executive
I have always had luck treating the job like a sale I want to close. The work is done before hand when you apply. You will want to do some research and find out who you'll be reporting to and even who they report to, along with the recruiter. Try to find their email but LI DM works as well. Send them all a personalized but consistent message about why you are excited about the opportunity and what you'll bring to the table, along with a concise list of your 2-3 best achievements. 
Chance are they'll already have had a conversation with your future boss or their superior before you do a screening interview and have shown you know how to locate and contact key decision makers. 
When you do have the first interview ask for their decision timeline, what factors they are considering, and what their goals are for their new hire. Then close on your next interview opportunity before you get off the call.
PresidentSkroob
Opinionated
4
CSM
A singing cover letter (original lyrics parodying a popular song), sent via video definitely filmed during 'magic hour'
BigCheese
Notorious Answer
0
Agency Recruiter
Have you had success with this?
PresidentSkroob
Opinionated
0
CSM
In some cases it's getting me to the interview. It's intriguing and creative, and the right company for me will appreciate the style. 
A couple of places I sent it to, the hiring manager has offered to send my info to other leaders in the space looking to fill roles (either they filled the role I applied to already or I'm not qualified for the projects they have in mind). Happy to share with you my example.
slaydie
Big Shot
0
Account Executive
This is crazy! If there is a way for you to share this I'd be so into seeing it. I don't think I could ever do it myself but I appreciate some good musical theater and creativity!
BuyersAreLiars
Executive
3
Enterprise Account Executive
We've grown up in a digital age and everyone has a biiiig social footprint right? 

We also all have experience on how to creep on someone new that we've just met  - socials, google, LinkedIn, TWR (lol jk) etc. 


You creep on that person interviewing you, and you creep hard. Find out their likes, dislikes, shared experiences, history, hell - even their mothers maiden name if you think it'll help. And you socially engineer the shit out of that conversation. Make em think you're gonna be best friends.  You're in sales - it's what you do. 


Watch the offers roll in.
ExtremeVibeChecker44
Arsonist
1
Inside Sales
I always Facebook / IG stalk the person I'm talking to. They golf? Bring up golf casually. They'll bite, you bond. 
sales7
Politicker
3
Commercial Product Enablement
Ask them what an ideal candidate looks like for the role, listen attentively and make sure you then spend the time nailing those key things, everything else you manage to get across on top won't matter as much unless you show you fill their most important needs.
GrindingSales
Politicker
3
Account Executive
Bring your prior job performance evaluations.  I've done this multiple times and it has paid off substantially!
MaoMao
Fire Starter
2
SDR
I found out who was conducting the interview and found them on the web. I then learned as much about them as I could before the interview. I then made the things they liked the things I liked, just for a little while lol. During the interview, I was able to connect with them on their level of being just a person which made us both relaxed. After the interview I sent them a thank you card and their favorite, I mean our favorite, bottle of bourbon.
GeneralCorp
Notable Contributor
2
General of The War Room
CONGRATS TO OUR WINNERS @CuriousFox and @Ladycloser for winning our first spiff! They were tied at 5pm PST yesterday so they both qualify for the win. Thanks to all who participated. There will be many more of these!

General Corp Zaddy
CuriousFox
WR Officer
0
🦊
Congrats @Ladycloser 🥳
ColdCall
Valued Contributor
1
Account Executive
I always like to ask for feedback directly in the interview at the end. 

You know if they want you or not. 

If they say 'we love x,y,z' about you, its clear you got it. Any 'oh we'll come back to you' and they're dithering around and you're not 1st choice. 


Also shows you can close them in the meet- which sales managers love. 


goose
Politicker
1
Sales Executive
Most people interviewing candidates just don't want to work with an asshole.  Qualities aside, don't be an asshole.  If you are then you won't get hired.  If you get hired anyway, you'll probably get bounced.  Be authentic, engage, don't be an asshole.
The_Sales_Badger
Notorious Answer
1
Account Executive
Dress like you have the job, classic, not overly stylish.  Sit down - inevitably; they will ask you why their company so memorize their mission statement.  Recite it when they ask that question - pause and say, "I can really get behind that."

Based on the job description, identify your customer.  Choose the 10-targets you would pursue.  More importantly, ten targets that you have 1st-degree connections with.  If you want to be a real honey badger, do as @MontBlanc suggested (great tip).  If you have a qualified lead in hand, that's appealing.  

Do research on your interviewer, and take a moment to recognize any accomplishments that you want to know more about.  Typically, your interviewer is looking for someone like themselves.  (This is for a final interview, not an initial!) Connect like you would a prospect.

Finally, close the deal.  
"Mr. Interviewer, how many people have you interviewed for this role?"

*answer* 

"That's quite a few.  If you don't mind me asking, what exactly have you been looking for to fill this role?" 

*answer* 

"That makes sense.  If I'm able to address those needs with examples, and references, would you be willing to bring me on to the (company name) team?"

Confidence, not arrogance.  That's all I got.
Kinonez
Celebrated Contributor
1
War Room Enthusiast
I take my C.V to life.

I used to work as a waiter, I give the interview a small piece of the most sold pie of that restaurant.

I used to be a tour guide, I give them a brochure on the city where I gave the most tours.

I used to work as a community manager, I print a picture of the most liked Instagram post.

I have my own coffee plantation, I take with me a grain of coffee from my plantation.

I am now a SDR, I would take them my most successful email template. 
PEOSalesSavage
Opinionated
0
Senior PEO Consultant
prepare
FarmingU
Politicker
0
Account Manager
Face every interview the same way.
They are the ones who need me to achieve their sales goals and if we are in this stage you have seen that I fit the role, ask me everything you want but please give me some time to ask you some questions:

Why is this role open?
Who was in it previously?
How many of your reps achieve quota?
What attrition rate do you have?
Who will be my manager?
How many years has he/she been managing and how many times his team achieves or gets promoted?
Are you happy working here?
Would you recommend the work environment to your friends?

I think this approach makes the Recruiter see me inside the company and obviously, you don't look desperate for the job.

Hope helps somebody :)
IzzyWinning
Tycoon
0
Enterprise Account Executive
I went through a slide deck of my journey to this interview. It started with a picture of me as an adorable child, went through my bar mitzvah, showed photos of me as a performer (one in costume as Charlie Brown, one playing guitar), and the last one was a picture of me with a hat on where I had photoshopped the company logo onto the hat. It was a "this is where I started" to "this is where I'm going." Got the job. 
Girlkyle
Old School Bravo
1
Strategic Partnerships
I did a similar thing izzy! created a slide deck with pictures of me at every job ive had (including a pic of the summer i quit to backpack) and ending with a photo of me photoshopped at the new company. 10/10 would do again. 
SADNES5
Politicker
0
down voters are marketing spies
During a job interview for a senior outside sales role I created a pitch deck on why they should hire me. 

I busted it out at the "any questions for us" phase of the interview. I said I'd like to show why I am a perfect fit for the role. 

5 slides detailing some funny and big wins; my approach to selling. Including The Hoff posing in his orange Baywatch shorts. 

This landed me the role, and was shared with my reports before my first day. 

Don't let the opportunity to pitch your product ever go by. 
looper1010
Celebrated Contributor
0
Solutions Specialist
No joke, I set shit on fire. (Not Tommy Boy style).  I was interviewing for an event gig.  I did the 'ol, "light a piece of trash on fire and turn it into money routine." Nailed the interview and was hired on the spot.  

They loved me at the event so much, they hired me for more gigs.  They eventually asked if I would like to permanently join and help sell their product.  I said yes and it's part of how I got into sales.  


Moral of the story: clown school makes you more money than real school.
rekled
Opinionated
0
Strategic Account Executive
I sent a presentation to the hiring manager prior to my interview with a summary of my work history and experience (2 brief slides) and then included a comparative analysis of their product vs. competitor (advantages vs. differences). The differences were softly positioned as areas they could improve or were lacking in their product. The interview was initially with the VP of Sales followed by the CRO. 

The interview quickly expanded to a 3-hour presentation including the CEO, Chief Product Officer, CRO + Sales Execs, and Marketing.  
SADNESSLieutenant
Politicker
0
Officer of ♥️
Book a meeting and bring it to the interview as a freebie
Deckoaces55
Opinionated
0
Account Manager
1.) when given the opportunity after answering their question, always ask “is there anything you would like me to clarify or discuss further?”. This shows them that you have a consultative mind to approaching a situation and let them know that you can continue at their speed. No one likes having to read between the lines and it also lets you know where you slipped in your answer or what they liked most in the response. 

2.) When given the opportunity to ask questions ask “What is the biggest opportunity for growth or weakness on the team currently?” OR “Are there any hesitations you have about my experience?”. Great opportunity for you to shine up those selling shoes and sell yourself for the role given your accomplishments in whatever they are currently going through or could use help on or clarify why you are the right person for the job. 

3.) Sales is traditionally a dog eat dog, survival of the fittest, thunder dome but these days everyone wants a marketing culture kumbaya drum circle. What I mean to say is they will likely ask you questions around your soft skills within an office to ensure that you are a cultural fit for what their current environment is. Give examples of where you have given great feedback to a partner and the end result. 

This is my bullet proof strategy. Hope it helps!
mobileapp
Good Citizen
0
SDR
Test it
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5
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115
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