The_Sales_Badger

Account Executive

Should Mock Demos be apart of the interview process?

Personally, I think mock demos are a waste of time. Sales are dependent on the personalities we encounter. A mock demo eliminates the building rapport component, which for me is crucial. Additionally, it's completely subjective unless a 3rd party watches - which is not usually the case.

Salespeople are hard on other salespeople. Truthfully, I believe it's an ego thing - "I can do it better than them". Speaking of subjective, this is my opinion.

What are your thoughts?

Share any additional interview ideas that you may have.

Mock Demos in an interview?

Attached poll

Yes No

*Voting in this poll no longer yields commission.

👥 Hiring

🎙 Interviews/Podcasts

🤝 Interviewing/Offer

25 comments

Sort by:

poweredbycaffeine

WR Lieutenant

☕️

I have asked reps to teach me something. Anything in the world. Rules are they have to take me from 0 to conversational on the topic in 20 minutes. I want to see how they teach something totally random (to me), that way I can understand their delivery style and general competency. I now know how to talk about the difference between jelly, jam, and preserves. I’ll never be duped again in a diner.

CharmingSalesGal

Politicker

Account Executive

@poweredbycaffeine Wow this is GENIUS.

I think an issue with doing mock demos during an interview process (that I've run into) is that most interviewers ask you to skip the discovery process which is the MOST valuable part of the sales process in my mind... You should always be uncovering new things throughout the sales cycle but an initial conversation to understand why tf this person showed to the call in the first place is SO SO SOOOO crucial!

The_Sales_Badger

Notorious Answer

Account Executive

Gold Star this bad boy. That's a terrific nugget. Upvote for days, son

Sgt_Trollingham

Valued Contributor

Business Development Director

Wait... what's the difference!?

GDO

Politicker

BDM

This is a very good exercise + You become conversational in a lot of topics!

Justatitle

Big Shot

Account Executive

Yes on the condition that you aren’t demoing their product but a product that you sell or have sold already.

The_Sales_Badger

Notorious Answer

Account Executive

I tend to agree - but still - you lose that rapport factor. Additionally, they may look at different methods like BANT or MEDDIC. It's impossible to know unless they tell you directly.

Justatitle

Big Shot

Account Executive

When you do a mock call they don’t care about what you sell for the most part. They care about you asking 2nd level questions and how you present the demo to your prospect.(are you confident, do you sound like your rushing…etc.) nail the mock and you built all the rapport you need IMO. I do hear what you’re saying and maybe the interviewers learn something new from you.

The_Sales_Badger

Notorious Answer

Account Executive

Well said.

slaydie

Big Shot

Account Executive

That's an interesting idea. Every interview I've had they have made me do a mock demo of their product

slaydie

Big Shot

Account Executive

Plus a disco - so it's more of a pitch call

Lionel

Acclaimed Answer

Enterprise AE

Bingo. We just hired a rep and did this as part of interview process. Great place to challenge them and see if their reflexes kick in

BmajoR

Arsonist

Account Executive

I think some element of a presentation is helpful, but a full mock demo is a bit much. We had a couple recent new hires that didn't work out and I know for a fact had we ran some presentation as part of their interview, they wouldn't have been selected.

The_Sales_Badger

Notorious Answer

Account Executive

Valuable feedback. What exactly would you do differently?

BmajoR

Arsonist

Account Executive

Give them a piece of the product to present on, just 15 minutes or so to see how they consult and handle themselves. Give them a week to prepare and give them all the info they might need so its not like "here, present on this next week see you then". Set up a scenario for them so they can do their best.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

No. I cannot fake the relationship building component of a role play.

The_Sales_Badger

Notorious Answer

Account Executive

Preachhhhhhh

GlenRoss

Politicker

Account Executive

I think disco is way more important than demo

braintank

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

I haven't had to do any during my most recent job search which is promising. I think hiring managers are realizing they're BS

CaptainSaas

Head of Sales

Demos are super situational and is highly dependent on the discovery. And the tech itself, cause ya know… how is someone gonna demo you a tech they’ve never worked with 🤷🏻‍♂️ Also, I do role plays in my sales interviews. Sell me something. Walk me through your process - but, lemme give you feedback and you go again… Let’s me see how you operate and how you take coaching. If you can be coached or accept feedback, not a fucking thing you can to get hired. That’s poison on a team.

Sgt_Trollingham

Valued Contributor

Business Development Director

This! Absolutely beneficial to both parties, as the candidate can also see what you will be like as a manager/coach.

Lionel

Acclaimed Answer

Enterprise AE

I mean interviews just are subjective so I don’t totally get with that criticism. I think mock demos are pretty flawed as an eval tool tho as you aren’t going to know the tech well enough in the interview stage to demo it properly. I do like mock presentations. Something high level that shows you can be conversational when presenting info and can introduce structure/logic to a conversation. I think presentations are a big part of being persuasive so I like the idea of assessing that skill. It’s one piece of evaluation though. I know good reps who are shitty presenters

aussiebro

Opinionated

Strategic Account Manager

I recently did one for a new job and instead of the mock demo - it was purely focusing on my strategic planning skills for how I would tackle a mock situation. So much better to prepare for and a lot more meaningful than just another “you’re trying to sell to Uber” bs

Mr.Pickles

Arsonist

Sr. Customer Success Manager

i dont see why not?

CaneWolf

Politicker

Call me what you want, just sign the damn contract

Not for SCs. But for AEs, they are a waste of time.

Bravado is a community of trusted sales professionals endorsed by their customers.

Products

The War Room Jobs Salary Guide Tech Sales U

Company

About Us How It Works Blog Bug Bounty

Contact

Press Careers

If you are hired as a contract sales rep by a Bravado customer, we may ask you to prove access to the employee email account provided to you by that customer. This data will be shared with customers to track your sales productivity; customers can use this data to confirm you meet the minimum activity requirements to pay out your ramp stipend and commission.

The_Sales_Badger

Should Mock Demos be apart of the interview process?

Mock Demos in an interview?

25 comments

Related posts

Interview Demo?

Creating a Demo for an Interview

Interview HELP!! Mock Discovery Call