What do companies need to stay in business (and pay your salary)? Profits. That’s their bottom line.
So how do you get employers interested in hiring you? Show them you’re a ‘Profit Machine.’
You may think that all sales reps are profit machines, because of the nature of the job–but that just isn’t true. Not all sales reps consistently ring that cash register. That’s where you’ll find your greatest opportunity in your job search and interviews.
As a smart job hunter, you should be thinking about more than simply finding a job. You need to place yourself in the role of the “magic profit machine.” How? The best way is to come to your interview with a show-and-tell plan that says:
- I am going to hit the ground running.
- I am not going to waste any effort.
- This is what your business does.
- This is what I can contribute.
- This is how my contribution is going to make money for you each and every day.
In order to come up with this plan, you have to really understand your own skills. You need to clearly dissect how those skills can be applied to increase revenue, decrease cost, increase the client base, improve client retention, incrementally increase client revenue, improve the company’s capacity to grow, and so on.
You have to then get inside the hiring manager’s specific company and change the application of your skills into a real deliverable action plan that is compelling, simple, clear and enticing. This causes the hiring manager to feel urgency about making you a part of his team.
Your effort shows that in the future, your role will lead to increased value and satisfaction for the hiring manager, owner, or company. Setting this expectation will earn you support for more compensation in the future and growing job security before you even take a seat on the first day in your new role.
What’s the best way to do this? Create a 30/60/90-day sales plan for your interview that’s detailed, focused, and as comprehensive as you can make it. It will show the hiring manager that you’ve carefully considered the needs of his company and how you can use your skills within the first 3 months on the job to be a profit machine.