Interview Tips for Door-to-Door Sales

Working as a door-to-door sales representative requires you to think on your feet, so be prepared to do so in your interview.

Preparing for a position that will send you out to do door-to-door sales will take research on the company and the products that it offers. You'll want to prepare for this interview just as you would for an exam and know as much about the company as you can. The more research and preparation you do for the interview, the more engaged and focused you'll be able to be, giving you a great chance at a successful interview.

Research the Company and Products

For any sales interview, and especially for door-to-door sales, you'll want to have solid information about the company and the products they provide that you will be selling. Key information to gather during your research includes how large the company is, how many people work for the company, what type of products and/or services the company offers and how successful the sales team as been thus far. You'll also want to see if you can find current or past marketing and sales campaigns to help familiarize yourself with the company's philosophy of advertising and sales pitching.

Prepare a Modifiable Sales Pitch for a Product

Since the position you are applying for will have you speaking and selling products to people that you may not know well, the interviewer may put you on the spot and have you sell to him or her. Prepare a short one minute sales pitch on a generic product that relates to the company. By creating a sales pitch that can quickly be tailored to any product, you'll be able to successful sell your interviewer during your interview.

Develop Answers to Tough Questions

You may be asked some tough questions during your interview that can make you feel uncomfortable. Questions that ask you to disclose your biggest professional weakness or when you've failed at making your monthly sales numbers may force you to give answers that you don't want the interviewer knowing, especially when you're trying to put your best foot forward.

The best way to deal with these questions is to answer them honestly, but also back them up with how you fixed the problem. For example, if you are asked when you failed at making your numbers, you can respond, "I failed one month in numbers by 14 percent. However, I believe this was because I micro-managed my campaign instead of asking for help. After this month, I realigned my work, took tips from my boss and co-workers, and used the overall failure as a way to motivate myself to produce better results. By looking at it as a learning lesson and not a failure, I was able to bring my numbers above the goal the following month." By putting a positive spin on a negative answer, you're showing that you don't dwell on failure and instead can learn and grow from it in your career.

References

• Sales Job Interview Tips