Sales & Interview Success: Professional Skills for Client Engagement

Posted on Aug 5, 2025 in International Economics and Business

Effective Interview Preparation

  1. Knowing the Goal: Understand the scope of the work and the company thoroughly.
  2. Preparing Your Profile: Identify your strengths and weaknesses to demonstrate your suitability.
  3. Mastering Your Curriculum Vitae (CV): Be thoroughly familiar with all facts in your CV.
  4. Deciding Your Physical Image: Align your appearance with the desired professional image.
  5. Mind Your Language and Gestures.
  6. Prepare Possible Answers to Questions.
  7. Remember Information About the Company.

Sales Professional Interview & Demonstration

Sales Planning and Support

  • Targets to achieve.
  • Program (schedules, interviews).
  • Assessment.

The Four Stages of Personal Selling

  1. Planning Objectives: Define objectives, program actions, client prospecting.
  2. Contact or Presentation: Initial customer contact, presentation visit.
  3. Negotiation and Persuasion: Product presentation, demonstration and testing, closing the sale.
  4. Monitoring: After-sales service, commercial information.

Common Sales Planning Errors

  1. Falling into comfort.
  2. Allowing space for improvisation.
  3. Making promises that cannot be kept.
  4. Failing to address important issues by focusing on urgent ones.
  5. Unnecessarily long customer visits.
  6. Not setting profitable goals.
  7. Not setting deadlines.

Client Survey and Prospecting Methods

  • Methods for Client Surveying:
    1. Visiting without an appointment.
    2. Leveraging third-party customer testimonials.
    3. Demonstrations and expositions.
    4. Needs assessment (segmentation and marketing).

Effective Customer Approach Strategies

  • Understand the purpose of the visit.
  • Focus on understanding, not just persuading.

Resources for a Successful Visit:

  1. Testimonial or presentation.
  2. Referral potential.
  3. A genuine compliment.
  4. Product demonstration or use.
  5. Highlighting local presence or convenience.

Professional Presentation and Contact Etiquette

Admired Professional Behaviors in Spain:

  1. Listen attentively, maintaining eye contact, and allowing the speaker to finish.
  2. Value the communication received, avoiding distractions while listening.
  3. Speak with a modulated voice, determination, and clarity.
  4. Use gestures of gratitude and words of encouragement.
  5. Ensure punctuality for appointments and manage their duration effectively.
  6. Return calls promptly and avoid creating communication barriers.

Rejected Professional Behaviors in Spain:

  1. Interrupting the speaker.
  2. Wearing inappropriate attire.
  3. Being unresponsive to offers.
  4. Talking on the phone during meetings or meals.
  5. Not identifying yourself when answering the phone.
  6. Taking over 24 hours to return a call.

Interview Opening and Customer Probing

Effective Interview Opening Techniques:

  1. Referencing a previous call or conversation.
  2. Asking a relevant question.
  3. Sharing a new development.
  4. Harnessing customer curiosity.
  5. Leveraging a strong reference.
  6. Generating customer interest in something specific.
  7. Offering a service.
  8. Using a presentation or exhibition.

Customer Probing (Sonido):

It is crucial to understand the customer’s interests, whether for a specific product or a broader need. This involves using a mix of closed and open-ended questions, actively listening to their responses, and responding thoughtfully.

Product Presentation Strategies

  • Consumer Products
  • Industrial Products
  • Service Sales

Product Demonstration and Trial