Tips and Best Practices to Land That Next B2B Sales Role
Episode 1: Tips and Best Practices to Land That Next B2B Sales Role with Mark DeChant
Welcome to the first episode of the Sales Samurai Podcast, hosted by Sam Capra! This is the only B2B sales podcast providing unfiltered, unapologetic views and tactics directly from the sales trenches! On today’s show, we are going to be discussing tips and best practices that candidates can use to land that next big B2B sales role! The special guest we have for today who will be helping us tackle this awesome topic is Mark DeChant. Mark is the author of The 500K Sales Recruiter and he is also president of Top 10 Sales Talent, a contingent recruiting firm that specializes in placing software sales professionals in their dream positions. We kick off today’s discussion on the role of the origin story, the value of Mark’s previous experience in his success in the field of sales, and why he made the transition into hiring management. We then dive into the meat of our conversation, hearing Mark weigh in on the top strategies for sales personnel who are looking to land the role they have always wanted. The main point he makes here is that job seekers should treat their next interview with the same care as they would the largest deal they have ever closed. To this end, Mark gets into the ins and outs of a brilliant and candid resumé, the biggest mistakes candidates make in interviews, and the role of being able to tell brilliant stories about the deals one has closed. So for an extremely tactical interview filled with countless nuggets of highly actionable advice from Mark, tune in today!
Key Points From This Episode:
- An introduction to Mark’s skills and the services provided by Top 10 Sales Talent.
- Why Mark decided to make the transition into his current role of helping align candidates with companies.
- Misconceptions on the side of interviewers and interviewees about the interview process.
- Mark’s career trajectory and how his waitering and journalism background played into his gift for sales.
- The demand for good software salespeople and which roles are the most coveted.
- Top tips for B2B tech salespeople looking to land their next big position.
- The most common mistakes made by candidates; best practices for assembling a great resumé.
- Why it is important to include missed quotas on one’s resumé and how to breach this conversation.
- The value of having stories about deals you have closed prepared for your interview.
- Being a brilliant storyteller and the importance of practicing the stories you tell.
- Major negative characteristics from the employer’s perspective; energy levels, lack of preparation, and more.
- How to go above and beyond and put in that extra effort to ace an interview.
- What Mark includes in the seven-page appendix to his resumé!
- The behind-the-scenes ways an interview should be treated as a sales process.
- Final tips from Mark for candidates around persevering through tenure and vetting potential roles.
- A quick overview of how to find Mark online and engage with him further.
Tweetables
“Throughout my sales career, I really enjoyed the interview process. I enjoyed helping people advance their careers.” — @TopTenTalent [0:03:56]
“The unemployment rate for a top software salesperson is -10%.” — @TopTenTalent [0:12:32]
“If you’re trying to make the switch, and I’ll say this goes for any time I’m looking for a job, you need to treat this job search the same way you treated the largest deal you’ve ever closed.” — @TopTenTalent [0:17:29]
“One of the most important interview preparation answers to have are specific start to finish stories about deals you have closed.” — @TopTenTalent [0:30:04]
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
Mark DeChant on LinkedIn
Top 10 Sales Talent
'7 Attributes VPs of Sales Are Looking For When Hiring Sales Reps'
'Job Hoppers, Take Control of Your Career Narrative'
'9 Tips to Help You Make a Sales Career Change'
'Here’s Why You’re Not Advancing Past The First Interview'
Title Sponsors:
Mark Dechant
Founder & CEO @ Top 10 Sales Talent
Mark DeChant is the author of The $500k Sales Recruiter and president of Top 10 Sales Talent, a contingent recruiting firm that specializes in placing software sales professionals.
Between 2002 and 2016, Mark was a successful enterprise sales leader and contributor, mostly at early-stage companies in software and services. He hired more than 250 people during that time, exceeded his annual quota in twelve of those fourteen years, and thoroughly enjoyed every role.
In January 2016, he launched a one-person staffing agency. Top 10 Sales Talent now employs 11 people across the United States, and his team helps companies hire customer-facing employees - from Account Executives to Sales Engineers to Chief Revenue Officers.
