Take a look through some job posts. They all say the same thing.

• ‘A player’
• ‘Team player’
• ‘Track record in sales’
• ‘Hustler’
• ‘Full time’
• ‘Accountable’
• ‘Driven’

But what does that even mean?

Most of the time, the offer owners don’t have clarity on that either.

I’ve seen how job ads get put together.

They look at other ads, often from the corporate world and put together a list of traits they think they should include.

I’ve done that myself back when I was hiring. It’s a lot more common than you think.

Most salespeople don’t clarify, costing themselves some amazing opportunities and they never know why.

They:

• Address each criteria according their interpretation.
• Talk about their experience that often carries no weight.
• Answer the same questions as everyone else, hoping they were the best of the lot.

That’s not going to work anymore.

You’re now against people who are playing a totally different game.

People who are giving these hiring managers exactly what they need, not what was advertised.

Let me give you two examples.

In both, they are answering the question:

What makes you so sure you’re a good fit for this role?

Applicant 1:

Tells them about how in their current offer, they hit their target 80% of the time. (A player)

Talks about how their side hustle is flipping baseball cards and makes them 2-3k per month. (Hustler)

Goes to every daily huddle and contributes. (Team player)

Opens up as many hours per day as possible and tries really hard to get the sale. (Driven)

Crushes objections at the end of the call, pushing people into sales who would normally not buy. (Sales ability)

This person sounds like everyone else. They might get the job, but it’ll be on the company's terms and they’re not going to be able to negotiate what they want.

Applicant 2:

This sales pro knows that they need to unpack what the company needs, just as we do on a sales call with a prospect.

There are many ways to do it, but they target what a high performer looks like in the offer owner’s eyes.

At the beginning of the call, they didn’t answer this question when asked. Instead, they transitioned a series of their own questions. Questions that the offer owner can easily answer with clarity.

They asked:

Who is the highest performer in the team?

What about that person makes them the highest performer?

What they found out was:

The top performer didn’t go to huddles. Their admin was air tight and they needed no hand holding to deliver exceptional results.

This person opens up 3-4 hours a day in peak times and still sells more than anyone else full time.

They cover objections at the start of the call as the company can’t stand confrontational selling styles.

They do mountain biking outside of work, something they have in common with the offer owner. Something they both bonded over in the interview.

Outcome:

They answer that same question in a way the speaks directly to the offer owner.

In this frame, they know exactly what the top performer looks and sounds like.

They emulate that.

They just gave them the easiest decision of their life.

Action steps:

Look at the highest performer in any team you’ve worked with and create a list of what made them exceptional.

Compare that to the job ad posted for another salesperson. Find the gaps.

Following that, look back at previous interviews you’ve taken and review how you answered each question.

You’ll likely find the reason you didn’t get the role there.