At the beginning of the interview, the sales manager asked him a question about his extra curricular activities at university. The graduate seized his opportunity to differentiate himself from the rest of the pack, and spent the next ten minutes bragging on and on about his school's championship run, his goal scoring prowess and his latest successes in a local industrial soccer league.
The sales manager attempted to steer the interview back to the graduate's job qualifications, so he asked, "So tell me about your long-range goals?"
After thinking for a few seconds,but what seemed like a day or two, the graduate replied, "Once I did manage to kick the ball in from midfield."
Moral of the story. True sales professionals know that when sitting across from an executive decision maker, the conversation is NEVER about you. It's about them. Discuss their needs, their wants, their plans, their accomplishments. You are secondary. Show them you are prepared by asking them about recent developments or news items about their firm. Show them that you have done your homework about their firm before you suggest how you and your skills might help them become more successful. Only before the interviewer fully discloses exactly who they are looking for, do you begin aligning yourself to uniquely fill that position.
"Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude." - Thomas Jefferson
