Interviewing for a Sales Position?
This Halloween, don’t just dress like a sales-star, be one.
Sales has changed. Our great grandparents didn’t have one thousand ways to check something out before they bought a product or used a service. They couldn’t swipe a screen with their thumb to learn about that new car, that new product, or that new restaurant. Nope. If a restaurant was awful, they usually found out while eating there. Yuck.
In those days, it was the sales-person who came to them. A sometimes slick promo-artist who pitched a product or service and at best, told them why it was great, or at worst scared them into buying it. But those days are over. We’re smarter than that.
With so much information on the web, today’s customers are way too busy to waste time on a pitch. In fact, most people have researched what they want on their own and are well into the buying cycle before they’re even talking to a sales person. Yep, sales has pulled back the carnival curtain, removed its top hat, shaved its curly mustache and evolved. And I believe it’s evolved for the better.
At Lewis, we hire salespeople. Sales people who will sell our homes, our communities and a wonderful lifestyle. Our apartments are beautiful, they’re 
unique. We love making them, we love managing them, and we love selling them to the public. But our best sales people have to be able to educate and teach our customers and prospects. We don’t pitch. We share. We share information, we give information, and we answer questions and showcase additional opportunities. A Lewis leasing professional doesn’t just have product expertise, they have valuable insight and knowledge that is imperative when a family is choosing a new home. And they share all of this with our customers well before they sign a lease. Great sales people are likable, friendly, energetic and honest about their product. And they smile. They smile because they’re sharing a cool secret with you: I like what I’m selling.
When Danny Chouinard, Lewis’ Director of Sales Management is interviewing a sales candidate who shows no smile, no energy, no positivity, he says something that is perfect for Halloween: “Cheer up, we don’t need someone to sell caskets, we need someone to sell homes!”
So, remember. If you’re going to dress up like a Sales Star and win that new job or that new account, stop pitching and start sharing. Great Grandma would be proud.
Meet Brandon:
Brandon has worked with Lewis Apartment Communities for 5 years. He started with Lewis Apartment Communities as a Leasing Consultant at Rosewood and Somerset Apartments in Redlands. After seven months, he was promoted to Homecoming at Terra Vista as the Leasing Administrator. Two years later Brandon was promoted to Community Administrator for Homecoming at Terra Vista assisting in the management of the apartment community business. Nine months later he took on the role of Community Administrator at a brand new apartment community called The Enclave at Homecoming Terra Vista located in Rancho Cucamonga. Nine months went by and Brandon was promoted to Assistant Community Director at Santa Barbara in Terra Vista, Rancho Cucamonga. A whopping 3 months went by and he was promoted to Terra Vista Apartments as the Business Manager. One month later, Brandon landed his current role as Community Director of Santa Barbara in Terra Vista. Wow! That’s a mouthful.
David Draper is the Director of Talent Acquisition for the Lewis Group of Companies. David is proud to be a part of a successful, stable, and winning team dedicated to its projects, its people and its community. Follow David on Twitter @LewisRecruits.