I applied through an employee referral. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at SnackNation (Chicago, IL) in Oct 2019
Interview
The 1st step was a phone screening with internal recruiter. I was referred and the phone screening was easy for me. Just basic background questions. I have over 3 years of sales experience at a tech company.
2nd step phone call with hiring manager which went well and moved me onto the next step.
3rd step is a mock pitch call with a sales manager. The call was very basic -- basic level inside sales skills applied, using the 6 step call process. I received positive feedback and the fact that he liked that I went for the close, asked for the sale.
4th step is in person where I went to their very snug WeWork space and sat down with the VP of Sales and then the hiring manager for 30 minutes each. The VP was very outgoing and seemed like a good guy overall. The picture he painted for about selling subscription snacks and what the hiring manager painted for me was very different. With the VP we talked about how right now it is 70% inbounds and you will be able to hit your numbers. The hiring manager was telling me how hard the sale is repeatedly. I was challenged much more in the 30 minutes with the sales manager where she constantly referenced her opinion that the differences in selling subscription snacks and restaurant owners (my current sale) is much different and more complex. In hindsight it seemed like she had written me off from the get go due to the way she looked at me and challenged me in a way that felt as if she thought I was not going to succeed.
Even with those thoughts -- I was very confident that I would receive an offer considering I had much more experience than what they generally ask for in the application. And my referral was giving me awesome feedback throughout the process. However I was called the following day to find out I would not receive the offer. She was not direct whatsover in providing this. I had to almost stop her from talking and ask her if this was a direct no or just feedback of her opinion on what she thought about my interview with her.
Overall she seemed like a person I would have had a difficult time working with for many reasons. For instance she thought my confidence was essentially too high and my experience in restaurant sales would not translate to this role -- even though she came from Ghub and my referral came from Yelp. Seemed like she gave me a wishy washy rejection. Hopefully this was a blessing in disguise.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Nothing crazy here just do your basic search in google for sales interview questions and that should be enough.
You will want to think about how to address the "need"in the sales process. Find a way to make snacks a need for the employer.
Applied online and received email for phone screening. The call lasted for thirty minutes. Be ready to listen carefully as the whole call moves quickly and the screener talking very fast.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What sales metrics were used at previous employers
Had to complete an online questionnaire and then an initial phone screen with Ray Marks, the Director of Talent Acquisition. What started out well was a properly strange and very cult like conversation as we got to the end. He wasn't satisfied with my honest answer to your classic "Why do you want to work at Snacknation?" question which was that I want to deliver results and having worked at a startup that is a customer of Snacknation, I saw it as a great product that I genuinely thought had a lot of growth for a good sales person to sell. He went into cult mode and was like "No... but seriously, what about Snacknation sets it apart from any other tech startup you want to sell for?" and was trying to nudge me in the direction of their Core Values and things like that. Kind of like "Are you prepared to drink the Kool Aid?" type questions. He was proper weird, its kind of hard to describe.
Additionally, the sales org at Snacknation sounds pretty awful for a sales person. I asked some very probing questions and Ray was explaining it pretty much like a ladder system with endless rungs (my words, not his): "You have to sell X per month in snacks as an AE 1, and then 3 months of that and you get promoted to AE2!! After selling 2*X per month as AE 2, you move to AE3!!" This continues, and then "When you get to 4X at AE4, you get promoted to.... Senior AE1!!!" What kind of dumb cult is this? And he pretty much said you get put on a PIP if you don't hit quota 2 months in a row at any point in that progression, then fired.
Third and final point, this place sounds awful, if you read the reviews. The only positive ones are ones that sound like from "lifers" who are there probably because they're protected for ever being demoted for performance reasons or from reviewers who are pressured to do so by management: "CONS: There aren't really any unless you hate healthy snacks...". Ok.... if there aren't any cons to a startup sales role, then you're just blowing smoke. Clear and obvious window dressing.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Why do you want to work at Snacknation? No... but seriously, what about Snacknation sets it apart from any other tech startup you want to sell for? (HR interviewer was trying to nudge me in the direction of their Core Values and things like that)
