Things to know before your next cloud sales or marketing interview

Hey, we have curated this set of questionnaires because we know the challenges that a marketer face while making a switch to a different industry after a while. Interviews help us in boosting our knowledge and learningsw One needs to do some basic preparation before appearing for an interview or discussion. As per my previous experiences, I have curated few of the common questions that arises while getting interviewed for cloud marketing or sales roles. So let’s dive into some of the most important stuff that we need to know to get a grip on fundamentals of cloud for a better discussion:

1. What is cloud?

Cloud is a term which refers to virtual servers that are accessed over internet, and apps that run on these servers. With cloud one can build, compute, analyse data anywhere, anytime via internet.

2. What is cloud computing?

Cloud computing refers to “on demand availability of apps, data, compute, resources and storage over internet”.

3. What is the benefit of having a cloud based solution?

1. Cost Savings

2. Scalability, Flexibility, Mobility

3. Deep Insights & Increased Collaboration

4. Security, Disaster Recovery & Loss Prevention

5. Automatic Software Updates

6. Quality Control

7. Sustainability

4. Define the different service layers in cloud computing?

5. What are the type of cloud services with examples?

1. SaaS (Software as a Service) (Google Workspace, Microsoft Office 365, Salesforce CRM, GotoMeeting, Netflix, Zoom meetings etc)

2. PaaS (Platform as a Service) (Microsoft Azure, AWS, Google Cloud etc.)

3. IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) (AWS, Microsoft Azure, Cisco Dialpad etc.)

6. What are the deployment models of cloud?

Public : The public cloud makes it possible for anyone to access apps, storage and services from anywhere anytime. Typically in a public cloud environment , the infrastructure or the platform is owned by the service provide and not the end customer. Some of the examples for public cloud are Microsoft Azure, Google App Engine, AwS etc. Some of the benefits that public cloud offers are: Scalability, less Investment, No setup cost, No Infrastructure Management , No maintenance etc.

Private: Private cloud is for entities who are looking to set up their cloud services within their organization/Premises. In this set up the cloud is managed by the internal IT team of the respective entity with strong security and firewalls within the organization. Companies like VMware, Tata Communications etc. provides the private cloud set up for organisations. Organisation have better control with private cloud since they are the sole owners of it. Also, Data security and privacy is foremost in a private cloud environment. In private cloud setup, one can also customise the solution as per their requirement.

Hybrid: A combination of public and private cloud is called “Hybrid Cloud Set Up” where companies can get benefitted from both models by taking advantage of safe and secure app development at a reduced cost & optimized resource. Hybrid cloud model offers Flexibility and control, Cost effectiveness and Security.

Multi Cloud: In a lot of cases, companies have dependency on two or more public cloud providers. In such cases cloud service providers offer multi cloud environment which helps companies run and continue their app development and computing on respective platforms without worrying about migration. With multi cloud, one can mix and match the best features of each cloud provider’s services to suit the demands of their app, workload, and business by choosing different cloud providers. It helps in reduced latency: and high availability of service.

7. What is container?

A Container is a software package that contains everything the software needs to run like tools, binary codes, files, libraries etc.

8. What is Load Balancer?

Cloud load balancer helps in distribution or splitting of workloads to multiple computing resources.

9. What is VM?

A VM is a virtualised version of a computer which can perform almost everything which a computer can do like running an applications, compute, storage etc.

10. What is virtualisation?

Process of creating VMs is called virtualisation.

11. What is CDN?

Content Delivery Network refers to a group of geographically distributed servers which work together to deliver contents fast with reduced latency.

12. What are the different type of Databases available?

SQL, Oracle, Sybase, MongoDB etc.

13. What are the open source databases?

An open source database is a database application with a codebase which is free to view, download, modify, distribute, and reuse. Some of the examples of Open Source DB are MySqL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, etc.

14. What are the different operating systems?

Windows, Linux, Unix, iOS etc.

Apart from these technical questions, you should also look into some of the general aspects related to particular role. Some of the most asked questions in sales and marketing are:

1. Tell us about a "Win-Win Deal" situation that you have had in your previous organisation?

It's a very interesting question and you can answer this by narrating a beautiful story around any of your sales experiences. But, a lot of times what happens is that you don't remember the complete detail of a closure like how it happened especially when you are talking to a thousand of clients and the sales cycle is small. And you start answering the interviewer with something and in between you forget the details and well thumbs down :( This happened with me, since I had to explain something that I closed in 2014! Though, I have so many amazing sales stories to share but that one particular moment I was a bit lost. Anyway here is the best way to answer this question and probably I would have answered like this:

A big enterprise XYZ client was using ABC product and was still struggling with some of the business challenges like

a. No streamlined data,

b. Extremely time consuming MIS and dashboard

c. Excessive manual supervision and monitoring

d. The severe delays in project completions

e. Surged cost always & not enough resources

f. No data backup and recovery options

etc.

When we started the conversation, I first asked him about the current solution/platform that he is using and if he is facing any challenges with the system. That's how we continued our conversation and the client felt a sense of security with my consultative approach. And, well that's it "Seal the Deal". We had a long 45 minutes discussion wherein I explained him the technical benefits/advantages of the proposed offerings and how it can help XYZ overcoming the above mentioned painpoints. And, then XYZ requested for an in person discussion to present our offering to a broader category of people including his CEO/CFO and Operations Head to close the deal and sign the agreement.

1. How are you going to decide the right target for your solutions/offerings?

Well, this is an extremely important question. You have to know whom you going to sell, also who will be the authoritative person/decision maker for your offering. Therefore its good idea to go through the company offerings and few of the client stories to understand the market.

And so on….

Hope you found this useful. We are coming up with a detailed FAQ on “consultative selling approach” shortly. So stay tuned and subscribe to our blogs and stories for more interesting reads.

StunM consultants help enterprises in solving complex marketing and business challenges by providing end to end sales & marketing consulting. Our goal is to help individuals and organisations excel and achieve their professional goals quickly. To become a part of our growth community, please drop an email an email at neha@stunningmarketing.in.

Cheers,

Neha