The sales interview assignment requires you to interview a classmate to gather information which you will use to make a "sales pitch" regarding a product or service that you select before the interview.  One example of this type of interview is when an insurance salesperson interviews someone to determine the best type of insurance package to offer them.  Alternatively, you may interview someone to determine what type of vehicle you should suggest they look at.   For this assignment you must prepare an interview guide with questions designed to elicit necessary information from your classmate.  During the interview, you will have approximately 10 minutes to interview your classmate and make a recommendation regarding a product or service.

The specific steps you should take when preparing for this assignment are:

• Select a product or service and research that product thoroughly.  For example, you may select a certain auto manufacturer as your overall product and research several types of vehicles made by that manufacturer.  Alternatively, you may select phone companies as your product and then research different options for long distance service.   Basically, you can select any product or service that you wish, however, you must research that product so that you have enough information to eventually make a recommendation/sales pitch to your classmate.
• After researching the product, you should produce an interview guide for use during your interview.  The interview guide should ask questions appropriate for gathering information from your classmate that you can use when making your sales pitch.
• During the conclusion of your interview, you should make a recommendation to your classmate concerning the product or service you think they should purchase based on their answers to your interview questions.  For instance, if you selected cars as your product, and your interview partner indicated during the interview that they wanted a 4 wheel drive vehicle with cargo capacity and the ability to travel off road, you might recommend a certain sports utility vehicle.

You will be evaluated on the quality of your interview questions and your ability to make a strong recommendation based on the responses of your interview partner.