Many clever interviewing strategies have emerged over the years to improve the process of recruitment. It’s always helpful to have an arsenal of questions, apart from “Tell me about you,” to help identify functional competency and the highly critical emotional intelligence needed for long-term success.
And if you are interviewing for the sales representative position, you might want to be well-prepared for the most common questions asked in an interview. A well-explained answer can assist you in building a good impression on the hiring team and help them to specify if you are the ideal choice for the specific position.
Today, in this article, we have stated 21 sales interview questions and have given short descriptions for every question to help you!
List Of Sales Interview Questions
1) What made you want to go for sales, and how would you justify your skills to be a good salesperson?
This question acts as an ice-breaker before the flurry of intrinsic questions that are about to follow. It’s an opportunity for the person to speak about their accomplishments. This will help you understand how the candidate prioritizes their messaging and delivery in an environment where competition for your audience’s attention is fierce.
2) What were you like on your first sales, and what are you now? Narrate your self-improvement.
How a person talks about his accomplishment says a lot about them. Companies are looking for proof that you can actually do what your resume says you can do and your attitude around it. This will determine the interest of a candidate in sales.
3) What are the core values every salesperson must possess?
There is no right answer to this question; there are many important qualities that a salesperson should possess. This can be determined by considering various skills such as listening, negotiation, enthusiasm, the right questions at the right time, rapport building, etc.
4) How did you motivate yourself for the best sales you had, and how did you deal with the frustration of your worst sales?
Asking them what they do to simplify their least favorite part of the process or make it more enjoyable. What makes a good answer versus a bad one will hinge on your company’s culture. This will let the candidate get interested in sharing about self-motivation.
5) How do you keep a smile when dealing with a difficult client?
It sometimes becomes difficult to put aside ego. The less egoistic people are the people one needs in a sales team. This question tests the candidate’s value and helps determine if they are client-centric or prefer to make excuses to protect themselves.
6) What is the best advice anyone has ever given you?
By this question, you can examine the candidate’s perception of how positive or negative advice impacts them.
7) What can be the 3 strategies one can use for rapport building?
Strategies differ from person to person based on personal experiences. One cannot be guessing while answering questions like this. Thus this question reveals a lot about the person’s practical skills.
8) Sell us something right now.
This will determine a candidate’s knowledge of how he/she does on a practical basis by physically demonstrating the process from the beginning till the end.
9) How will you beat your competitor?
This is a great question after the candidate proudly recounts their victory because it reveals their familiarity with their colleagues. Identifying top sales talent is never easy; this will ensure a candidate’s knowledge and whether he/she is updated with current market strategies.
10) Can you please put down your priorities in order of importance?
Meeting targets blindly, money, satisfied customers, rapport building---This is all about what one prioritizes, what drives them, and the perception towards the job they are asking for.
A few questions are always interrelated with each other. It depends on the interviewer and the interviewee how the discussion goes. These answers will include a personal story or real-life example that illustrates the reasons why the candidate chose sales as a career path and the attributes they value in reality.
11) In 5 to 10 years, where do you see your career heading?
You should be clearly able to describe your goals & objectives for the upcoming year. If relevant, you can explain in detail how the job position can particularly provide you with the skills or experience to achieve your career goals.
12) What motivates you when you are holding a position working?
Here, you can specify your primary motivation and share a story of when you offered your client or prospect a service. Your hiring manager wants to know how your interpersonal skills align with the outcomes you can accomplish in this job role.
13) What Makes You An Excellent Sales Representative?
So, this is a wonderful opportunity for you to sell yourself to the hiring manager. You need to combine the main aspects of your success with your present employer. Also, you must explain how your efforts & contributions can do justice to this position. Don't forget to explain the characteristics that enabled you to achieve your goals.
14) Why did you choose to apply for this job position?
This is where studying the job description will help you! Tailor your explanation of the organization and research you did before going to the sales interview.
15) According to you, how can our company improve?
Conduct proper research to see which efforts or aspects can be augmented. There are some companies that might be easier to discover improvement compared to others, but be competent about your reply and make sure that your criticism is productive.
16) Tell me something that you do not like about sales?
Try to be candid with your answer and then follow up by explaining what things in sales you like and what drives your inspiration. We all know that there are positive & negative sides to every job, but you need to assure the manager that the positives are why you applied for the job.
17) What are your expectations of working in our company and in this specific job role?
This question is considered a test from the hiring manager to observe if you are well-prepared for the interview! That's why you need to read the job details/description carefully.
18) Are there any questions you want to ask?
For this one, you must be prepared to ask the hiring manager questions. It might be related to your job responsibilities or any other relevant query. You should ensure that you both have expectations of what you have to do in the future and how your success will be measured. You must remember that you also have the chance to interview the employee during this phase.
19) Tell me about the time when you closed your biggest sales?
Explain a time when you closed the biggest sales or assisted a customer that led to a positive result.
20) What do you think about our company?
For this, you should study the company's website to observe how they describe their company. In addition, reviewing their posts on social media platforms will be helpful as you can get a clear idea about their brand.
21) Tell me about a time when you faced failure?
Here you can explain a relevant experience, like what your goal was, what didn't work in favor of you, who all were involved, and what you learned from the situation. Sales recruiters are quite appreciative of honesty and directness.
In Conclusion
So, we have listed the top sales interview questions commonly asked in every sales interview. However, for any interview, preparation is the key to cracking the interview and getting what you want. Therefore, always be well-prepared and perform detailed research about the job position and the company.
