Lucky for you, we’ve sourced the top 35 sales interview questions from sales leaders who know what’s what. Why sales? Everyone expects a job candidate to prepare for an interview. How do you remain knowledgeable on trends concerning your target industry or audience? Determining whether a candidate has the right mix of skills and personality traits to succeed in a particular management role requires asking good manager interview questions. Why do you want to sell this product? Watch out for yes-or-no questions! I’ve taken some training classes on interview techniques over the years, however, most of the questions I ask come from my experiences as a sales candidate getting asked challenging and thoughtful questions. After 20 years of experience interviewing and hiring professionals, here’s my take on the five best questions you can ask during your next job interview and why you should ask them. 6.When was the last time you took a big risk and it didn’t pan out? Most people ask the same generic questions in their interviews… If you want to stand out in your interview, you should aim to ask the employer a couple of unique questions that nobody else has asked. To find candidates capable of doing it all, you need to be strategic and intentional in your approach to interviewing. It’s also okay to ask similar questions at different points during the interview. After a while, the company starts losing out on closed won revenue; at least until an offer is finally accepted. 53. What do you know about our company? With the rise of social... 2. When was the last time you were really stressed out and how did you deal with it? Another approach to assessing the candidate's sales skill is to ask questions that help you better understand the sales strategies and techniques they have implemented. While there is not a single perfect question or perfect combination of questions that are relevant to all sales organizations, there are some important questions that should be included in sales interviews. In any case, make sure that you ask a mix of industry-specific and behavioral sales interview questions, … These questions come from a few different sources. This question is an opportunity to learn ... 2. This is a spin on the well-known question; what are your weaknesses? The problem is that too many recruiters have trouble identifying which key questions to ask. That way, your confidence interviewing sales candidates goes up. While that’s important, it’s only part of the equation. 7. If you’re hiring a sales manager, ask additional behavioral interview questions to gauge whether candidates have the leadership skills … Ask them how long they have been practicing the skill and how they use it. In your retail interview questions, then, you’ll want to find out how the candidate handles that part of the business. This results in an interview process that is way longer than it needs to be. 50. 51. Interview Questions to Ask Candidates. This comprehensive list of sales interview questions is unique. Top Questions to Ask Candidates During a Sales Interview. You won’t find it elsewhere. These sales manager interview questions usually ask the interviewee to describe a situation and his or her actions within it. And besides, your new VP of Sales is going to need people to lead anyway. Senior sales interview questions should test candidates’ leadership and decision-making abilities. Your candidate might say they have a specific skill, but you need to know how proficient and experienced they are. In sales … Behavioral questions want to know how the potential candidate will react to situations on the job. You might even ask the candidate to explain a complex topic to see how well they know their skill. Having a set of questions ready before the actual interview will help you interview the candidate properly. The Review them to help frame your responses based on your own qualifications, skills, product knowledge, achievements, and sales experiences. You want your interviewee to take you on a journey—ask open-ended questions that require an explanation. Ace your sales interview with these helpful strategies for responding to interview questions, along with examples of common sales interview questions and sample answers. Here are some great screening questions to ask of candidates you’re considering for your VP of Sales role. What do you know about our competitors? Consultant Barry Maher says that asking management candidates what their current or most recent boss would say about them can produce some eye-opening responses. You need to prepare a questionnaire beforehand to test these attributes in the candidate. Why Ask This Question? These interview questions are useless in qualifying a candidate’s sales potential. 6 Sales Interview Questions to Find the Best Talent 1. For inside sales roles, interview questions should focus on technical know-how and communication skills. Interviewers also take into account whether candidates are asking intelligent and thoughtful questions about the position and the company. What motivates you to succeed at work? Most of the time, we tend to think of a prepared candidate as one who answers questions well. 1. Often, the best stories will come out when candidates have had a few minutes to think about an earlier question. 5. Inside sales is an effective strategy only when you hire the right candidates by asking targeted sales interview questions.. Here’s what the flip side of that looks like: It’s a domino effect. For account management positions, you should ask questions that allow candidates to showcase their negotiation and relationship-building skills. 52. Based on what you know about our organization, how big of sales team do you think we need right now? Here are a number of potential questions to ask: • What do you do in the way of pre-call strategizing? Every time an entry-level employee leaves, it costs a company 30-50% of that person’s annual salary; for mid-level sales employees, termination costs 1.5x each person’s annual salary. Here are common and generic sales interview questions that you can use to help paint a more complete picture of your candidate: Have you consistently met your sales goals? Without further ado, 8 interview questions for your VP of sales. What would you prefer: No happy customers or not hitting goals each month? If there were something in your past you were able to … Tell me something about yourself that others may be surprised to know about you. 2. • How do you debrief sales calls? When you ask this question, you should not concern yourself too much with what motivates the candidate to succeed at work.Instead, look for signs that the candidate is passionately motivated, regardless of what in his life inspires him to succeed. Unusual, but Effective, Questions to Ask during a Sales Interview 1. This assesses the candidate’s honesty, resourcefulness and whether they understand their own development areas (and ideally, what they are proactively doing to improve in those areas). Think extraversion, organization, risk tolerance, persistence, confidence, and ambition. Red flags. By revisiting important areas, you give them the best chance to reveal their character and skills to you. Here are 3 additional solid questions that you should ask every administrative assistant candidate, either in the phone screen or in the in-person interview to make the most of your time: Being an administrative assistant can be a stressful job. 12 Sales Interview Questions to Ask Candidates Posted April 4th, 2020 During a sales interview, it’s essential to dig into a candidate’s specific background, experience and approach to adversities like lost deals, stubborn clients or unexpected events. If you’re hiring BDRs and SDRs, be sure to ask the right behavioral interview questions to determine if candidates have all the personality traits that spell on-the-job success. In your last sales position, what did you focus on more, nurturing existing client relationships or chasing after new clients? 5 Questions Every Sales Candidate Should Ask During an Interview Responding to an interview question with a flawless answer is not the only way to impress a hiring professional. The key to getting good information about your candidate is to ask good questions. 1. Ask a sales candidate in a job interview, “What’s your greatest strength?” and you may get an answer that sounds like a line from your job description. Flip the script: Interview questions candidates should ask you. Pro Tip: Our recruiter, Michelle, recommends making a set list of interview questions that will highlight a candidate’s behavioral qualifications and split it up among the interviewers. Behavioral Interview Questions for Sales Managers. What’s your number one signal that it’s time to stop pursuing a client? 31. If the candidate has prepared for the interview, they should have a set of questions to ask including questions about the corporate culture, the management style, the company's expectations, major projects, and next steps in the hiring process. How did you land your most successful sale? 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