Top 10 salesperson interview questions

In today’s tough economic climate, identifying the sales stars of the future is more imperative than ever. All too many managers have experienced the stress of recruiting a salesperson who seems to excel in interview or on recommendation, but fails to live up to their hype.

Businesses can’t afford to make mistakes and boards realise that their human capital is the company’s most important asset. So if you’re a sales manager, how do you ensure that you pick the best people for the role – those with the skills, know-how, experience and extra ‘something’ that makes them stand out? Or if you’re applying for sales roles, read on to find out some of the key questions interviewers are likely to ask.

Attracting the best talent involves taking a planned approach. To identify the best salespeople, you need to be able to identify the qualities that will make them exceptional in the role.

The Interview

Interviews are still the most important mechanism for establishing a candidate’s suitability for a role. An application can be tailored with assistance or even professional help – and anyone can put the right words to paper. It’s only when you’re sitting with the candidates and engaging with them face to face, that you can you get a true sense of their abilities. After all, they’ll be selling themselves during interview, so you’ll be able to assess how they approach a ‘prospect’ first hand.

So make the most of the interview. Don’t freestyle or ask the same corporate questions every time. Work with your existing sales managers and HR experts to build a framework of key competencies that you know your next sales star needs to possess. Against these areas you can have pre-prepared questions to use, unless natural conversation allows you to explore each competency during the interview.

Questions to Ask

Are you a self-starter and able to manage yourself? Ask them how their last two days at work looked and request a description of their activities from start to finish. From this, you’ll get a sense of their drive, enthusiasm and ability to organise, stay driven and put in good old-fashioned hard work. If they seem uncertain about what they’ve been doing, alarm bells may ring. Everyone has a forgetful moment, but a good sales person will come armed with their diary to refresh their memory about appointments and activities should their recollection fail them under interview stress.

How do you invest in your career? Ask them what their favourite sales books, gurus and learning resources are. Seek evidence that they are responsible for their own development and learning – whether getting professional development in their current role, reading the latest blogs and periodicals, or attending networking and other industry events to brush up on their skills. Look for evidence of aligned interests too that reveals a broader individual. For example, if the role focuses on B2B sales, a good salesperson will be seeking to understand the business climate as much as the product they sell, so they can have informed conversations with customers and show their in-depth, expert knowledge.

How are your presentation, negotiation and deal-closing skills? Find out how they organise presentations, what they enjoy about doing them and how effective they believe they are. This is an ideal task to set the applicant within interview to test their skills in action. Similarly, you can set a practical exercise to test their skills at negotiation and deal closing there and then.

Are you flexible? Are you creative? Find out about instances where things have gone wrong and they’ve been forced to think on their feet. Look for evidence of quick thinking, a proactive attitude and a customer-centric focus. Everyone makes mistakes – the important thing is how your next recruit will handle and respond to them.

Are you tenacious and able to bounce back from rejection? Enquire about what their biggest challenges have been and how they’ve responded to them. Analyse their body language – do they show their feelings or simply have a pre-prepared answer.

How much knowledge do you have about the techniques of your trade? Ask them about their top open-ended questions for initial contacts and the key skills in closing, negotiating and communication.

Can you be more than a just sales person? They should have a wider appreciation of their function and role within the organisation and understand that they will have a secondary role – such as team leader – as well as a sales role. Ask what the applicant currently does to contribute to their company’s success, beyond simply selling. Look for signs of someone engaged in more than just commission hunting.

Are you a leader? Look for a candidate with potential leadership skills, who will be able to develop, coach and mentor younger and less-experienced members of your team. Look for development potential – someone who can progress within your sales function and grow the business.

Are you passionate and engaging?
Try to find signs of authenticity in manner. There is nothing worse than a candidate who simply reels off pre-prepared answers. The right person will engage you with their eyes, their words and their body language. They will be able to create emotion and response in you, the interviewer, with their answers and interactions. Identify this authenticity and consider taking on staff with the raw ingredients and passion, but whose formal training and experience may be a little lacking.

It is better to have someone with the right potential to put through your own training courses and structure, rather than someone who is jaded and simply sells by numbers for the person paying their commission. You need something more: a team player who will commit to your organisation and be excited and ready to help build its success.

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