Interview questions for Account Executives

A snapshot of what to expect in an Account Executive interview can be found in this profile

A balanced sample of appropriate interview questions should be provided to candidates.

Interview questions for account executives

Your company’s business development efforts are primarily carried out by account executives.

They may be responsible for finding and closing business deals, depending on the company and sector managing contacts with clients or both.

For senior positions, experience in sales or customer service is preferred. If you’re hiring for an entry level position, look for enthusiastic, outgoing, curious and smart candidates. In order to demonstrate their capability, the best candidates will ask the right questions and show a genuine interest in your services or products.

The following questions can be used to evaluate the core characteristics of an excellent account executive. Also, it is a good idea to ask them to present or make a brief sales pitch for a few minutes. You are looking for an individual who has excellent communication and negotiation skills, as well as an understanding of business and a confident manner. The candidate you will hire should possess a high level of initiative, persistence, and problem-solving skills.

Questions related to operations and situations

• In your opinion, what is the most satisfying aspect of this position?
• What are your strategies for dealing with rejection?
• Cold calling is something you are comfortable with?
• In order to discover sales opportunities, what methods do you use?
• To be effective, a demo or presentation must meet the following requirements?
• What are the steps to building a successful business relationship?
• Do you have any experience with CRM?
• How do you identify prospects using social media?
• How would you respond if a prospective client kept making excuses not to make a purchase?
• Imagine you are responsible for solving problems for multiple clients at the same time. How do you prioritize?

Questions related to behavior

• Tell me about a time when you dealt with an aggressive and dissatisfied customer. What did you do in this situation? Please describe a time when you were able to resolve a client’s issue
• When it came to closing a deal, what was the most challenging?
• I would like to hear about a time when you successfully negotiated a contract with a customer
• When the odds were against you, how did you manage to achieve your goal
• In your previous positions, what was the most challenging sales cycle?
• Have you ever missed an opportunity to engage a prospect? Is there anything you learned from what happened?