Interview questions for sales representatives

A balanced sample of suitable interview questions is included in this Sales Representative interview profile. You can modify these interview questions for any sales position you are sourcing candidates for.

Interview questions for sales representatives

The best sales representatives believe in the solution you provide and are motivated by more than just meeting their quotas. They strive to exceed their customers’ expectations while striving to be truly helpful to them. Their approach is proactive, persistent, and strategic. They are the type of people who plan ahead before making a telephone call. The best candidates for this position are likely to treat you in the same manner as they treat their customers during the interview process. Field sales representatives will strive to identify your company’s pain points in order to determine how they can alleviate them. To assess the skills and confidence of an individual applying for a sales position, interview questions can be a mixture of quantitative and qualitative questions. Make sure that you ask your candidates how well they know the products and customers they have worked with during these interviews. As well as assessing their sales knowledge, it is important to assess their sales process knowledge. It is important to hire candidates who have actual sales experience when answering interview questions about sales jobs. Candidates who possess high potential will also be hungry, curious, and eager to contribute to the organization. If you wish to achieve the best results, you may wish to include some of your own interview questions specific to the sales environment in which your candidates will be working. As an example, field sales interview questions will differ from those related to inside sales.

Questions relating to operations

• In your last position, what kind of sales did you make?
• At your last company, how large was your team?
• How did you accomplish your sales quota?
• What methods did you use to generate leads?
• Provide a description of your last company’s sales process. Is there anything that worked well? Is there anything that did not work well?
• Tell us about a time when a sales process was changed. What was the reason for the change? How did the results turn out?
• I would like to know more about your product. In what ways does this benefit you? What is the nature of your customer base?
• What motivates customers to purchase your product? Which alternatives are available?
• Explain how your customers make their purchasing decisions. The decision to purchase is approved or blocked by whom? In order to close the sale, what do you need to do?
• In order to determine what a customer needs, what kinds of questions do you ask?
• What is the point at which you cease to pursue a prospective client?
• What methods do you use to stay up-to-date with your customers and products?