Sales teams are the core of many successful businesses. A good sales team gets your products or services in front of potential customers which can increase sales and conversions, leading to an increase in growth and revenue for your company.
To find the right talent for your sales team, conducting effective interviews is going to be crucial and one of the most important parts of a successful sales interview is asking the right questions.
Below, we’ll highlight some examples of sales interview questions your hiring team can ask potential candidates to land your next stand-out sales employee.
1. What advice would you give a salesperson just beginning their career?
This question will help candidates uncover any problems they faced in their sales career and how they overcome those challenges. A good answer will pull from personal experience and formulate an answer that shows how they’ve applied the advice they’d give in their own career.
2. What does your current sales process look like?
It’s important to make sure candidates understand how the customer journey and the sales pipeline work, so this question will be crucial in uncovering their understanding. This is also a great time for candidates to show their unique strengths and abilities, and give examples of what’s been successful in their current sales process.
3. What do you know about our company and product/service?
If you want to know if the candidate you’re interviewing did their research on your company, this is the question to ask. The right candidate will have researched your company and should know what you sell and how to sell it.
4. What sales software and technology are you familiar with?
What software experience they have is another important question to ask in a sales interview. Though candidates don’t always need to know how to use every software or tool your company uses, their answer to this question will be important in uncovering if they’re willing to learn.
5. Can you sell me this pen?
If you want to see how well they can sell a product, a tried and true question is “can you sell me this pen?” This can give you a glimpse into their sales process and how they communicate with a prospective customer.
Additional questions to ask in a sales interview
Not all of the job interview questions have to be related to sales. You want to make sure the candidate isn’t just right for the job, but will also fit in well with your company. Try asking a few situational or cultural fit questions in addition to sales-specific questions. Here are a few examples:
Situational questions:
- Explain a time you previously managed conflict with a coworker.
- How would you handle an unresponsive or difficult prospect?
- Tell me about a time you received constructive criticism and how did you handle it?
- If you’ve worked remotely before, what challenges have you encountered?
Culture fit questions:
- What makes you stand out from other candidates we may be interviewing?
- Why are you interested in our company?
- Would you describe yourself as creative or analytical?
- Would teammates describe you as competitive or collaborative?
Personal questions:
- Why should we hire you?
- What are your career goals?
- Where do you see your career in five years?
- What are your long-term sales career goals?
- What hobbies do you enjoy outside of work?
Make sure you jot down the questions above next time you’re prepping for a sales interview so you can make sure you’re finding the right candidate for the job.