Sales Interview Questions and Answers
When you’re answering sales interview questions, you plan to sell yourself to the interviewer as many people are aware that sales job interviews are difficult to crack.
In the sales job interview questions, the interviewer expects that he found you are a compelling salesperson. So for proving this, you have to do the bit more than merely responding to the questions asked by the interviewer.
Create your impact in your interview by going through the listed sales interview questions and answers. For your assistance, here we have provided the solutions for most of the common behavioral problems, you may opt to tell them the same or can enhance as per your experience or skills.
Most Frequently Asked Sales Interview Questions
Here in this article, we will be listing frequently asked Sales Interview Questions and Answers with the belief that they will be helpful for you to gain higher marks. Also, to let you know that this article has been written under the guidance of industry professionals and covered all the current competencies.
By asking this question, the questioner will get to know how you are going to perform at their organization in the aspects of meeting sales goals. Make sure to be honest about your previous experience but with a positive attitude whether or not you’d met your sales goals.
Cold calls are one of the critical aspects of the sales job. Here the interviewer wants to know your previous experience in making cold calls, and the way you answer it will help the interviewer to know about your personality.
Make sure to answer this question with “YES,” and then you can tell them your prior experience, which shows your interest in it.
By asking this question, the interviewer will get an idea about the skills that you think are essential in any salesperson.
Just a tip, try to answer all the qualities for which the company is looking. It will add the bonus point in your bucket.
Here the interviewer is looking for if you have a deep-seated passion in sales. Also, interested in knowing how passionate you are in becoming successful.
You can answer it by sharing a good story of your experience. Or you can also share some other person’s story here, which you think the interviewer will found interesting.
This question is asked to you to have a real knowledge test. If you will keep telling them about your wins in the sales but unable to express them in stages or steps, then the interviewer might think that you are being dishonest to him and cooking stories. So it is suggested to you just to answer the steps point to point.
- Prospecting
- Preparation
- Approach
- Presentation
- Handling objections
- Closing
- Follow-up
The short and long sales cycle varies from industry to industry. For the person who works in selling life insurances, for them, the short sales cycle will be of one month, and the long sales cycle will be of three quarters. On the other hand, for someone who sells military equipment, the short period might be one year.
The short and the long sales cycle have their own differences, kindly have a look at the below table:
| Short Sales Cycle | Long Sales Cycle |
|---|---|
| Involve the minimum number of meetings | Involve multiple meetings with Stakeholders, demos, extended negotiations |
| Sales were not impacted by the company’s conditions and the government’s decision. | Sales get impacted by the company’s conditions and the government’s decision. |
| It needs a higher level of engagement. | It does not need a higher level of engagement. |
| Do not involve strategic investments. | Involve strategic investments |
It is one of the tricky sales interview questions. But yes, if you had a manager in your previous career whom you didn’t like, you can tell this to the interviewer by staying honest. There is no harm in telling this until and unless you are saying about the facts. The essential thing to recall here isn't to get emotional or personal. Try to maintain professional decorum.
By asking this question, the interviewer wants to confirm your expertise mentioned in your resume. He just wanted to be sure that you can do whatever is written on your resume.
So here you have to be positive and share your experience by keeping yourself in the realistic mode.
Generally, people approach this interview question for a wide range of reasons. Some people need to know your passion for working. At the same time, others need to hear that you're not the sort of individual who just lives to work.
Tip: Try not to make the stories by yourself, which are not real.
Since everyone is moving to the digital world, social media plays a vital role in selling things. The competent social media channels like LinkedIn gives us the rights to research people with their needs.
On the other hand, Instagram and Twitter are trending and help in creating the social presence of the processes and things.
The most significant step while dealing with customer objection is: Listen to the client. Tune in with the plan of thoroughly understanding the client's concerns without inclination or expectation, and allow your non-verbal communication and verbal affirmations to communicate to the customer that you are listening eagerly.
This question is to ask you to know about your behavior and impulsiveness towards your work. Here is an example of an answer to this question:
I used to maintain my smile the entire day whether or not that day, I had a pressure of my work. My enthusiasm for my work always allows me to smile in tough situations. Hard days are the part of life, whether professional or personal; we all should be ready for those.
It is one of the challenging tasks to keep yourself updated with the target market of your business. But it becomes easier once you find the ideal targeted audience. After that, you can join some groups on social media channels that focus on the challenges of your audience. And make sure to stay active in those groups.
Every salesperson will ultimately hit a droop. The only thing which makes a difference is your action to receive in return. Do whatever it takes not to talk just theoretically here, yet give points of activities or ideas about what you have done in your past.