15 Sales Interview Questions and Answers for Screening

Filed in Interviews by on February 28, 2024

When you’re trying to get a sales job, the person interviewing you might ask different Sales interview questions to understand you better.

Sales Interview Questions

These questions cover your personality, work experience, and knowledge about sales.

It’s helpful to look at these questions and think about how to answer them well, even if you don’t have much experience.

We’ve put together a list of common sales interview questions and how to answer them and share a few tips to prepare for the interview.

Sales Interview Questions and Answers

Good salespeople play a big role in making a company grow and earn money.

The following are 15 sales interview questions that are imperative to ask and answer.

Question 1: After boarding, what do you intend to do during your first month?

Answer: This question addresses the candidate’s attitude. Positive individuals are more likely to look for ways in which they can make a contribution to the company as well as show initiative.

Go-getters, especially, demonstrate a high level of determination and efficiency as they have a clear picture of what they are responsible for.

Question 2: What do you do when someone rejects you?

Answer: The most experienced and talented salespersons still face rejection.

The ability of candidates to handle rejection by describing how they overcome it is an indicator of their resilience.

Question 3: Do you have a presence on Social Media?

Answer: Sales candidates must be technology-driven, especially in the area of social media.

Those who have an active online following can provide good indicators of market penetration.

Question 4: I am sorry for bothering you but would you mind giving me some explanation on this?

Answer: It is an opportunity to see how a salesperson deals with different challenges of their work.

The best candidate will not only impress you with their speed of thought and the power of their speech but will also be able to give a persuasive response.

Question 5: In this case, how do you connect with prospects?

Answer: This sales interview question explores the qualifying questions that salespeople ask to determine the customer’s needs and requirements.

The spectrum of the responses, which is based on the assigned task and product, conveys the quality of the trainee’s instincts and aptitude for sales training.

Circumstantial Sales Interview Questions

Question 6: Can you sell me anything?

Answer: A perfect sales interview question to test candidate adaptability is to ask them to sell something, even if it’s a pen or a notebook.

The aim is to test their applicability and watch how they can attract and even amaze people.

Question 7: Can you teach me something else?

Answer: The most successful sales pitches are not just about listing product benefits. In this age of technology where customers are knowledgeable, this is the case.

If candidates can stimulate and make people think, they are very likely to get customers on their side.

Question 8: What company is your dream job?

Answer: This sales interview question brings out the entrepreneurial spirit of candidates, showing who they are and what they want to achieve.

Ambitious people tend to have goals that seem unattainable, and it’s important not to discard their ideas as impossible to achieve.

Question 9: What’s the largest number of losses you’ve experienced in a row? What was the process you used to get back to the well?

Answer: This question gives the interviewer a chance to see how you handle the fact that your professional life is not always smooth sailing.

It attempts to appraise candidates’ truthfulness, as those who do not admit their failures may not be optimal.

Question 10: How can I keep smiling when the world is changing?

Answer: Salespeople should be somewhat cheerful and friendly when they meet customers to create a good impression.

Whenever you are interviewing a candidate, make sure to understand how they can maintain their optimism.

Enthusiasm-Based Sales Interview Questions

Question 11: What’s the worst part of the sales process?

Answer: Such a question enables us to detect the weaknesses of candidates on different tasks. If the task is critical, the company might not be the right place to work.

Nevertheless, in the case of a non-critical issue, there may be a chance to offer candidates some help and guidance to eliminate obstacles.

Question 12: Do you know what the ideal sales manager Is?

Answer: This question identifies people who can work equally well on their own.

The desired person should be able to build good relationships with superiors and resolve problems without constantly asking for help.

Question 13: In your opinion, describe the perfect client.

Answer: Spend time listening to candidates’ speeches about their target demographics.

If they reference a particular group that is part of the buying process, it shows that they can make an analysis of the market and recognize customer signals.

Question 14: What it is that keeps you going on?

Answer: Sales is a matter of motivation. People who get motivation from money, happy customers, and personal achievements will be perfect candidates.

Nevertheless, it is essential to seek those who have the same opinion about customer satisfaction, showing a concern for the company’s performance beyond just financial gains.

Question 15: What is the event that you consider as the peak of your life?

Answer: The sales team needs you to be a determined person who is willing to go the extra mile in pursuit of goals, no matter what the challenges are.

The candidates who have narratives of strength and perseverance are the best because they can take their energy to the workplace and be the company’s progress.

How to Answer Sales Interview Questions with No Experience

Sales Interview Questions

These are some of the ways to deal with the lack of experience during interviews.

1. Make your interest in learning and developing clear, saying that everyone starts from somewhere.

Rather than making excuses for your lack of expertise, demonstrate your ambition to become an excellent salesperson.

2. Highlight non-business-related extracurricular activities you may have done, even if you don’t have any business background.

Bring in some of the most significant activities such as knowing more than one language, holding a leadership position, and fundraising for a cause.

These activities help to develop skills that are important in the sales field like language proficiency, working in teams, leadership, and project management.

3. Emphasize transferable skills you have acquired from any previous job, whether it was paid or unpaid.

Cover topics such as organization skills (time management and multitasking), communication skills (verbal and written), and interpersonal skills (relationship building).

Give instances of how you managed to negotiate or persuade others on the job you had before.

4. Make examples from your daily life, such as solving problems, being up to the challenge, fixing things by yourself, or coming up with a new idea.

This exhibits your critical thinking abilities which are useful in sales.

How to Prepare for a Sales Interview

These are the steps on how to prepare;

1. Learn about the company and what it sells.

2. Figure out who usually buys their items.

3. Think about your past sales successes.

4. Find ways to explain them with specific numbers.

5. Talk about yourself as if you were a product or customer.

6. Practice the star interviewing method (Situation, Task, Action, Result).

7. Make a list of questions to ask the company during the interview.

What the the Sales Interview Tips?

The tips for sales interviews are;

1. Briefly sum up what you know about the company’s solutions, who they help, who they compete with, and what experts say about them.

2. Explain why you like this company and want this job.

3. Describe exactly how you do your sales job from the beginning to the end.

4. Use data to prove your achievements in past jobs.

5. Share exciting sales stories with some drama.

6. Admit when things didn’t go well, and explain how you faced a challenge and moved forward.

7. Get ready and just be yourself during the interview.

You can’t predict every sales job interview question, but these examples should help you get ready for the important ones and similar ones that might come up.

Most importantly, be ready and just be yourself. Your best interviews and successes are waiting for you.

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