These are some of the most common interview questions when applying for a sales job. We have also included answers to these questions; Although these should always be unique, these examples can help you. Keep in mind that although the questions vary depending on the type of industry, the company, the product or service sold, there will always be a base of questions common to your profession. Lastly, remember to answer the questions with concrete answers, which include specific numbers and situations.
Frequent Topics in a Seller Interview
The most common areas in a salesperson interview are usually the following:
. Persuasion
. Presentations
. Talks
. Adaptability
. Initiative
. Failure
. Motivation
. Resistance to adversity
Try to make memory to discover previous situations related to those areas. Below are some of the questions with answers in an interview for a sales job.
List of questions in a seller interview
1. Why do you want to be a seller in this company?
For this answer, you must have studied the values that are promoted in that company, present the most similar to your personality and demonstrate that you have done research worthy of a good seller. You must “sell” the interviewer the idea that you will solve their problems.
2. Describe a typical day in your old job as a salesperson
On a typical day in my old job, I would check my email and determine the action plan for the day. Normally, my days consisted of a mix of prospecting, lead qualification, contacting current clients, researching my territory’s needs, paperwork, and a little professional reading to keep me up to date.
3. How many appointments or visits did you have on average each week?
Each week he made an average of 25-30 visits.
4. Approximately how much time did you spend daily with customers each day?
One to two hours a day, not including the round trip to each of its places.
5. What percentage of objectives did you complete in your last job?
During my last job I managed to complete 88 percent of my sales goals, which placed me in the top 10 percent of the company (nationwide).
6. If you have failed in your first approach to a prospect, how do you choose your new strategy?
To choose a new strategy, I must look at what I did not do ( or did not do well ). Having determined what I could have done, and didn’t do, I choose the best way to get closer to the prospect again. Objective analysis of the approach process always allows me to see where I have made mistakes.
7. I imagine that you have ever worked very hard to obtain a client without obtaining the desired result. How did you react?
I reacted analytically. I studied the process I had followed, discovered errors on my part, made notes, learned the lesson, and continued my work .
8. What is the most (and least) thing you like about this profession?
Without a doubt, what I like most about this profession is the ability to help people, the opportunity to forge lasting relationships and constant challenge. The least that I like, without a doubt, is the reputation that we have acquired because of unscrupulous people, who use their position as a seller to deceive and enrich themselves in an unethical way .
9. Explain to me the process you follow to obtain an account, from the initial contact to the signing of the contract.
In my last job, I worked hard on the street to get and qualify prospects. Once the list was obtained, he would carry out a second round of qualification in the office, and then draw up the final list of potential clients. I made appointments with these potential clients to find out, first hand, what their needs were … and so on, until we reached the final signing of the contract. That signature does not represent the end of the process, but the beginning of a lasting and fruitful relationship for both parties.
10. When it comes to negotiations, when was the last time you failed and why?
The reason my last negotiation failed, about five years ago, was because of my inexperience in dealing with pricing issues: I hastened to try to close the sale without first deeply knowing the customer’s needs.
11. Imagine that you are presenting our product to a group of 10 executives: after just 2 minutes, everyone takes out their cell phones and completely ignores you, what would be your reaction?
It would give an instant twist to the presentation: a little humor, an exaggeration. If the executives don’t pay attention to me, the problem is me (and my presentation).
12. In a typical week, in your old job, what percentage of time did you spend contacting prospects, existing clients, learning new things?
According to the time analyzes that I carried out; I employed 30 percent in contacting – qualifying – prospects, 50 percent with clients, 10 percent researching needs in my territory, and 10 percent studying new technologies to keep up-to-date.
13. What is the first thing you would do when someone asks you for a catalog of our products through an email?
The first thing you would do would be to qualify the potential customer. Without that important step, you could lose a lot of time. At the beginning of my career, I made the mistake of serving each person as if they were a true potential client.
Job change, less money
This morning I met, as usual, with an executive from one of the largest companies in the country, whom we will call P, to talk about hiring practices or about any subject that I could share with you, and that may be useful in any job search. In his position, this executive is responsible for hiring dozens of people each year, so he has already accumulated considerable experience.
In the story he shared with me, precisely a year ago, his company had made an offer to a candidate, whom we will call M. After several days considering the offer, M rejected the offer because what they offered seemed to him little money. M continued with his job, until just one year later, my interlocutor P, a person, completely oblivious to what had happened a year ago, recommended that he hire M for the same position. Although P initially thought it was a waste of time since he had been offered and rejected, and the working conditions had not changed, in the end he decided to arrange an informal meeting.
From the beginning of the conversation, P was very clear, telling him that the job and the offer were exactly the same that had been put on the table the year before. But, apart from presenting the same conditions, he was also interested in his current job satisfaction. Did you enjoy your work on a day-to-day basis? As P answered, he realized that M did not enjoy his job, that it was not challenging, that he did not learn, so he decided to interrupt him to propose the following: if your interest is purely economic, finish your coffee and leave this interview because I will not improve the offer; But if, apart from money, you’re attracted to solving problems and working in a challenging environment, let’s keep talking. What’s more, take two days to think about it. That same night, M called to accept a formal interview.
who was in charge of organizing the job interview, decided to completely change the traditional format – general questions, negotiation of conditions, etc. – and, instead, chose to invite several engineers to present the candidate with the most challenging problems. those who were facing today. Just after leaving the interview, M, our candidate, decided to accept the same offer that he had rejected a few months ago, at the same time expressing his satisfaction at the great difference between this interview and last year’s, highlighting how exciting it had been to listen to other engineers about the challenges they were facing.
History presents us with two important points
First, that a company that is really interested in your services, in your skills, can adapt so that we really see other advantages, apart from the economic ones, when we consider an offer.
The other point is M’s ability to discover that as long as we reach an acceptable amount of compensation, there are other factors that affect our decision to accept an offer of employment. The highest economic offer does not always represent greater satisfaction. On many occasions, employment demands more than 50 hours a week from the company. Wouldn’t you rather be happy with the work you do during that time, even if you charge a little less?
The next time you look at a job ad , do some research on employee feedback on social media or where you might find it, but try to find out how people who work at that company feel, especially if you’re lucky enough to be able to choose among various offers. Remember that once the basic economic needs are covered, the more savings objectives you can set, there are other very important elements that will affect your level of professional and personal satisfaction.
Article posted by themesmob.com
