5 Most Asked Sales Interview Questions You Must Know

“Great salespeople are relationship builders who provide value and help their customers win.” – Jeffrey Gitomer

Sales representatives are those assets of an organization who actively work towards gaining new business and hence increasing the turnover. It is due to the quality of good salesmanship that the revenue and profits of the company increase. And if you want to get hired as a sales executive for any company, you must possess a set of essential skills and showcase them when answering sales interview questions thrown your way during the interview to get the job. In this article, we will look at some common sales interview questions and answers that will help you prepare for your sales interview.

We know that sometimes interviews can leave the most confident of people, speechless. And when it comes to sales interviews the difficulty level increases multifold due to the critical nature of the roles in the organization. But remember, there is always a subtle way to answer most evergreen sales and marketing interview questions. So without further ado, let’s have a look at the 5 most asked sales interview questions and subtle ways to give a winning answer:

Question 1: Why are you interested in this sales position?

This is probably the most asked sales interview question around. The purpose behind this question is to see the enthusiasm and zeal within the candidate toward the respective sales position. Before going for the interview, review the roles and responsibilities of a sales executive. While answering the question use these roles and responsibilities to justify and portray a keen interest in the position.

Example answer: “The career in sales is a bag full of new opportunities. I love interacting with new people. I possess problem-solving abilities and the skills to persuade buyers to buy our products. I feel that a sales representative is the best position suited for a person like me. This position and the role intrigue me. I have chosen this career as per my abilities and would like to grow and innovate in this field further.”

You can also add previous job experience and learnings to your answer if you possess prior work experience. As mentioned before, this is one of the common and usually, foremost sales executive interview questions asked by the interviewer and it must be answered tactfully.

Question 2: How do you feel about collaboration within a sales team?

Unity and team spirit is the real key to success in every field of every organization. The task of a sales representative involves promoting team spirit, morale, and mutual understanding. To answer this sales job interview question, reflect upon your leadership skills and how you can bind the whole group together in one thread. 

Great collaboration must also be reflected in your work. The use of collaborative words while pitching also has a positive impact on the calls and using "we" instead of "I" increases success rates by 35%. Portray your skills to accommodate and adapt to the dynamic environment.

Example answer: “I strongly believe what Helen Keller once said, “Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much”. While I might be dealing with a aparticualr aspect of the sales process, it is the collective efforts by the whole team that are essential to bringing successful leads to the organization. I will try to coordinate and collaborate with the existing team to foster team spirit to work for the benefit and welfare of the organization”

This is one of the more basic sales interview questions but you can leave a lasting and good impression on the interviewer by giving the right answer. 

Question 3: How will you handle losing a sale?

Failure and success are two sides of the same coin. When asked the above-mentioned sales interview question remember this statement, and portray optimism and faith in your abilities and skill set through the answer. Successfully dealing with rejection is an important part of sales. Remember, every lost deal is an opportunity to learn and develop exquisite salesmanship qualities to bounce back and convert more leads.

Example answer: “A lost deal is not only a lost opportunity for the company but is also a reminder for me to rework my abilities. I strongly believe in Robert Kiyosaki’s words that “Successful people don’t fear failure but understand that it’s necessary to learn and grow from them.” I’ll try to learn from the shortcomings and drawbacks that led to losing the deal for the company and will definitely come up with better ideas and methods. I’ll also take feedback from my seniors and colleagues to improve and grow.”

Question 4:  Who is more important to you: new customers or existing long-term customers?

This is one of the trickiest sales and marketing interview questions that must be answered with tact. Sales provide great opportunities to meet new people, develop contacts and make people aware of your brand. Note that, while new and potential customers lead to increased benefits for the organization, retaining the existing long-term customers is equally important.

Example answer: “Both new and existing clients are crucial for any organization. Existing clients are easy to convince since they have experienced our services while reaching out to new clients is important to increase the sales turnover. I’ll try to maintain a balance between the two by successfully catering to their diverse needs.”

Also, remember that it is hard to choose between the two. One may need to reallocate resources from one to another, depending on the life-cycle of products, target audience, and other important factors. So the answer to this question is subjective and is dependent on the target segment. The answer must include the benefits of both one’s ability to reach out to the client and successful relationship management. This is what you truly want to convey through your answer.

Question 5: What do you like the least about sales?

This is again one of the trickiest sales interview questions. In this case, you must be honest but at the same time not be too blunt. This question must be tackled ingeniously and diplomatically. The answer to this is yet again subjective and depends upon the preferences of the individual candidate. Different people have different reasons to like and dislike certain aspects of a sales job. Someone might dislike something that you like, and vice versa. So answer this question tactfully as per your own reason for disliking whatever it is in the sales domain.

Every single question is important to convert the interview to land your dream job and build a career in it. While some sales interview questions might be easy and others tricky, stay focused during the entire interview and deal with questions both tactfully and with wit. Get some more tips on cracking interviews and landing a job at some of the top organizations in this article.

If you found this article interesting, check out the following links:

1. Sales Stint Is Essential For A Great FMCG Career | Ft. Nishant Sharma, FORE School of Management, Area Manager, ITC
2. My Sales and Marketing summer internship at HUL -By Aishwarya VR from MDI Gurgaon
3. Top 20 Sales Interview Questions With Answers 2022
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