Top 20 Sales Interview Questions With Answers To Get You Hired

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A sales job can be highly satisfying for people who like to travel and develop new relationships each day. With their high earning potential and flexibility, career in sales is a desirable option for many. Speaking of flexibility, sales jobs generally offer a flexibility in the sense that you are not restricted to a desk for 8-9 hours a day. In fact you get to travel, interact with clients and can adjust your working hours as per the availability of your customers. This brings some extent of freedom in your work. 

Basically sales staff is responsible for meeting sales goals, demonstrating products, delivering sales presentation, negotiating contracts with clients etc. Hence, good inter-personal skills come on the top of the check list for sales job seekers. 

Sales professionals are expected to have critical abilities, tact to deal with clients and adaptive to the changing conditions. Sales is a highly competitive field. So you will need to build traits like self-discipline, persistence, self-discipline, confidence, resilience and a sense of urgency to stay ahead of others in the  sales career. Considering all this, the hiring manager seeks to hire perfect candidates who have all these qualities and skills that are required for a sales job. 

The sales domain in India is expected to create more than 2 million jobs in the coming years. Hence it is time for the skilled professionals with an aptitude at sales, to brace themselves up and prepare well for the sales interview. So before you get into the hiring process, a brief review of the sales interview questions is a must. Here we have a comprehensive list of both common and tricky sales interview questions that will make you an ideal candidate and help you to nail your interview round. 

Q1. Why do you want to take up sales as a career?

This is the most expected question in a sales interview. Considering the challenges involved in a sales job, the hiring manager might want to understand more about your interest in the sales domain. To answer this question most appropriately, you must mention the points you like in the sales job and how your personality resonates with the. You could say that even though sales is a challenging career it is also a performance based career. Hence, the more you sell, the more you earn. This could be one factor that attracts you towards this job.  Secondly, your competitive streak and hard working attitude makes you a good candidate for this job. Also, interacting with people is a key requirement for this job. Hence, as you like communicating with new people and understanding their psychology, this career would be a great fit for you. 

Q2. Where do you see your career in sales 10 years later?

Your answer to this sales interview question must be clear and detailed. You must sound confident and aware of your strengths. You could say that since you understand what it takes to be a successful sales executive, you see your career in sales shaping well in future.  With the right approach, hard work, passion and consistency, 10 years later you may become a sales director capable of managing the sales department of a company successfully. 

Q3. What do you know about our company?

The most important thing to do before going for a job interview is to read about the prospective employers. You can check out their company's official website, LinkedIn account, and social media platforms to understand the working of the current company. Also, read a little about its competitors in the market. This will show the panel that you have researched about the company in detail.

Q4. What are the qualities of a good sales representative?

This seems to be a general question in the sales representative interview. However, take advantage of this perfect opportunity and tweak it in your favor. Sales reps are supposed to have skills such as analytical thinking, excellent communication skills, good time management, negotiating skills,  social networking skills, trust-building capacity, client relationship management and problem-solving skills. So apart from these you can list out other key qualities that good sales reps must possess and how having these qualities has personally helped you to become a good sales representative. Following are some qualities that you can list:

1. Good listening skills: Listening well is one of the basic qualities that a sales representative must have. Customers love to be listened to  and hearing them out will project you as a person who can be trusted. Also, listening well will help you understand the feedbacks of your customers and deliver the right product to them. 
2. Customization:  Customers like to me given special treatment. Hence, if you are good at the art of customization, you are likely to pull good numbers of customers. Creating a package that meet customer's needs and keeps their inputs into consideration is a good way to connect with them. For this asking the right questions and analyzing their feedback in detail is a must. 
3. Responsible enough to take a multi-dimensional role: A sales executive may have responsibilities beyond just selling products. Meetings, presentations, market research, collecting information about the product etc. Hence, a good sales person should be able to slip in any role with ease.
4. Adept with technology: Technology has touched all aspects of business. Hence, sales process also requires the sales executive to understand technology and new software that can help make the process more efficient and digitally enabled. Salesforce, Freshworks CRM, HubSpot CRM are some software needed in sales. 

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Q5. Are you a team player?

This is a common question in sales interview. As a sales professional, you are expected to have team spirit as one of the core values. Hence, hiring managers look for candidates who are independent and ambitious about their own growth but can operate smoothly in a sales team. You need to assure the panel that you are comfortable in working alone as well as in a  team. You may also quote an experience from the past which exhibit your team dynamics and how working in a team made you learn so much and thus enriched your knowledge.  

Q6. How do you keep a tab on your target market?

Awareness is a key requirement in a sales job. Not being aware of the target market will put all the sales and  marketing efforts down the drain. So, the interview panel wants to understand your approach in this regard. Keeping a track on your target market helps you understand the needs of your customers and assess your sales opportunities. This can be done by reading business publications, market reports, listening to business news etc. Also social media can be a good place to study the digital body language of the target market. Once you know the trend, you can reshape your sales approach. 

Q7. What's your approach to tackling customer feedback?

A sales professional needs to deal with customers on day to day basis. However, satisfying everyone is not possible and complaints are bound to come up. The to tackling this aspect is through listening and being patient. Also, some displeased customers may not put out their opinions in a gentle tone. In situations such where you get a difficult feedback, it is best to maintain your calm, have your facts ready and deal with the customer politely. 

Q8. Describe the role of social media in selling process?

The role of social media has become vital in selling. Sales professionals use social media to take complaints, provide platform to take customer's opinions on products, create brand awareness, etc. Thus a willingness to learn about social media has become important for sales professionals these days. 

Q9. How do you research about the potential clients before a meeting?

Understanding the client is a must in sales. This can help you to tailor your interaction accordingly with the clients and customize packages based on their expectations. LinkedIn is a good and viable option available where you can research about the client as well as his/her company. You may also get a brief idea of the company values, client's inclination and interests so that you can tweak your presentation accordingly. Searching for personal commonalities is also important to strike an equation with your client.

Q10. When you meet a potential client, what are the important questions you ask?

The intention of this question is to understand your sales approach to some extent. If you are an experienced sales person, you may be having a particular strategy that you use while collecting information from the prospective client. However, if you are new to the field, following you can use the following questions to shape your answer. 

1. What all do you need in the product/service: It is important to inquire about what all does the client desires in the product or service. It might not always be feasible to meet his/her requirements but it will surely help you to get an idea for what they are expecting. This may also help you to know whether you should pursue the client or not because if there is anything that you cannot offer at all, it is best to not take things forward. On the other hand, it is also important to know what they don't need at all!  You can then use this piece of information to accordingly customize your offerings. 
2.  What Problems Are You Facing: This question will help you to take your customer's feedback. In case the customer was using someone else's product/service, this question will let you know the shortcomings of your competitor's products and you can find a sweet spot to pitch in your product and convince the client how your product will cater to the needs better than other available options.
3. What is your budget: Enquiring about the budget of your customers is very important to determine the right products that could be sold to them. 

Q11. Suppose you get a chance to start your own company, what would it be?

This is a tricky sales interview question. The interview panel intends to know your business ideas and future goals. You can go ahead and be creative while answering this question. In case you have an idea, be open and share your business idea with the panel. You may also design rough sales strategies for how you plan to work it out in future. This will let the panel know how passionate you are about business and that strategizing comes naturally to you. 

Q12. Can you manage clients from different cultures?

As a sales professional, you must be trained to handle customers from different cultural backgrounds. For this, you must be respectful and mindful of other cultures. Reading about diverse cultures  and languages will help you know the intricacies better and will foster better customer relations.  Small acts such as wishing someone in his/her language or having a rough idea about their culture can really help to connect well with the customers. 

Q13. Sell me xyz article.

This is a classic one from the list of interview questions. The panel wants to know your sales skills through this question and expects you to be creative yet convincing. The article may be a pen, flower pot, cell phone etc. However, what you have to do as a sales candidate is be prepared to face such questions with full enthusiasm. You can start on a positive note by saying that you are really excited to sell the particular product. First, try taking  interviewers input on the kind of product he/she is looking forward to.   Next, spell out the properties of the product that you think would be useful for the other person. You can exaggerate a little but make sure that your pitch sounds interesting and not unrealistic. In the end, negotiate with the interviewer and try to close the deal successfully. This will show that you are an effective sales person. 

Q14. What steps are involved in the sales process?

This is an important sales interview question. Here are the steps involved in sales process.

1. Prospecting:  This step involves understanding client's needs. The aim is to get as much information as possible from the client through carefully drafted questions. This is where sales person's listening and observational skills will come in handy. The better you understand about client's requirements, the closer you are to cracking a deal. 
2. Make a positive connect: This would need a positive body language. Your email, tone, smile (in case of face to face interaction), soft skills will all come into play. 
3. Preparation: After collecting all the information, you now know how to present your product in the most enticing way to your client. You may tailor your presentation as per the information collected to match your customer's requirements. 
4. Presentation: This is the crucial part. This step can make or break a sales pitch. Through the presentation, your aim must be to link the features of the product with the requirements of the customer. Stressing on how the product will benefit the customer should be the prime focus of the presentation. 
5. Handling objections: Addressing all the concerns of the client is very important. So the sales person must be clear with all the facts about the product and address each and every objection of the customer in a convincing manner.
6. Closing: This involves directing the client in the direction of making a purchase and is a test of your persuasive powers. This requires good communication skills and subtle convincing tactics. 
7. Follow-Up: As you seal the deal fast, it is best to leave a good final impression. Asking the client if he/she has any further queries, sharing your phone number for any complaints leaves a sense of satisfaction in clients mind regarding the deal. 

Q15. Share an experience where you received a difficult piece of feedback.

Sales interview is a mix of technical and behavioral questions. The interviewer wants to know how well you can manage a challenging situation and well you handled it. In case you have encountered such a situation in the past, you can state the incident. Tell the panel how you maintained you calm, listened carefully to the customer and tried to act upon it. Feedbacks are an important part of a sales person's career. Hence, dealing with much situations will help a sales professional improve and grow in his/her career. 

Q16. What can companies do to improve or upskill their sales workforce?

This sales interview question demands you to be aware of the shortcomings of the industry. As a smart sales person, you must be analytical and have clear views on such topics. Here is something that you can use in your answer.  Sales workforce is an important part of any industry. Hence, keeping in view the fast evolving needs of the market, companies must invest in developing the sales workforce that is multidisciplinary, fast and digitally skilled. This will help in improving the quality of sales talent. They can partner with the government or other agencies to work towards addressing the skill deficit issues.

Q17. Narrate an incident where you closed your biggest deal.

You must keep some examples ready to deal with such questions. For this question, you can share an experience where you closed big deal or handled an important client well. This is the time when display your impeccable track record and impress the panel with any of your success story from your previous role. 

Q18. Describe your expectations from the position being offered to you.

The interview wants to assess if you have read the job description well. Hence, avoid skipping this step. Once thorough with the job description, you can answer the question with ease. State all the responsibilities you would be expected to carry out as mentioned in the job description. In case you have any reservations about some responsibility for example, cold calls or night shifts, you may politely voice it out at this stage and see if an alternative could be worked out. 

Q19. Is there anything you don't like about sales job?

You have to take a balanced approach to answer this question. While you can be candid about the things you might not enjoy so much, back it up with the aspects you like. Don't let your answer appear negative. You can sat that since sales high-intensity job, it may sometimes take a toll on your health or work-life balance. However, since you are passionate about a career in this field you would try to balance everything out both at professional and personal life. 

Q20. Do you have any questions for us?

You must be prepared to face this question. So, keep a list of questions ready to be asked from the prospective employers. You can ask about your responsibilities in your new role, the company culture, scope of growth, training or further studies opportunities etc. 

Points to remember before going for a sales interview

1. A career in sales is challenging yet exciting. However, to perform well in your interview you need to take care of the following things:
2. Have a good hold over the basic concept of sales such as retail data, sales cycle, market trends, sales cycles etc.
3. Reading and researching press articles, expert blogs, sector-specific magazines, government reports can be quite helpful to stay updated.
4. Have an detailed knowledge about the entire company you are interviewing for. Understand about their services or products, its sales position, market reviews, campaigns, current employees, competitors etc. This will be useful for you to answer questions related to the company and how you can make a difference and contribute in its success.  
5. Keep your numbers ready to give a record of your previous experience. Your interviewer might expect you to state concrete numbers  and assess your sales potential from your previous roles. So keep the list of sales deals you cracked or profits you made on your finger tips before you attend your sales interview. 
6. Share your strategy for attracting new customers with the panel when asked. As a sales executive, your work is to get more customers for the company and thus increase sales. Hence, framing a company specific smart strategy or effective sales tips to pull more clients could be a good way to display your expertise or aptitude in the field.  
7. Last but not the least, a pleasant personality is always impressive. Even if you are not experienced with the sales domain, being sure of your skills and passion will help you go miles in your career. So take care of your interpersonal skills, dress smart, wear a bright smile, appear confident and go ahead and leave a lasting impression. 

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