1. Tell me a bit more about yourself and experiance?
This job interview question demonstrates your ability to communicate and balance appropriate personal and professional information. Start with an interesting personal tidbit and then talk about why you are pursuing a sales career in general and at this particular company.
2. Who would I be directly working with?
Chances are you already know whom you'd be directly reporting to-he or she is more than likely in the interview room with you. But, since your relationships with your co-workers can have a pretty big impact on your life, you might want to know more than just the person you'd be working for. You want to know about the team members you'd be working with.
This is your opportunity to find out more about where this role fits into the big picture. Does the position require you to communicate and liaise between numerous departments? Or, would you just be operating with your specific team in order to get things done?
You can also use this prompt as your launch pad for several follow up questions: How big is the team currently? Is it growing rapidly? What are some of the other employees' backgrounds?
Use this opportunity to find out more about the organization's existing staff. It'll show you how all of the company's puzzle pieces fit together-and help you determine if you'd be a good fit.
3. What are the next steps in the interview process?
Tell me if this scenario sounds familiar: You stroll out of the interview and get into your car, feeling like you just totally aced that meeting. Suddenly, it hits you. You have no idea what happens now. You never asked. Will there be another round of interviews or was this it? Will the interviewer call you? Will she email you? Will she send a carrier pigeon?
Interviews encourage enough anxiety without feeling like you're totally out of the loop. So, before shaking hands and leaving the office, make sure you've inquired about what you can expect for next steps.
Not only will it help to ease your nerves (and probably inspire compulsive email refreshing for the next week), but it also demonstrates your level of interest in the position and entire process.
4. Tell me how do you handle rejection?
Not making a sale when you really want to is all in a day's work for a sales girl. It is no big deal. I do not dwell on a failure. I look forward to the next opportunity.
5. How would you describe the culture of this company?
We all know that interviews exist largely so that the employer can determine whether or not you're a good fit for their organization. But, you should also treat it as your opportunity to ascertain whether or not the company and position are a good fit for you.
YOU SHOULD ALSO TREAT INTERVIEWS AS YOUR OPPORTUNITY TO ASCERTAIN WHETHER OR NOT THE COMPANY AND POSITION ARE A GOOD FIT FOR YOU.
Culture has become a bit of a buzzword, but it's still an incredibly important part of your employment experience. And you don't need me to tell you that culture can vary greatly between employers.
Have your interviewer give a brief description of the company culture. Would she describe it as warm, encouraging, and family-like? Is it high energy, innovative, and constantly pushing to be on the cutting edge?
Pay close attention to what words your interviewer uses in order to get a good feel for what qualities the organization values. If she says words like "fast paced" and "deadline driven" and you're someone who needs to breathe into a paper bag at the thought of having a tight turnaround time, you might need to revaluate things.
6. How do you generate, develop, and close sales opportunities?
Core sales skills remain the same regardless of industry or company. This job interview question seeks to uncover the maturity and suitability of your sales process. With this in mind, talk very specifically about how you execute your sales role from start to finish. Address planning, preparation, targeting, engaging, discovering needs, providing solutions, resolving objections, and gaining agreement. Lay out how you tackle each of these tasks step by step.
7. What is the most important skill the person in this position needs to be successful?
Let's face it-most job descriptions describe unicorns. Sure, the employer may be looking for a candidate who is a Photoshop whiz and a creative writer who can also juggle while doing a handstand.
ZERO IN ON THE MOST CRUCIAL THING YOU'LL NEED IN ORDER TO DO WELL IN THAT POSITION.
But, their chances of actually finding that? They're slim to none-and they already know that.
So, instead of obsessing over what traits and skills you don't have, zero in on what the interviewer thinks is the most crucial thing you'll need in order to do well in that position.
Asking this helps you cut through all of the clutter of the job description, and also determine how well you could actually fulfill the duties of this role. After all, if they're ultimately seeking someone bilingual and you can hardly remember the alphabet from your high school Spanish class, this might not be the job for you.
Salespeople need to be able to deal with failure by critically analyzing failed attempts and learning from them. Knowing how you handle failure is as important as understanding how you succeed, and in fact, the two are interdependent. Be honest here, and clearly spell out one of your failures. Start with the goal you were pursuing, and then elaborate on why it was important to you, what did you do to achieve it, why you failed, who was involved, what you learned, and what you would have done differently. Far from damaging your reputation, the hiring manager will appreciate your candor.
9. Tell us what are the Most Important Sales Skills?
Not everyone can handle sales. You need to have the right attitude and abilities. At your job interview, the interviewer will be looking for your sales skills, and the aspects of the process that help close deals. An example of a good answer includes "The ability to recognize both verbal and non-verbal cues to adapt the sales strategies you implement to impress the prospective buyer."
10. What do you consider your most significant sales achievement to date?
Here's your opportunity to make a big impression. Take it.
People remember richly detailed stories of success. When fleshing out your crowning achievement, talk about the time, the specific situation or problem, the people involved, the steps you took to achieve the end result, and what happened afterwards. Everyone loves a good sales story, so the more you can amp up the drama, the better.
