1. Explain me are you a team player?
Depending on your sales team structure, an SDR might support one sales rep in particular, or a number of reps. Ensure your candidate works well with others and takes pride in setting their colleagues up for success.
2. Tell me how important is learning for a salesperson?
Hopefully, the answer to this question will be that learning is very important. Press for examples in which learning new information has helped them close a deal. And ask how they like to stay educated on their products and industry.
3. Do you know what is auto dialer?
Telemarketing industries generally use an electronic device or a software to automatically dial phone numbers. These devices and softwares are called autodialers.
Cold calling is the process in which customers are called for business interaction who have not been expecting so.
5. Explain what separates the best SDRs from average SDRs?
More activity doesn't always translates into better results. While solid performers work hard, the best SDRs work smart.
6. Do you know account Management/Customer Success?
Client deployment and success, ongoing client management, and renewals. In today's world of “frictionless karma”, someone needs to be dedicated to making customers successful–and that is NOT the salesperson!
7. What do you understand by b2g?
B2G stands for business to government and is a derivative of B2B and is described as transaction between business and government in which a business entity supplies services or goods to a government sector or firm and can be stated as public sector marketing.
8. Tell me what keeps you motivated?
Note: the answer here shouldn't involve money, commissions, or any form of compensation. No matter what someone says, study after study has shown that the overwhelming majority of people aren't motivated by money. Hopefully your recruit will answer with “providing for family” or “earning recognition” in their field, or something else that isn't financial.
9. What do you understand by b2b?
B2B stands for business to business which describes commercial transactions between businesses such as between a web development firm and a reseller. Such transactions are big in volume and thus b2b is flourishing today the most.
10. Tell me what value can your company deliver?
Your customers may want unicorns. But unless you run a unicorn factory, that information isn't going to be very helpful.
11. What do you understand by b2c?
B2C stands for business to consumer and describes transaction between business and consumer. It can be best explained by defining retail in which tangible goods are sold from stores or fixed location directly to the consumer.
12. Explain me how do you generate leads?
Prospecting/lead generation is one of the areas where I find salespeople are consistently deficient in their skills. The truth is that many salespeople just aren't good at it, or they don't put in enough time.
Like with the previous questions, here you want to see a specific process that shows that they're committed to lead generation. Ambiguity should be a red flag.
13. Tell me what are the characteristics that distinguish direct marketing?
Following are the characteristics that distinguish direct marketing :
1. The customers are pre targeted.
2. Customers are addressed directly.
3. The response of direct marketing is scalable.
4. The whole process is action driven.
5. Independent of business size.
14. Explain about how your past managers or coworkers have helped you succeed?
What you're really asking is: Are you a good team player? That may or may not be important at your organization. If it is important, you want someone who recognizes that collaboration is important and who is willing to accept input and support from coworkers and managers.
15. Do you know what Business Industries use Lead Generation?
Lead generation could work for just about any business, but most industries using this type of marketing include insurance agencies, education institutions, office suppliers, and furniture stores. Trends show that lead generation will become even more popular in the future, especially for service oriented businesses.
16. Tell us what are the techniques that help build the trust of the caller?
The following techniques help you build the trust of the customer on the other end of the telephone.
☛ Speak confidently
☛ Take control of the situation
☛ Show genuine interest
☛ Go above and beyond the call of duty
17. Explain how do you deal with rejection?
As the people primarily responsible for cold calling and emailing, SDRs deal with an awful lot of rejection. If the candidate admits they get flustered or frustrated after an extended period of rejection, they're probably not cut out for the job. "Fall down seven times, stand up eight" is the mantra of the best SDRs.
18. Explain what are your favorite tools to research your target market?
This question is a bit tricky because you're assuming that they do research their market. Of course, that's the point of the question. It really doesn't matter which tools they use. What's more important is that they can describe the tools they like and how they use them.
If the applicant is grasping for an answer or giving vague descriptions, that could be a sign that they don't research their market at all, which is a big problem.
19. Tell us what's the last thing you learned that you thought was really interesting?
A sense of curiosity is necessary in sales development. SDRs have to ask insightful questions to get to the heart of prospects' problems, and investigate their current environments. People with natural curiosity won't have a problem enthusiastically sharing something they learned with you. But if the candidate struggles to come up with an example, it might be a red flag.
20. Tell me how do you think telemarketing can be made more effective?
To make telemarketing more efficient every call should be planned with an objective in mind. The opening statements made by the telecaller should be made interesting to grab interest. It is the contribution of each tele-caller that makes telemarketing successful and thus each tele-caller should be motivated enough to make a deal and be clear with his objective. The objection for tele callers in the sector are easy to crack and thus a response to each should be prepared in advance to cross the hurdle and make sale.
21. Do you know lead generation has become popular with businesses?
Lead generation has become popular with businesses because it enables a business to:
☛ Determine pricing on a per lead basis
☛ Choose the product or service they wish to offer to prospects
☛ Select the geographical area that the business is interested in
☛ Control the number of leads a business wishes to receive per month (this assists with budgeting)
☛ Pay only for the leads that are received
22. Tell us when's the right time to give up pursuing a prospect?
Everyone has their own style, so this answer could vary a great deal among different applicants. However, it should give you an idea of how well-defined their process is. For example, they may say, “After the sixth phone call or email, I let the lead go cold.” Even though the average is 12 touches to close a sale, this level of detail shows they've thought their process through. If they give a vague or general answer, they may not have a defined process.
23. Tell us what are the common telemarketing fraud?
Following are the common telemarketing fraud :
1. Charity purpose.
2. Asking for advance payment or fee.
3. Fraud by over capturing increased payments.
4. Bank related frauds.
5. Lottery
6. False representation of office supplies.
7. False verification calls.
24. Explain me what are the different categories and sub-categories of telemarketing?
Marketing can be broadly classified into two categories :
1. B2B - business to business
2. B2C - business to customer
The categories can be further classified into four categories based on the process carried out which are :
☛ Generating lead - Process of identifying a potential customer to make sale.
☛ Sales - Selling out products
☛ Outbound - Calls are made to the customers.
☛ Inbound - Calls are received from the customer.
25. Explain me what are the disclosures required in telemarketing?
There are a few disclosures which are must before a person engages in telemarketing. Listed below are a list of things that need to be disclosed.
1. Disclosure of identity on behalf of which the call is made at the starting of the call in a polite and fair manner.
2. There should be a proper description of the product or business being put forward.
3. The price and terms and conditions related to the product should be made very clear.
4. Any other information related to the product prescribed should be conveyed.
26. Explain me how would you make a cold call to generate a lead?
Turning a cold call into lead is not easy but it is not impossible either. If handled with the right motivation and skill a cold call can be changed into a lead. It can actually be put down as the way that cold calls are perceived by the person making the call and the fear of failure. The key should be to back track for a moment and then offer what you have when you have completely understood what is the landscape of the situation. Always step in with a positive attitude as for this situation it is very important.
27. Tell me why Use Lead Generation?
Lead generation is a win-win for both the buyer and seller. A buyer is able to request information from several businesses that offer the product or service that they are looking for and the seller is given the opportunity to pitch their product or service to someone who has given them permission. Conversion rates on leads that you receive often have a higher conversion success rate than cold contacts because the prospect is pre-qualified, before you ever receive the lead.
28. Explain me how do you prepare for a meeting with a new prospect?
Again, you're looking for specifics here that indicate your applicant has a process. I review their LinkedIn profile and connections. I research their company's product lines to see where we might fit into the mix. I look for mentions of them or their company on Google News. These are the kinds of specifics you want to hear.
If the answer is, “I look around online,” they don't have a process in place.
29. Explain about a past client who would give me a negative review of you?
Even the best salespeople have bad experiences with clients. What you're looking for in the answer is how they responded to the negative experience. What could they have done differently? What did they learn?
If they describe a situation in which it was everything was the client's fault, that could be a red flag. It may show that they can't take accountability for their actions.
30. What is “Outbound” Prospecting/Cold Calling 2.0?
Commonly called Sales Development Reps or New Business Development Reps, this function prospects into lists of target accounts to develop new sales opportunities from cold or inactive accounts. This is a team dedicated to proactive business development.Highly efficient Outbound reps and teams do NOT close deals, but create & qualify new sales opportunities and then pass them to Account Executives to close.
31. Please explain your life story in 90 seconds?
As Mark Twain once said, "I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead." Brevity is a talent, and it's one that prospects appreciate. This question reveals the candidate's ability to hit the critical points of a story in a short amount of time.
32. Explain me what issues can rise from paying per appointment?
Here are a list of problems which are associated with paying per appointment :
1. Poor quality.
2. Rate of conversion is low.
3. Requirements for more meetings is not solved.
4. High competition.
5. Suppliers face a lot of problems.
6. Quality is deteriorated by quantity.
33. Explain me what is deceptive telemarketing and how can it be avoided?
Telemarketing is termed deceptive when misleading information of product is conveyed to attract customers. Deceptive telemarketing can be avoided by taking the following measures :
1. No telemarketer should represent a product with false or misleading information.
2. Lottery, chance and skill based offers should not be offered where :
★ Delivery of prize is conditional and is not conveyed at beginning.
★ Information about the prize is incorrect.
3. Offering products at no cost or less price when based on terms and conditions not specified before purchase should not be carried out.
4. Selling products at a very high rate.
34. Explain what is Lead Generation?
Imagine walking into your office on Monday morning and finding ten hot leads flowing into your inbox. What a way to start business on a Monday, huh? Lead Generation is not a new form of gaining new business, but it now has a new approach. Rather than sitting at a trade show table for hours on end, or sitting up a display in hopes that targeted consumers will complete a form, you can have leads generated and sent to you using the technology of the Internet.
35. Basic Lead Generator Job Interview Questions:
☛ What is the best way to sell a product?
☛ What is done in business-to-business telemarketing?
☛ How can you increase the customers to buy your products more?
☛ What is the difference between direct mail and cold calling?
☛ Why is it necessary to send announcements to the customers before calling them?
☛ How can you define a good prospect?
☛ Where can a list of good prospects be generated from?
☛ What are the sources through which communication can be done?
☛ What is the appropriate information required before contacting the customers?
☛ What are the sources of motivation in this field?
☛ What are the ways in which one can keep focus in telemarketing?
☛ What are the precautions that have to be taken when being a representative?
☛ What are the questions that have to be asked prior to dealing with them?
☛ What are the strategies adopted to call the customers?
☛ How essential is to call the customer after explaining about your product?
☛ What do you understand by do not call registry?
☛ What are the different methods through which a user can register for do not call registry?
☛ How to check the status of it?
☛ What does the term “Robocalling” implies?
☛ What are the different methods to file a complaint on receiving the call from telemarketing people after being listed on do not call registry?
☛ What does FCC mean? How does it help in handling the complaints done by user?
☛ What are the rules and regulations made by which telemarketers are limited to use the services?
☛ What are the laws that are present regarding recorded messages calls?
☛ What are the different methods to monitor the telemarketing?
☛ What will be the output of telemarketing in terms of the company's gains?
