1. Explain why did you opt for sales as a career?
When you are asked this question by the interviewer, explain the skills that you posses. Also, mention your requirements. Given below are a few skills and requirements:
Skills - good communication, interest in traveling, art of persuasion
Requirements - salary based on performance, etc.
Understanding your skills and requirements in a better way will help you answer this question.
2. Tell me what is your method to follow up the expected sale of a lot?
A person in the sales department should continuously follow up the expected sales keeping frequent contact with the customers, discussing the current status of the sales with them. Feedback is an important aspect of sales. Do take feedback from the customers.
3. Tell me how do you rate your expertise in retail field?
Retail selling means to sell goods and products to the consumers through different channels of distribution. You should have some knowledge about your own performance. For example, on the scale of 0 - 10
☛ 0 to 3 = poor
☛ 3 to 5 =average
☛ 5 to 8 = good
☛ 8 to 10 = outstanding
4. Explain how will you motivate your team to achieve targets in a tight deadline?
What will you do if some of your subordinates are not performing up to your expectations?You should tell the interviewer about how you will plan your schedule. Describe your priorities in detail. You should motivate your team to achieve the target in time. Make your team feel comfortable to work with you. They should have the freedom to approach you any time regarding any doubts that they may face. Try to maintain friendly relations with your team members. Appreciate them whenever possible. Do not underestimate the confidence of your team members.
You may face situations where your subordinates may not perform up to your expectations. In such situations, instead of criticizing them, try to motivate them to do better. Help them with their queries, explain to them the consequences of not putting up a good job.
5. Explain how will you motivate your subordinates to raise their performance graph?
These kind of questions will test your leadership skills. As a team leader, you have certain responsibilities towards your team. You need to assist your subordinates and help them whenever required. Give them proper training in areas where they lack knowledge. Give them certain challenges as tests. Feedback is an important component and will help them improve the next time.
Their hard work can prove beneficial to you and your team. If your subordinates give good output, it will be a proof of your good leadership qualities. The company is always dependent upon its employees.
6. Tell me what would you do if a customer refuses to fix a meeting with you?
Usually, meetings are very lengthy. Meetings should not be wastage of money or time. You should handle the situation with utmost care when a customer does not agree to fix a meeting with you. Customers may have many reasons for not fixing a meeting. For example, they may be busy. In such cases, give them an opportunity to decide a time and place for the meeting. Convince the customer about the benefits of a meeting. Make the customers understand that the meeting will be purely one-to-one without any barriers. It will prove beneficial for the customers.
7. Tell me what do you like the most about the inside sales job?
There are certain interesting things about an inside sales job. You may like it for the
☛ direct and timely feedback
☛ casual environment
☛ less amount of traveling
☛ increased team work
8. Tell me are you trustworthy?
Yah! because I am strength is good.
9. Explain me what do you like and dislike about the sales process?
This question is asked to explore the candidate's self-awareness and motivation. Know your strengths in the sales process as these will translate into what you like. Your "likes" and strengths should correspond to the main priorities of this sales position.
For example, if your strength is negotiating, describe how you enjoy this aspect of sales and your satisfaction at coming up with win-win solutions. Highlight how this has resulted in both satisfied customers and increased sales which is what this position is looking for.
When responding to the "dislikes" go carefully! The best approach is to choose a characteristic of your present or previous company such as its poor delivery on the sales you made or its lack of flexibility when it came to negotiating sales solutions. Answer in a positive manner as someone who is able to take these sort of problems in their stride and constructively improve on them.
For example if the delivery of company products was slow and resulted in angry customers, discuss how you instituted a follow-up process that accelerated delivery.
10. Tell me an overview of your career to date?
A career retrospective highlights your ability to communicate in addition to bearing testament to the logic and rationale of your career choices. Start with your first professional job (note: not your very first job ever) and talk briefly about what you learned from each successive role. Don't forget to touch on what attracted you to each new opportunity, culminating in the one you are currently interviewing for. Frame each job change in terms of striving for something greater, not in terms of running away from a crummy manager or company.
A business or an activity that involves selling of goods and services is known as sales. Sales is the final stage in marketing and it involves 4 Ps (place, product, price and promotion).
You are the one who increases the number of customers by convincing and persuading them to buy a product or service. Mention your skills because the interviewer might be eager to know them. Also, rate your skills which are required in the field of sales.
12. Explain and share one incident where the sales job would be a learning experience for you?
Sales job involves a lot of work. It would also prove to be a great learning experience for you.
For example, if you are a fresher, you will be able to learn a lot of selling techniques from your team leaders and seniors. There are a lot of sales techniques that are emerging in the industry. You need to interact with different customers each day. Working in the sales department will give you some knowledge of how to deal with different customers.
13. Tell me do you think that you have the potential to sell products which others are unable to?
Selling involves different techniques. Each person may apply his/her own techniques to sell a product. Every sales person should possess an ability to sell the product quickly. Having strong communication skills will make it easy to convince a customer and sell the product. At times, others may fail to persuade a customer. Try to prove yourself as the best in such situations.
14. Explain what aspects are important in sales?
There are certain important aspects of sales:
☛ Trust is an important feature. There should be a good rapport between the customers and the sales person.
☛ You should have a complete understanding of any situation and should know the mood of the customer while dealing with them.
☛ To launch a product successfully, it should be promoted well.
☛ Shipping of the products should be handled with care.
15. Explain how will you make a call to a potential customer to sell your products?
Interest of the customer to buy a product is of crucial importance in the sales process. Be professional to the customers. Follow the AIDA model (attention, interest, desire, and action).
Make a call to the customer and convey your message in a gentle way. Explain to them about the features of the product in detail. Arrange an appointment with the customer wherein you can have a face-to-face interaction. Ask them to spend some time to see the demonstration of the product.
16. Tell me how would you compare your products' technology with that of your competitor's?
Your products should have something different or some extra feature to survive in the market. Your product should stand out from the competitors' products.
Technology is booming rapidly across the globe. Every organization tries to bring in some new technology to survive in the market. Product positioning is an important concept which will help you compare your products' technology with that of your competitors.
You should know your target audience, target market and the competitors.
17. Suppose you met a celebrity customer, what will your reaction be?
Suppose you met a celebrity during your outside sales process and you approached him/her. Give the details of your interaction with him/her i.e. how you introduced yourself, your organization and the product to the customer. Narrate the experience in a detailed manner.
All customers should be considered equal. There should not be any sort of bias while handling a customer. If a celebrity comes to purchase your product, remember, he too is a customer of yours.
18. Do you know what are key tasks for a Product Promoter?
To give or deliver full brief knowledge about the products to customers.Make customers know why should they purchase the products and how essential the product is to them.
19. Tell me what do you know about our company and our products?
This demonstrates your level of preparation and level of interest. Start by reading the organization's website and the Wikipedia entry if applicable, then search the company name on Google to read what others are saying about them. Concisely summarize what you learned about the organization's solutions, who they serve, who they compete with, and what industry analysts, employees, and other interested parties say about them. Finally, repeat these steps with the company's top three competitors.
20. Tell us how will you introduce yourself to the customer?
Customers are the backbone of an organization. As a sales person, you should know how to handle their queries in a proper way.
While introducing yourself to the customer, also introduce your company. For example, "My name is Hussain. I am working with GlobalGuideline Info. We are an online magazine and we help create awareness about various career options for our site visitors."
Be gentle and try to pay attention to the needs of the customer rather than focusing on your skills.
A fixed salary does not vary from month to month, whereas, a salary based on incentives may vary as it depends on the performance of an employee.
Salary based on incentives is the best in the sales industry rather than a fixed one. It motivates the employees to achieve their goals. The technique of convincing and persuading a customer varies from one sales person to another. So, the salary is paid according to the performance of an employee.
22. Tell us how do you evaluate your performance and per day outcome in daily routine?
At some point, you need to assess your own work and decide whether it is good or not. There are certain ways through which you can evaluate your performance and per day outcome.
Attitude is an important aspect. Apart from doing your job in time, leaving office, spending time talking to your friends instead of working can have a negative impact on your work.
Keep the copies of your work in order to assess your own performance.
Try to get feedback from others about your work. It will help you judge yourself and improve, if required.
☛ Do not panic in such situations. Spend more time in convincing them. Do not quit.
☛ Give a clear description, the details and benefits of the product to the customer.
☛ Explain to the customers again about the terms and conditions.
☛ Try to make them understand about your situation too.
☛ If possible, try to give them some extra offer.
Once the customer gets convinced to accept the delivery, ask them to pay the full amount. Do not give in to any sort of bargaining. It will be a great loss for your organization. Try to make them understand about the problems that you would face. Convince your customer by promising them a discount on their next purchase.
24. Explain me how would you prefer to do outside sales, in a team or alone?
If you are a fresher, you should prefer to do outside sales as a team. It will make you understand how the process is carried forward. You have to be careful while dealing with the customers. Once you gain some experience, you can start doing it alone.
Yes, it is true that the word "target" is important for an employee from the sales or marketing department. Sales is all about meeting new targets each day. The more products you sell, the more benefits you gain.
In departments like sales and marketing, the salaries are mostly based on incentives. Thus, it is important for you to achieve your targets in time.
