Here is a list of Interview questions that I use during the Focused Phone Screen and the Onsite Interview.
I will review this list before the interview and select a few questions to ask.
I also keep this list in front of me during the interview in case I forget to cover specific areas that require more investigation.
I do not ask every question or follow these in order.
- Role play with me on a prospecting call. Take me through the process from initial call to purchase.
- Role play with me on a closing call.
- What motivates you at work?
- Why are you in sales?
- Have you ever been in a quota bearing position? What do you think about a 50/50 split (salary to commission)?
- How would you feel about a carrying $500K quarterly quota?
- Why should I hire you?
- What has been your performance to quota? Is this verifiable?
- What challenges would you see in phone only sales?
- Tell me about a time you:
- failed at something
- had to take an unpopular stand
- really had to go way above and beyond
- had to show exceptional attention to detail
- dealt well with a difficult colleague/co-worker
- showed that you can work under pressure
- What do you do to handle pressure?
- Give me an example of how you creatively closed a new customer.
- What kinds of sacrifices have you made to be successful?
- Describe a typical day and week for you.
- How many cold calls do you make in an average day?
- How do you use email for prospecting? For Closing?
- Tell me about the CRM you use.
- What is your ratio of calls to pipeline to demos to closes?
- How do you close tough customers? Please walk me through some examples.
- Can you please share an example of a time when you had a challenging customer? A challenging team member? How did you approach the situation and what was the end result?
- Are you given leads or do you develop your own leads?
- How do you create leads in white space accounts?
- What tactics have you employed in the past to build your pipeline? What were the results?
- How have you kept your spirits up in the face of rejection?
- Describe some of your biggest prospecting successes.
- Why have you been successful?
- Tell me about a time when your persistence paid rewards.
- Do you follow a sales system? Please describe.
- How do you recover from making mistakes with customers? Please provide examples.
- What did you do to prepare for this interview?
I recommend every sales manager creates a list of interview questions that are specific to the role you are interviewing to fill. This could include specific sales tools, competitive knowledge, market knowledge etc.
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