Best Country Sales Exactive Interview Questions
Q – 1 How important is money to you?
Ans- This attitude simply means the rep isn’t suited for sales management. Better steer a primarily money-motivated salesperson to a new territory or another opportunity at the individual contributor level rather than promote them to management.
Q – 2 What made you want to get into sales?
Ans- Commission, while perhaps part of the motivation, is not a great response to this question.
Q – 3 How comfortable are you with data analysis?
Ans- Reps generally only care about one number: their quota. Keeping on top of pipeline and win rate is also important … as these metrics pertain to their quota. It’s all quota, all the time.
But when a rep is promoted to management, they must produce forecasts and reports that analyze a variety of metrics across the entire team.
While a sales manager doesn’t need to be a data analysis pro, they do need to have some familiarity with and inclination for crunching numbers and spotting trends. Beware of candidates that express active revulsion for data analysis.
Q – 4 What motivates you, and Why?
Ans- Money, achievement, helping customers, being
#1 — there are a lot of potential answers to this question. What makes a good answer vs. a bad one will hinge on your company culture. For instance, if teamwork is paramount within your sales team, a candidate who is driven by internal competition might not be a great fit.
Q – 5 When do you stop pursuing a client?
Ans- The right answer here will depend on your company’s process, but in general, the more tenacious and persistent a rep is willing to be, the better. Trish Bertuzzi, founder of The Bridge Group, recommends six to eight attempts before throwing in the towel.
Q – 6 Can you please explain something to me?
Ans- While this technically isn’t a question, it’s important to assess whether the candidate has a helpful demeanor.
Q – 7 Have you ever turned a prospect away? If so, why?
Ans- Selling to everyone and anyone — even if a salesperson knows it’s not in the prospect’s best interest — is a recipe for disaster. Make sure your candidate is comfortable with turning business away if the potential customer isn’t a good fit.
Q – 8 What do you think motivates reps the most?
Ans- This is a bit of a trick question, but it’s an important one. The best sales managers know that motivation is personal. While money might drive one rep to go the extra mile, another might be inspired by a development opportunity or creative contest.
The candidate who can navigate the trick and get to the right answer — in this case, “it depends on the rep” — possesses the motivational ability to lead a sales team to success.
Q – 9 How comfortable are you with technology?
Ans- Sales managers also act as CRM sheriffs, ensuring all reps are using the system properly. CRM aside, sales managers are also involved in the vetting, selection, and deployment of new sales tools. While sales manager candidates don’t need to be computer whizzes, some technological savvy is necessary.
Q – 10 What are some of your favorite questions to ask prospects?
Ans- Salespeople today should be asking questions more than making pitches. Open-ended questions that help a rep thoroughly understand a prospect’s needs are as good as gold.
Q – 11 Suppose you have to sell me this pen?
Ans- Begin the answer with “I would need to know a little more about your day to day. Would you mind if I ask you a few questions first?” And move on to questions such as “What is important to you when selecting a pen?” “What do you usually write with?”, etc.
For more seasoned sales professionals, the interviewer may skip the fun and games with the pen and jump straight to asking you how you would approach selling the company’s products or services. Do your pre-interview homework so that you’ll be able to speak intelligently about the products/services and their benefits.
Q – 12 What do you think it takes to be a good leader?
Ans- The jobs title might be “sales manager,” but that doesn’t mean leadership skills fall by the wayside. Sales managers need to be able to lead through example and inspire others to action. Although this question is last on the list, it’s probably the most important of all.
Q – 13 What’s your approach to handling customer objections?
Ans- Preparing to deal with objections instead of winging it is critical. Listen for evidence of a process.
Q – 14 Have you consistently met your sale goals?
Ans- Yes, I have always met or exceeded my sales goals over my ten-year career in the business. For example, last year I led my team to exceed our sales projections by 25% – and this was during a very difficult market when most of the other teams in our division came up short of goal.
Q – 15 Why do you want to be a Country Sales Executive?
Ans- As mentioned above, sales managers often make less money than sales reps and perform a drastically different job. Tease out the candidate’s motivations behind seeking this promotion.
Do they want to be a manager because they crave a larger role within the company as a whole, and a chance to influence strategic decisions? Or have they gotten bored with their jobs, and management seems like a step up? The latter motivation is a recipe for dissatisfaction and a disengaged sales manager.
Q – 16 How do you keep a smile on your face during a hard day?
Ans- Appraise the person’s attitude towards rejection. Do they need time to shake off an unpleasant conversation? Or do they bounce back immediately?
Q – 17 What interests you most about as Country Sales Executive?
Ans- I’ve always admired your company’s reputation for customer service and I know that’s a big part of why your clients buy from you.
I have a lot of experience selling to your key demographic and I know how to sell the overall product experience – including the customer service component. Let me tell you about a sales campaign I came up with last year that centered on the benefits of customer service
Q – 18 What do you think makes for a successful rep coaching session?
Ans- The candidate doesn’t have to give a sample agenda of what their one-on-ones would look like. However, it’s important that their conception of a coaching session includes actual coaching — not just a dry discussion of the numbers. Listen for responses that include mentions of career development, goals, skill building, and problem solving in addition to data review.
Q – 19 What are the three adjectives a former client would use to describe you?
Ans- Listen for synonyms of “helpful,” as a consultative approach is becoming increasingly important in modern sales.
Q – 20 What’s your take on collaboration within a sales team?
Ans- Collaboration might be less important at some organizations than others, but candidates who aren’t willing to collaborate at all won’t likely make pleasant coworkers, not to mention their uncooperative attitude will block knowledge sharing.
Q – 21 How do you handle rejection?
Ans- Losing a sale, or failing at landing one, is disappointing. But if you want to succeed in this business, you can’t take it personally. I work hard to learn from rejection and continuously improve my sales techniques.
Q – 22 Tell me what role does social media play in your selling process?
Ans- Social selling is becoming more important in all industries. If the candidate has not used social channels to research prospects or look for leads in the past, make sure they have a willingness to learn.
Q – 23 What training method is most effective for new reps?
Ans- It would be nice if a sales manager could do ride alongs and listen in on each and every call a new rep makes, but this model is impractical at scale. Make sure the candidate acknowledges the importance of a repeatable training process that doesn’t center around an informal passing down of knowledge.
Q – 24 Have you ever had a losing streak? How did you turn it around?
Ans- Everyone has bad spells, so beware of someone who claims they’ve never experienced a downturn. Nothing’s wrong with a temporary slump as long as the candidate learned from it.
Q – 25 What do you like and dislike about the sales process? How comfortable are you with upholding it?
Ans- Every rep has an opinion about the sales process, and some ignore it entirely. But it’s the manager’s role to uphold the sales process in the name of organizational consistency and forecasting accuracy. Ensure the candidate is comfortable with taking on the role of sales process police, and ask about their strategies for making reps adhere to the regimen.
Q – 26 What’s your least favorite part of the sales process?
Ans- If their least favorite part is the most important part at your company, that’s probably a red flag. This question can also alert you to weak areas.
Q – 27 Tell me In your last position, how much time did you spend cultivating customer relationships vs hunting for new clients, and why?
Ans- Certain companies and roles call for people better at farming or hunting, but look out for a person who performs one of these tasks to the exclusion of the other. Both are vital to selling well.
Q – 28 What made you successful as a sales rep? How will your processes inform how you manage your team?
Ans- Just as successful sales managers understand that every rep is motivated by something different, they also understand that every rep has unique strengths they use to achieve their goals. What’s the “right” way for one salesperson is not likely to be right for the entire team.
Be wary of candidates who hint that they plan to force their methods on their direct reports. Instead, look for candidates who want to identify and develop the specific talents of each team member.
Q – 29 What do you think our company sales organization could do better?
Ans- This sales interview question serves two purposes:
It shows how much research the candidate did before meeting with you, and it demonstrates their creative thinking and entrepreneurial capabilities.
Q – 30 Explain how to keep up to date on your target market?
Ans- Even if the target market of their last job is totally different than that of the one they’re interviewing for, this will show you their ability to find and keep up to date with relevant trade publications and blogs.
Q – 31 Pretend I’m a sales rep who has missed quota three months in a row and I’m here for a one-on-one. What would you say during the meeting?
Ans- Sales managers have to have uncomfortable conversations with their direct reports. Especially if the candidate is a rep on the team that they might be promoted to lead, sales directors must ensure they can maneuver tough situations and deliver bad news in a positive manner.
However, a candidate who’s overly harsh on their hypothetical stumbling rep is just as bad as one who’s too soft. Look for an innate coaching sensibility and a motivational flair.
Q – 32 Who are you most comfortable selling to and why?
Ans- Listen for whether they answer with a description of an ideal buyer, or a particular demographic with no tie-in to the buying process. Depending on your product or service, the second type of response might pose a problem.
Q – 33 What do you think it takes in terms of skills and qualifications to be a successful sales rep in this organization?
Ans- A large part of a sales manager’s job is keeping the team fully staffed with high performers. This question gives the interviewer a peek into the candidate’s stance on hiring. The skills and qualifications they deem to be important are those they’ll look for when interviewing for open positions.
Do the attributes they value line up with the company’s standards? If so, it’s a good sign. If not, this could be a red flag.
Q – 34 Tell me what is your opinion of the role of learning in sales?
Ans- Being thrown for a loop by this question is a sign that your candidate isn’t a life-long learner, which is becoming increasingly important in sales.
Q – 35 If you were hired as Country Sales Executive, what would you do in your first month?
Ans- The answer to this question doesn’t have to blow you away. However, the candidate should have some sort of action plan to get up and running. No matter how much training you provide, it’s still smart to hire a self-starter when you can.
Q – 36 Explain how to approach a short sales cycle differently than a long sales cycle?
Ans- Short cycles call for reps that can close quickly, and long sales cycles require a much more careful, tailored approach. They’re drastically different, and your candidate should recognize this.
Q – 37 Have you ever asked a prospect who didn’t buy from you to explain why you lost the deal? What did they say, and what did you learn from that experience?
Ans- Following up on deals to learn how to do better next time — win or lose — boosts the odds of winning in the future. A salesperson who takes the time to learn from both their successes and their failures will likely be a valuable addition to your team.
Q – 38 Explain what role does content play in your selling process?
Ans- Again, it’s not necessarily a deal breaker if the salesperson doesn’t actively share and engage with content on their social media accounts, but they should at least want to start doing so.
Q – 39 What is the worse, not making quota every single month or not having happy customers?
Ans- Depending on your company’s goals, either answer could be the right one. But beware of reps who will prioritize quota over truly giving customers what they need — or withholding from them what they don’t.
Q – 40 How do you research prospects before a call or meeting? What information do you look for?
Ans- Neglecting to use LinkedIn to research clients is not a viable option in today’s sales environment. Ensure that candidates are searching for personal commonalities in addition to professional information so they can tailor their communication as much as possible. Looking into company trigger events would be the cherry on top.
Q – 41 What is your ultimate career aspiration as sales executive?
Ans- Lack of growth opportunities was one of the top three reasons that would cause a salesperson to look for a new job, according to a survey from Web. If the candidate expresses a desire to pursue a career move your company can’t provide, you might be interviewing again sooner than you’d like.