How to Ace a Sales Interview: Your Guide to Popular Employer Questions

The interview is the make or break part of the job process. It is your time to shine. And for no other profession is it more vital than in sales. After all, if you can’t sell yourself during an interview, why would your future employer think that you could make a sale for them.

Although there is lots of good information available about preparing for a job interview, sales jobs are a different beast and require different interview preparation. Your potential employer is bound to ask many pointed questions about your sales experience. In addition, chances are you will be subject to ‘behavioral questions’ that will test how you react in a sales situation.


Common Sales Interview Questions

Start your interview preparation by being ready to answer some of the more common, generic interview questions. The ones that want to know about your strengths and your weaknesses as well as why you think you would be an excellent sales rep for ABC Company.

Then move on to the specific knowledge based questions that are likely to come up during the conversation. For these questions, the employer is looking for cold, hard facts. They want to see that you have a proven track record of success. It isn’t so much about having the right answer as much as it is about having a response that you can give quickly and confidently.

• Some common sales interview questions include:



• What is your sales history?



• How often do you meet your quotas?



• Where do you find prospective customers?



• How many first appointments do you have in a typical week?



• What open-ended questions do you use during an initial call?



• Do you cold-call?



• How many rejections do you get in a typical week?

Behavioral Interview Questions

In addition to the common interview questions, be prepared for a behavioral question or two. These are open-ended inquiries that will test how you work as a sales representative. The interviewer is not only looking to see if your sales process is sound, they are also interested in if your style meshes with the company.

Behavioral questions usually start with the dreaded, “Tell me about…” Then you might be asked to describe a sales situation, a time you received a string of rejections or how you would act in a specific scenario. Be ready for a few follow-up questions about how you felt, what you learned and how you have worked to replicate—or avoid—a similar situation.

Before going into a sales interview, think of a few different professional stories that cover both positive and negative experiences. Remember that when you discuss a negative situation not to dwell too long on any mistakes you may have made. You want to be able to admit you are not perfect without dinging your reputation so much that an employer might wonder why they would ever want to hire you.


Think you can ace the interview? Then stop by SalesHeads where you will find the latest jobs in sales from across the nation.

Maryalene LaPonsie is an accomplished writer who has extensive experience reporting on education, career advancement and workforce development topics. She specializes in sales and marketing consultation as well as general copywriting services.