Hiring sales professionals is one of the most important jobs a sales leader has. But with a million other things on your to-do list, the long, drawn-out interview process can feel like a hassle.
We’ve gone ahead and made your life easier with this list of sales interview questions. The list is broken down into three sections to get to the nitty-gritty of the motivators, skills, and behaviors that are most important to the sales position you’re looking to fill.
Use these sales interview questions to hire and retain sellers who are the best fit for your organization.
Sales Interview Questions to Reveal Motivation
Everyone has a unique set of motivators that gets them out of bed in the morning and drives them to perform throughout the day. When you’re trying to fill an open sales position, it’s important to find someone who is highly motivated by the ability to control their income level.
The more your organization incentivizes sellers with commission, the more driven a person will need to be in this area.
Ask these questions to find out how motivated your sales candidate is. Use these to uncover red flags that indicate their drive is not as high as they think.
- What are your longer-term career aspirations?
- How was your compensation structured in the past?
- If you were to place a ratio on salary vs. commission, what would that ratio look like?
- In an ideal world, how would your compensation be structured?
- How have you achieved year-over-year account growth?
- How have you developed new business in your territory?
Sales Interview Questions to Assess Selling Skills
You can train candidates on selling skills, but ideally you want to bring people onto your team who are proficient in basic sales competencies. Use the interview process and a selling skills assessment to gauge how well a candidate understands the strategies to move a prospect through each stage of the sales process.
You may have hired someone who looks great on paper, only to be disappointed by their performance once they’ve joined the team. Using a job benchmark takes the guesswork out of hiring by identifying exactly what a position needs for success and then comparing your candidates to that ideal profile.
It’s important to keep in mind that not all selling skills translate easily from one industry or selling environment to another. Your first step should be to understand which skills are most important for the job you’re trying to fill. Then, tailor your interview questions to drill down on those areas.
Ask these questions to find out, “Can this person sell?”
- Walk me through your sales process of choice.
- How would you start working a territory from scratch?
- Tell me how you develop a prospecting plan.
- How do you determine if a prospect is qualified?
- Where specifically do you need to grow your sales skill set?
- How do you handle a prospect who insists on a discount?
Sales Interview Questions to Uncover Behavior Style
You can gain a lot of insight into how well a candidate will perform in your unique sales environment by understanding their behavior style. When a person’s attitudes, beliefs, and communication style are matched to the work they do every day, they’re naturally more likely to thrive.
For this interviewing technique to be effective, everyone involved in the selection process needs to come to a consensus on exactly what the sales role requires for success. Then, ask questions to determine if the candidate will align well with the culture, team, and position.
To find someone who is a good fit and who will perform well (and stick around), you need to be objective. A good way to overcome biases and select the best-matched candidate is to assess your finalists with a sales assessment tool such as the Brooks Talent Index™.
This comprehensive evaluation combines multiple peer-reviewed, validated tools to measure a candidate’s ability to sell, interpersonal skills, resilience, and goal orientation. Using the Brooks Talent Index assessment can dramatically shorten the hiring process and enable your company to hire top performers quickly.
Ask these behavioral interview questions to uncover personal style and soft skills.
- What’s more important: being decisive or paying attention to detail?
- How would you approach a new task you’ve been assigned without being given much direction?
- On a daily or weekly basis, how much time do you normally spend planning?
- Give me an example of a project you were responsible for organizing from beginning to end.
- Describe a time you lost a longer-term customer. What happened? How did you handle it?
- Have you ever had a losing streak? How did you turn it around?
- Describe a time when you received negative feedback from your manager.
Streamline Your Selection Process
Using consistent interview questions and assessments can help streamline your selection process and take emotion out of the hiring decision. Take thorough notes during each interview so your selection team can narrow your candidate list to the top few finalists.
Remember: It’s easy to be charmed during the interview process, but don’t base your hiring decision on how well you got along with a candidate. Knowing what good looks like and focusing on role-specific profiles and team fit give you the confidence you’re choosing the best candidates.
Hiring the right sales professionals is one of the most important decisions a sales leader makes. Prioritize the hiring process accordingly and your extra effort will pay off in the long run. Find out how The Brooks Talent Index and other sales assessments can improve your sales hiring strategy and help you select the most qualified candidate.
