Sales interview questions and answers

1. Sales interview Questions
and Answers

2. 1. Have you consistently met your sales goals and what are your practices to maintain your good standing
as sales personnel?
Tips: This question must be answered concisely straight forward. State how often you meet your sales goals
per day, month, quarterly or annually and how you were able to hit your target sales.
Answer Skills: I mostly hit my sales during the last quarter of each year and I have exceeded my sales target
for the first quarter of this year. It is unbelievably incredible. I always think of positive things and setting the
goals so high was my method to keep myself motivated.
2. What do you least like about being in sales industry and how do you divert this to a positive outlook?
Tips: This question will be a make or break for you if you are applying for a sales position. Selling is a
challenging career, and there are really times where your prospective customers would say no even if you
just started your pre-selling speech. Avoid saying you feel frustrated when you are selling and no one is
buying and you feel like giving up or else your interviewer might say you should change your career and look
for a different type of job. You can say your difficulties but you need to state your moving forward statement
and you are more challenged when you are being turned down by the customer.
Answer sample: I had several customers who aren't really interested in purchasing at the moment. I even
want to do hard selling however I realized that's not a good way to conduct business and company's
reputation can become damaged by the hard selling practice. What I do is I would tell my customers to
contact me in case they would change their mind and I will be glad to help them find the products they
need, and then I move forward and look for other prospective buyers with a positive attitude. Frustration
will not help me to survive in this business.

3. 3. What is it in sales position that interests you the most and makes you stay in this type of
industry?
Tips: You have to share your expertise with the interviewer and show you are enthusiastic to get the
job. This would measure your ability as a sales person and if you are the right candidate for the job.
Answer sample: I have been in the sales industry for five years. I enjoy dealing with different people
and convincing them to buy my products. I would welcome any opportunity to utilize my knowledge
and experience selling your superior products.
4. Which is more important, the quality of the product you are selling or the excellent customer
service you can give to your customer?
Tips:Your response to this question should state how competent you are as a sales person and as a
front liner of the company.
Answer sample: Both should work hand in hand. No matter how good your product is but customer
service is poor, customers won't trust any company at all and would find competitor that could give
good quality and excellent customer service. Same goes as if customer service is good but the product
quality is bad, customer would definitely purchase somewhere else.

4. Avoid surprises — interviews need preparation. Some questions come up time
and time again — usually about you, your experience and the job itself. We've
gathered together the most common questions so you can get your preparation
off to a flying start.
You also find all interview questions at link at the end of this post.
Download Ebook: Ultimate Guide To Job Interview Questions
Answers:
6. Sell me this car charger, convince me and make me buy it.
Tips: The interviewer is testing your skills if what you are saying about your selling competencies all through
out of the interview is true. You have to convince the interviewer to buy the pen or at least make him
interested to buy it. Whether you were able to make him buy it or not, he will still measure your ability on
how you were able to deliver your sales speech and if you really have a potential as a sales person.
Answer sample: Hi Mr. _____, I recommend for you to have Premium Micro USB Car Charger that provides a
rapid charge to your phone’s battery in as little as 2 hours. This charger is for only $9.99. This will be a hassle
free where in you can have your phone on anywhere, anytime of the day. You will never miss any important
calls or messages. Let’s have this amazing accessory to go to your smartphone. What type of credit card are
you going to use?

5. 7. What are the steps do you follow to sell an item to a customer?
Tips: What are the things that you do to sell a product to your customers? Enumerate them and explain how
these steps can close a sale. Answer confidently and show you're enthusiast to share your skills.
Answer sample: A good salesperson loves sales, motivated by what they're selling, explain the products
completely and transfers this enthusiasm and belief to the customer. I also make sure I am knowledgeable
about the product I am selling so I could present it properly to a prospective buyer, and lastly I would probe
to know the needs of my customers so I could highlight all the features and benefits of the product and
relate those to their needs.
8. Can you tell me how you became proficient in selling and how were you able to improve yourself as
time goes by?
Tips: This is to check your ability to learn, willingness to enhance your selling skills and your initiative to grow
more as a sales person.
Answer sample: What I do is I still continue in learning selling strategies over the years of being in the sales
industry. I keep on searching and trying new ways on how to improve my selling skills and enhance my ability
to do sales talk without being sound like "just selling" but I am helping customers on their needs

6. 9. Tell me about one of the most time-consuming sales you have had and what have you done to get that
sale.
Tips: This question will test your patience as a sales person. Strong sense of purpose, dedication and the
ability to maintain a high energy level are important contributors to sales success. Provide the time when
you had a deal with a difficult customer and it took time for you to close the sale and state the outcome of
the said deal.
Answer: I had a customer who was very busy because his schedule was fully booked for a month and he was
a good prospect since they are constructing a new building and they needed a bulk order of fire
extinguishers for 50 floors. I had to adjust my time, schedule and patience to match my schedule to his
availability so we could discuss the project over lunch and over the weekends to convince him. After a few
meetings and adjustments I was able to close the deal and they became our regular business partner.
10. Tell me about an important negotiation that almost failed, what went wrong and how were you able
to transition it to sale?
Tips: A core sales competency is the ability to reach agreement through successful negotiation. Describe
your ability to explore the needs and concerns of the customer, to determine areas of agreement and
disagreement, to work out alternatives and solutions to reach a workable agreement for both parties.
Answer sample: I had a customer where he was interested in having home broadband but he declined it
when he heard the price of it. I was about to leave but I asked him if they have relatives abroad and how
often they call them. He said their son is working abroad and they are getting overages for international
calling that's why additional bill won't help them. I got the sign of need and advised the customer that they
could save a lot if they have broadband at home by using VOIP, explained the features and benefit s. The
customer was convinced and I was able to close the sale.