Sales interview questions and answers 💬

Why are you interested in sales/why do you want this job?

One of the most popular sales specialist interview questions, and one an employer may start out the interview with, is asking why you are interested in sales and what motivates you about this position.

By asking this question, an employer wants to know that you’re interested in the role for the right reasons and that you’re passionate about the industry.

Prepare for this question by asking yourself what really drives you about sales, is it the rewarding feeling of hitting targets, building relationships with clients or the thrill of securing a deal?

Whatever your reasons, make sure they are relevant to the sales role you are applying to, as this will impress an employer and show you’re genuinely interested in a career in sales.

Whilst you may be cautious about including the financial benefits in your answer, when it comes to sales jobs it’s beneficial to include it, as you’ll be showing an employer you’re motivated by money and will work extra hard to close deals and meet targets.

Another useful point to mention in your answer to this question is stating that you want to learn more about the sales industry and develop new skills in this role.

If you have gaps in your CV and skills an employer may require that you currently don’t have, mention that you’re hoping to learn and develop your skillset, this shows an employer you’re enthusiastic and have a willingness to learn.

Visit our blog post for more tips on how to answer the ‘what motivates you at work?’ interview question.

What are your biggest strengths and weaknesses?

This question is one of the most common sales interview questions for freshers and it’s useful for employers for several reasons, they want to find out how you deal with difficult questions, to test your composure and communication abilities and see how you sell yourself – all essential for graduate sales roles.

In your answer, you want to make sure you’re highlighting your biggest strengths that are relevant to sales roles and when listing weaknesses turn them into positives.

With all entry level sales interview questions, make sure you’re supporting your statements with evidence, whether that’s a previous experience or a skill you developed through university, etc.

Your answer to this question is your chance to sell yourself to an employer, you want to show that you can confidently get points across and engage an employer.

Employers will be judging here if they think you can successfully sell their service or product to clients, so it’s essential to nail this question.

• Sales strength examples

Some of the best strengths to highlight are communication and interpersonal skills.

With sales roles whether it’s business development, recruitment, or door-to-door sales, you’ll constantly be talking to a variety of different people, so it’s essential to show you’re a confident and effective communicator.

Problem-solving abilities are essential with sales roles, you may face difficult situations such as demanding clients, and tricky deadlines.

You want to show an employer that one of your biggest strengths is your ability to cope well under pressure and think logically to take the best course of action.

Showing you can instil trust in people is another great strength to highlight when answering this question. With sales roles, you need to create great relationships with clients and present yourself as a trustworthy individual to successfully sell the company’s product or service.

Show an employer how you’ve previously built great relationships in the past, whether it’s from working in hospitality and having loyal customers or you held a leadership position requiring others to trust you.

1. Competitiveness
2. Multitasking ability
3. Listening skills
4. Good customer service
5. Independence and initiative
6. Balance of assertiveness and patience
7. Ambition and drive
8. Empathy and honesty
9. Confident and personable
10. Networking skills
11. Enthusiastic and passionate
12. Resilient and adaptable
13. Fast-learner
14. Communications skills
15. Organised and thorough
16. Bold and inquisitive
17. Optimistic and persistent
18. Motivated and committed
19. Helpful and courteous
20. Problem-solving
21. Trustworthy

 

• Sales weaknesses examples

Speaking about your weaknesses is one of the hardest interview questions to answer, so preparation is key.

You want to choose your weaknesses carefully and make sure you don’t list a fundamental skill to the role.

Make sure you look thoroughly over the job description to look out for the essential skills, check out our blog post for tips on how to decrypt the job description.

Some good sales weaknesses examples to highlight, are skills that you can turn into a positive.

For example, perhaps you have a tendency to take on too much responsibility, resulting in stress, this shows you’re ambitious and don’t shy away from tasks, but you struggle saying no to things.

Or you try to please too many people, which shows you like to complete tasks required from you and keep people happy, but you do too much work outside your job description, which can leave you exhausted.

It’s also beneficial in your answer to tell an employer that you want to use their role as an opportunity to work on these weaknesses. This shows that you’re actively looking to develop your weaknesses and that you’re continually looking to self-improve.

For more tips and examples for how to answer ‘what are your greatest strengths and weaknesses check out our blog post.

Sales behavioural interview questions

A form of sales interview questions an employer will most likely ask, are sales behavioural interview questions. These are questions that require you to think about your past experiences and provide specific examples of when you have previously demonstrated the required behaviour an employer is looking for.

The STAR technique is a great way to help you structure your answers to both behavioural and competency-based interview questions.

With each of these types of questions, you want to make sure you’re outlining the situation you were in, the task at hand, the action you took and the result that came from your actions.

Here are some example sales behavioural interview questions to prepare for, with some of the best skills to highlight in your answers:

• Tell me about a time you worked hard for a sale but didn’t get it in the end, how did you handle the situation?

Key to success in sales is having the ability to handle and move on from a rejection and continue to work towards your goals.

In your answer give examples of where one of your sales was rejected, and then follow this up by telling an employer how you acted after, perhaps you made sure you still maintained a great relationship with the customer or made notes on how you could improve for next time.

How you acted after the rejection is really what the employer is interested in with this question.

• Describe a recent situation where you negotiated terms with a tough customer

A core competency in sales is the ability to reach an agreement through successful negation, by asking this question an employer wants to see the approach you’d take to negating difficult situations.

Some good points to mention in your answer are that you first explored the needs of the client/customer, worked alongside them putting these needs first and used your persuasive skills and determination to reach a workable agreement for both parties, despite challenges.

It’s also great to include in your answer if you enjoy challenges and settling harder deals, as this shows an employer you have a genuine interest and enjoyment working in sales.

Competency-based sales questions

An interviewer may also ask competency-based sales questions, these are questions employers ask to see if you have the right attributes, knowledge and behaviours that will lead you to be successful in their role.

Here are some example competency-based questions sales interviewers may ask, so you can prepare and include the key skills you want to highlight in your answers:

• What makes a good salesperson?

When answering this question, it’s important to highlight the key industry skills that are essential to working in sales and the required skills an employer has outlined in the job description.

Whilst to work in sales you’ll need organisational and written skills, these however are common skills required for most graduate jobs and not specifically related to sales roles.

Instead, comment on some of the more relevant sales skills such as communication skills, negotiation and problem-solving abilities.

• How do you measure your own performance?

Here, an employer wants to gain insight into how you work independently and keep yourself on track to reach goals.

Have a think about any techniques you’ve used in the past that have helped you achieve goals, was it asking for feedback from others, establishing mini goals or regularly checking you’re on track by reviewing data and statistics.

Sales is heavily performance and target-based, so make sure to include a couple of strategies you’ve used in the past that have worked for you and mention if you hit any impressive goals to an employer.

• How have you handled criticism from one of your team members?

When answering this question, you want to show the employer that you can easily handle difficult situations.

In your answer it’s useful to mention that criticism is an inevitable part of working in sales as it is one of the most challenging and fast-paced graduate industries, this will show an employer you have an awareness and knowledge of the industry.

A great way to answer this question is to turn it into a positive situation, mention that it’s important to not take criticism personally, to listen to what colleagues have to say as criticism is helpful to learn from and develop.