If you’ve done any interviewing I’m sure you have a few questions that you ask every candidate.  We all have our favorite questions for various reasons.  Because I have interviewed hundreds upon hundreds of salespeople over the years, I now have accumulated quite a few “favorites.”  I’ve found great questions in so many different places….Books, articles, internet, co-workers, and from salespeople themselves.

These are the questions that I have found most effective in helping uncover a candidate’s sales talents and characteristics. What you won’t see in this list are questions that are designed to catch a candidate off guard.  I’m not a big fan of that.  Actually, my experience usually is that the more relaxed candidates are with you, the more likely they are to reveal their true thoughts and show their real characteristics.  So, my interviews tend to be very conversational – not confrontational.  But you do have to be careful not to tip off the candidate as to the answer you are looking for, so watch your body language.  Or, if you are interviewing over the phone, don’t lead the candidate towards a particular answer with your responses and verbal cues.  (see my post “The Dos And Don’ts Of Interviewing).

Keep in mind this is not a comprehensive list of all the questions you need to ask when interviewing a salesperson.  And, not all of these questions may be right for your particular sales position.  These questions are geared to an experienced seller, not a rookie, and not all of them are asked on the first interview.

After I interview a candidate I go back through my notes on their answers.  This helps me evaluate whether or not I want to move forward with a candidate (either to the next round of interviews or take a sales talent assessment).  The great thing about doing this with each candidate is that over time, you are able to see what types of answers correspond with candidates who do well on the sales assessment and are high performers in the job.  Using that information, you can edit your questions accordingly and make your interviews even more effective!  So, without further ado…

My 25 Favorite Salesperson Interview Questions:

1. What do you say when the prospect says send me some information?
2. In your work, what feels like a win to you?
3. What do you like and dislike about your current sales job and why?
4. What do you do personally for your professional development?
5. Describe a situation with a client or prospect where you made a mistake. How did you handle the error?
6. What are your top three open-ended questions for initial sales calls?
7. What do you see as the key skills in closing?
8. What are some of the challenges you see that are facing this industry?
9. How do you find and target new accounts for prospecting?
10. What kind of problems do you have to solve as a salesperson?
11. Do you follow a sales system? Please describe.
12. What kind of sales environment do you thrive in? Why?
13. What do you want your next job to do for you that your last job didn’t?
14. Tell me about a buyer or customer you call on. What motivates him/her?  What are his/her personality traits and needs?  How do you sell him/her?
15. What percentage did your sales increase or decrease last quarter versus the same quarter last year and why?
16. What are your favorite closing questions?
17. What motivates you?
18. What is the toughest goal you ever set for yourself?
19. Tell me about something specific in your current job that you think you do significantly better than others in the same position. Why is that the case?
20. Which phase of the sales process do you like most?  Which one the least?  Why?
21. What concerns do you have about working under a commission pay plan?
22. Why would we be sorry if we didn’t hire you?
23. Describe the most challenging objection or rejection you’ve faced in a sale and how you responded.
24. Tell me about a time when you took a creative approach to getting a sale.
25. How important is it to you to lead others?

Check out this infographic on strange but true actual interview questions…