Sales Ability Interview Preparation Guide

Download PDF

To succeed in sales remember these three listening and relationship building skills:
1) Sincerity - Listen without an agenda, it's not about your needs.
2) Ethics - Don't try to talk someone into something, listen to what they want.
3) Asking - Serve others by asking questions that will assist them in making a wise buying decision.

I am comfortable making cold calls. I have found that some of my most interesting sales have been the result of a cold call, to someone who was rather unsure of their interest in my product at our first meeting.

The only time I wasn't able to meet my professional sales goals was at a company where my supervisor set the goals extremely high, and none of the salesmen in our department were able to achieve them. Setting the goals so high was his method of keeping us motivated, and unfortunately it worked to demoralize the team instead. I have always at least met my personal goals, and I work very hard to exceed them.

You might be asked to sell the interviewer an apple, a pen, a stapler or some other object. As with other hypothetical questions, there will be no right answer but the employer will be interested in the sales process that you follow, your verbal and communication skills, and your enthusiasm and creativity.

I am very detail oriented, and that helps me in sales in many ways. I make sure that I know everything there is to know about the product I'm selling, so that I can answer any questions a customer may have to their satisfaction. I also like to know my territory in and out, and I like to find out about my customers personally, so I can better serve them.

Applicant should be capable of taking a calculated risk and have the ability to learn from it.

Job seeker should have an ability to experiment and assess the results of that change.

You should have the ability to anticipate and resolve issues. The candidate should be able to organize his work into manageable steps.

Answers should show the need for a healthy, self-respecting, functional team and how vitally important cooperation is for success in modern commercial life.

Candidate should be well-versed and concise in describing his/her view of the entire structure of selling from qualifying a prospect, to handling objections, to closing.

Be well-mannered; try to explain the situation to the client, adhere to company's policies; try to remain reliable to customer.

Applicant should appear to have the skills to build a healthy, professional relationship with customers and co-workers; should be enthusiastic to build a larger customer base.

Candidate should want to put in the extra effort to provide better and more complete service to customers.

Applicant should be able to manage customer complaints without being dominated; should not be over-whelmed by a disapproving customer.

Job seeker should appear to be able to reason logically and forcibly argue for what is best for the company, should be respectful to, but not intimidated by higher management.

You want to hear answers that show that the applicant can come up with genuine ideas to handle problems; someone that can think "Out of the box".

Candidate should show that they are able to take risks in trying new solutions and ways of working; should be able to think beyond traditional thinking.; can develop innovation solutions to problems and enhance company performance.

Job seeker should be able to view the positive potential of co-workers; does not rule out the possibility that a co-worker may want more responsibility; co-workers want to learn more; job seeker should recognize that the short term training investment will pay off in the long term.

They can do it better them selves, can't trust him/her to do it, he/she is not qualified enough, they don't want anymore added responsibilities, I don't have time to show anyone how to do it, No one to delegate to, I am the only one that can do it.

Job seeker should explain he knows how to outline desired results, ask for progress reports, sets interim deadlines, and does not overly focus on the methodology

Clear instructions with decisive standards; everyone should know what needs to be done, when it should be finished, and the quality/detail needed. A job seeker should delegate the objective, not the procedure.

Employee should see delegation as an effective management skill which allows staff to use and develop their skills and knowledge to their full potential. A cynical view of this skill is a warning sign.

Candidate should be well-versed and concise in describing his/her view of the entire structure of selling from qualifying a prospect, to handling objections, to closing.

A very low rating suggests poor self-belief. Too high of a rating may suggest a level of arrogance that may be resistant to suggestions of improvement. However, if they can explain why they deserve a high rating then they may just be confident and aware of their selling skills.

Applicant should have the ability to pick out key features and benefits of a product and then ”‘sell” them effectively under pressure.