4 Tried and True Behavioral Interview Questions for Salespersons

A lot of my consulting work is centered around coaching Sales Managers for performance improvement or helping them navigate global sales channels.  One of the principal decisions made by a Sales Manager are hiring decisions.  Many Sales Managers do a great job of assessing product or technical skills, however it is also necessary to gauge a salesperson’s soft skills in several areas: preparedness, motivation, assertiveness and patience.  Some Sales Managers struggle in assessing these softer skills and rely on canned non behavioral questions.

There are four Interview “soft” Questions I always ask Salesperson candidates.  I am usually not the final decision maker but can provide information about the candidates’ soft skills during the interview and their sales process.  I use a mix of behavioral questions to determine if they can tell a story (customers like stories) and demonstrate maturity.  I will also want them to keep their replies short, concise, and on point (like a customer interaction).
 

1. What motivated you to apply for this position?  Yes, it is a simple question, but it will tell you how the person prepared for the interview.
   1. Are they going ahead and moving up a career track or are they escaping something from their past?
   2. Have they read about the company and the position-are they prepared for the interview?
      1. Do they have the experience to excel in the role?
      2. Do they understand the responsibilities of the role?
   3. What motivates them towards change?
2. Tell me about a time when a prospect was hesitant to share budgetary questions regarding the project you were working on?  How did you keep the sales process moving?
   1. All salespersons run into this dilemma.  Salespersons usually had yet to build trust with the prospect and needed to overcome this obstacle. What tools do they use?
   2. I look for someone that is assertive in handling this objection.  Is the salesperson able to obtain this necessary information and build a successful proposal?
3. Tell me about a time when there was a pause or a delay in the sales process-how did you stay in touch with the prospect and keep the sales process moving forward?
   1. All sales projects encounter delays usually due to the prospects multiple juggling priorities.  How did they maintain communications, keep fostering collaboration and retain a positive attitude?
   2. Does the salesperson understand the length of the sales cycle and the buying process at the account?  Ensure that they are in sync with the length of the cycle.  Can they defer their own personal sales gratification for a customer win?  Will they build a long term relationship?
4. Tell me about someone in your past organizations that was a leader and the personal characteristics that led you to admire them.
   1. This question tells you more about the type of person that the candidate respects?  Does this behavior match the culture you are building?
   2. It also tells you how this person is motivated.  Understanding individuals’ motivation is important so that they will successfully graduate through the onboarding, probationary and indoctrination process.  Longer term will they get to break even and be a good investment for your organization.  Can I keep the person at the company five years?  That has been my acceptable BEP.

Everyone has their favorite interview questions and I prepare my questions based on the position requirements, my role in the interview process and the candidates background.  Once I have completed my portion of the interview, I complete a one page assessment of the candidates competency profile and provide a go/no go decision replete with any follow up items that the hiring manager may want to consider.
 
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Good Selling!