Salesperson Interview Questions...

[willhunting]

We are looking to hire our first sales person. What are the best questions to ask them in the interview? What sort of percentage levels of sales commissions are expected? This is our first time interviewing a sales person so any advice would be most welcome.

 

[beasty]

The best sales people can handle curve balls, so often sales interviews are not your standard thing

i.e. come in, stay standing, see the chair, it is 99.99 imagine we are potential clients and sell us this chair

GO

If they do not panic and can do it, you have found a sales person

Easier to judge a person DOING rather than talking about doing...

 

[tony84]

What sort of percentage levels of sales commissions are expected?

Should you not have decided on this before looking to employ someone?

 

[internetspaceships]

Will if I may be so bold.

One of the best things a salesperson will do is sell you himself. I say this from bitter experience.

Get them to bring their last 6 payslips and P60 to prove their commissions and earnings record. It really works and weeds out the ********ters from the good ones.

 

[JonathanSEO]

Ask them if they are good at lying. All sales people have to be.

 

[HobbyMounts]

So many questions, what kind of sales person, telesales, B2B, B2C, retail, the list goes on. Commission depends on the salary, benefits, the product, the profit, etc.

Best questions? Again, depends on the type of sales person, telesales is far away from B2B, field sales.

There's not really a lot to go on at the moment.

 

[Tim R-T-C]

Don't forget to throw out half the CVs to weed out those with bad luck...

 

[businessfunding]

Ask them if they are good at lying. All sales people have to be.

Whilst I don't agree, the point does illustrate the question of what are you hoping to achieve?

Are you looking for someone to bring contacts? to make quick sales? to build enduring relationships?

Your salesman is the face of your business - what do you want that face to look like?

 

[Per Call Ltd]

I've interviewed hundreds of 'salespeople'. Very few deliver to expected levels because, if you think about it, they interview for a living. They're great at it.

A sales person's failings are almost always blamed on product, company, location, manager or price. Interestingly, to date, I have never ever interviewed a salesperson who puts their reason for leaving as "sacked" on their CV.

Really, if you want to get to know the real person behind the CV (no doubt, full of untruths) some nice questions to ask are...

"What was the name of your last boss?" (let them answer) "I'm a fan of other people's opinions, so if I called her/him up now, how would he/she describe you?". Pick up the phone as you ask this question.

Stare at their CV for a while and with a poker face, just ask "when did you last tell a lie?"

Almost all salespeople will tell you that they work hard. Ask them to describe what 'hard work' looks like.

If they say they work well under pressure, ask them to describe a situation when they were really under pressure. Whatever their answer, question it by asking why they let themselves get into that situation, what they did to ensure it didn't happen again and what they applied since then to stop the problem reoccurring.

I hope these help. My advice would be, every time, to get references, no matter how taken you are with the person. Speak to former employers and ask if they would employ them again. A 'no' tells you all you need to know in most instances.

 

[Lucan Unlordly]

The best sales people can handle curve balls, so often sales interviews are not your standard thing

i.e. come in, stay standing, see the chair, it is 99.99 imagine we are potential clients and sell us this chair

GO

If they do not panic and can do it, you have found a sales person

Easier to judge a person DOING rather than talking about doing...

You'd be better off putting up a hoop of fire and getting the guy or gal to jump through it if you want a Poodle.

The best salespeople soak up product knowledge and know when to use it. The best salespeople can spot an opportunity that may not be the one they called the customer about in the first place. The best salespeople are mutually respected from the minute they step into the initial interview. The best salespeople can sell AND retain the customer.

 

[Lucan Unlordly]

Will if I may be so bold.

One of the best things a salesperson will do is sell you himself. I say this from bitter experience.

Get them to bring their last 6 payslips and P60 to prove their commissions and earnings record. It really works and weeds out the ********ters from the good ones.

Salespeople with good sales records and high payslips often change jobs because they've xxxxxx up on something else.

 

[Lucan Unlordly]

I've interviewed hundreds of 'salespeople'. Very few deliver to expected levels because, if you think about it, they interview for a living. They're great at it.

A sales person's failings are almost always blamed on product, company, location, manager or price. Interestingly, to date, I have never ever interviewed a salesperson who puts their reason for leaving as "sacked" on their CV. That goes for all, not just salespeople...

Really, if you want to get to know the real person behind the CV (no doubt, full of untruths) some nice questions to ask are...

"What was the name of your last boss?" (let them answer) "I'm a fan of other people's opinions, so if I called her/him up now, how would he/she describe you?". Pick up the phone as you ask this question. 'Sexy?'

Stare at their CV for a while and with a poker face,(Like Clint Eastwood?) just ask "when did you last tell a lie?" 'When I last faced the Spanish Inquisition'

Almost all salespeople will tell you that they work hard. Ask them to describe what 'hard work' looks like. 'Do you want a hard worker or a good seller?' The best salespeople I ever managed/worked alongside were the laziest most unpunctual people you could ever meet. Frustratingly anarchic, full of humour but needed or wanted to hit targets. Not always for the money either.

If they say they work well under pressure, ask them to describe a situation when they were really under pressure. 'Office Party...Mary from accounts' Whatever their answer, question it by asking why they let themselves get into that situation, 'if you'd seen mary from accounts' what they did to ensure it didn't happen again and what they applied since then to stop the problem reoccurring. Married her...

I hope these help. My advice would be, every time, to get references, no matter how taken you are with the person. Speak to former employers and ask if they would employ them again. A 'no' tells you all you need to know in most instances.

Just interview the guy or gal for gawds sake. Find out what their interests are, talk to them. Quiz them on industry knowledge of course, ask what appealed to them about the job and put yourself in their shoes and think would I be telling the absolute truth here? Probably not...

 

[bizPageDirectory]

Hello Member,
The following questions are mentioned below.
1. Firstly introduce yourself?
2. What special qualities do you have so that our organization can hire you?
3. Can you work in pressure?
4. What are you strength and weaknesses ?
5. What special strategies will you follow to promote our product ?
6. How much salary do you expect ?
7. One practical question , suppose if you have not achieved your target, then how you will achieve your target in next month which includes current month also ?

Thus above mentioned 7 questions are very important especially in sales line.

Thanks

 

[internetspaceships]

Salespeople with good sales records and high payslips often change jobs because they've xxxxxx up on something else.

Most of the above change jobs for better career prospects and more money. Not because they've messed up.

I know this because I employ guys on packages worth over £70k per annum each. You can't suggest that these guys often have messed up and they need to move. It's simply inaccurate.

 

[Lucan Unlordly]

Most of the above change jobs for better career prospects and more money. Not because they've messed up.

I know this because I employ guys on packages worth over £70k per annum each. You can't suggest that these guys often have messed up and they need to move. It's simply inaccurate.

No, i'm talking about the £80k+ earners......

 

[toastking]

Pick up a random item in the room. Say a coaster.

The rules of the game are that it is not a coaster.

They have 30 seconds to come up with Feature, Advantage, Benefit for this item based on an alternate use for that coaster.

When starting out I did this very exercise and if you cannot do all three (as most don't bother with the benefit) then you need to try harder.

Feature - its flat
Advantage - it can fly like a frisbee
Benefit - more space in your picnic bag as you no longer need a frisbee

All sounds a bit daft but it throws a curve ball, sees if they are willing and able to think on their feet and gives them insight into the fact that nobody buys anything unless they can see all three of the above. If you're not telling the customer about all three, your competitors probably are and can easily win sales on an inferior product/solution.

 

[JonathanSEO]

Pick up a random item in the room. Say a coaster.

The rules of the game are that it is not a coaster.

They have 30 seconds to come up with Feature, Advantage, Benefit for this item based on an alternate use for that coaster.

When starting out I did this very exercise and if you cannot do all three (as most don't bother with the benefit) then you need to try harder.

Feature - its flat
Advantage - it can fly like a frisbee
Benefit - more space in your picnic bag as you no longer need a frisbee

All sounds a bit daft but it throws a curve ball, sees if they are willing and able to think on their feet and gives them insight into the fact that nobody buys anything unless they can see all three of the above. If you're not telling the customer about all three, your competitors probably are and can easily win sales on an inferior product/solution.

Won't this just prove they are good at talking rubbish like most sales people are?

I can never take dedicated sales people seriously, one minute they're working for Company A who do the best products on the market and then the next they're at company B who are a competitor but its in fact them who do the best products. So which one was it?

 

[businessfunding]

Pick up a random item in the room. Say a coaster.

The rules of the game are that it is not a coaster.

They have 30 seconds to come up with Feature, Advantage, Benefit for this item based on an alternate use for that coaster.

When starting out I did this very exercise and if you cannot do all three (as most don't bother with the benefit) then you need to try harder.

Feature - its flat
Advantage - it can fly like a frisbee
Benefit - more space in your picnic bag as you no longer need a frisbee

All sounds a bit daft but it throws a curve ball, sees if they are willing and able to think on their feet and gives them insight into the fact that nobody buys anything unless they can see all three of the above. If you're not telling the customer about all three, your competitors probably are and can easily win sales on an inferior product/solution.

Except there is no benefit until the prospect has expressed a need..

Some dreadful salesman cliches on this thread...

 

[Lucan Unlordly]

Here's an example of good salesmanship and bad salesmanship.

Took the missus to an electrical retailer looking for new hob, cooker etc., for new kitchen. We identified a brand we liked and a salesman asked what sort of use we would put said items to, i.e. daily family use, dinner functions for more people, whether we were keen cooks and what sort of budget we had, low middle, top end. From that information we were well advised as he recognised that we didn't need a double oven, but that a combi microwave would be of great benefit, that we wanted a clean look, whereby an induction hob was reccomended. That we wanted a quiet cooker hood and were led to a premium brand hidden behind an unknown fascia.

We weren't ready to buy but had every intention of doing so once the kitchen was ordered.

For a number of reasons the delay was some 6 months and the kitchen had subsequently gone up in price so we returned to the electrical store with cash in hand ready to place the order but thought we'd ask if there were any other brands we should consider. This time a salesman led us to the Bosch area and set about selling us a double oven, which had been determined we didn't need, gas hob which was low profile but not sleek, the cheapest hood in the store (which we later found had awful reviews) and gave us what we considered to be a sales job based on need to sell rather than our own requirements.

The irony in all this is it was the self same salesperson who we saw both times, he didn't know we'd been in before, and seemed to have his eye on another customer who looked like they had money!

 

[HobbyMounts]

Makes you wonder if the Bosch items had a deal where the salesman earned more commission. Quite a well known trick of the trade is to try and sell what makes you the most money.

 

[HobbyMounts]

Never heard it called Feature, Advantage, Benefit before, always assumed Features & Benefits was what it was called but you always get some sales trainer adding extra bits in to make it there own.

Acronyms are the worst. I'm sure they add letters themselves and want the kudos of some other sales trainer using their own acronym in the future.

 

[businessfunding]

Never heard it called Feature, Advantage, Benefit before, always assumed Features & Benefits was what it was called but you always get some sales trainer adding extra bits in to make it there own.

Acronyms are the worst. I'm sure they add letters themselves and want the kudos of some other sales trainer using their own acronym in the future.

It's been around many years - favoured by big American corporates like Xerox and IBM

It sounds bullsh1tty but actualy makes perfect sense

Feature - simple statement of fact 'this radio is DAB'

Advantage - why that makes it better 'which means that you can get 100 stations'

benefit - 'as you said you wanted to listen to a diverse range of music'

the real value is that it encourages asking questions and customer qualification (or the feature is that it encourages asking questions which means that you understand the clients needs - there is no benefit because we don't know hat the OP is looking for..)

 

[toastking]

The advantage bit is important because most people stop there. By having three layers its like saying so the item is this, it does this, but so what? Its understanding what it does for me/the customer/the interviewer in this instance that's the only way you are ever going to know if what your selling is right for them.