40 Top Sales Interview Questions (+ How to Answer Them)

If you are an engineer, you point to the products you’ve built. If you are an architect, you hand over a portfolio. If you are a marketer, you provide your campaign metrics.

For a salesperson, this is also true. Companies want to know what you’ve done in your career (e.g., quota attainment, examples of big deals closed, company awards, etc.), but unlike other jobs, they will be assessing how you tell the story of what you’ve done. 

As the CEO of a sales recruiting firm, I’ve had a lot of exposure to the types of questions companies use to get at the what and how. Here are a few of the most common examples so you are prepared to dominate your next sales interview—plus some additional information, so you're the most prepared candidate.

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Since the role of a salesperson is all about providing a solution to a client’s problem via the product or service your company offers, the interview to hire a salesperson will look for similar skills. That means being able to "sell" yourself as the solution to the team and knowing the best way to answer those sales interview questions.

Unlike other jobs where you can rely more on the bullet points of your resume that showcase your technical skills or soft skills, sales interviews depend on you to demonstrate your skills right there in the interview. This means sharing results and concrete examples of how you got those results. Plus, the interviewer wants to know how you will bring results to future situations.

When going into a sales interview, be prepared for a few different types of interview questions, including common, behavioral, and situational.

Common Sales Interview Questions

No interview is complete without a few traditional or common job interview questions. They are common for a reason, and you can expect at least a few of these in your sales interview. Here are the ones I've seen get asked the most:

1. Walk Me Through Your Background. 

“Wait, this isn’t a question.” You’re absolutely right, but your response to how you describe yourself will inform the rest of your interview. Along with being a top performer, a great salesperson is a great storyteller. Being a great storyteller is so much more than being engaging; it is knowing what information to share, when to share it, and how to share it.  

How to Answer:

Now, if you remember nothing else from this article, remember this...keep your answer to this question under two minutes! The easiest way to get on a hiring manager’s nerves is to blab on and on.

A great salesperson is clear and concise, delivering the best information in the best way. This is your “elevator pitch,” and I don’t know about you, but I have no desire to be in an elevator that takes ten minutes.

Don’t make the hiring manager ride that elevator either.

2. What Do You Know About Our Company?

This question is absolutely a test of your preparation, which means you can ace it if you prepare.

The goal of this question is not for you to regurgitate everything you Googled. The goal is to prove to the hiring manager you didn’t just “one-click apply” on LinkedIn, but thoughtfully applied after seeing an alignment of your passions and skills in this role.

How to Answer:

Split this question into three “mental bullet points” to answer comprehensively and clearly, but be sure not to ramble.

3. Why Are You Looking to Make a Move From Your Current Company? 

Tread carefully with this question. Your answer will say a lot about both your decision-making skills and your character. The ideal outcome is that the hiring manager will feel you have approached your job search thoughtfully and that you will leave behind a trail of broken (but understanding) hearts at your previous company.

How to Answer:  

If you are leaving for negative reasons regarding your current role, the hiring manager is listening closely. She wants to know if you have a victim’s mentality regarding your previous role/company. Regardless of how angry you are, speak only facts.

For example, if your company assigned you to a brand new territory where there was no brand recognition and no warm leads, you can say, “I was building a new territory from scratch, and there was a ramping phase that wasn’t accounted for in my quota. Because of this, I have decided it is time to part ways with my current employer.”

If you are leaving your current company for nothing more than to seek a great opportunity, tell the hiring manager! Tell her that you are genuinely thrilled to be interviewing for this role, and your genuine excitement will shine through in your answer. Be sure that beyond the fluffy excitement you have for the role, provide a compelling reason for why this role/company really is the next best step for your career.

4. What Are You Looking for in Your Next Job?

The interviewer is asking this question because they want to know if you're thinking long-term about your career goals and have considered how or why this company is a fit.

They don't want to hire and train someone only to learn that sales was never going to work for you as a career after a few months.

How to Answer:

Connect your motivation, long-term career goals, and what you know about the job and company.

For example, you might say, "I'm looking to expand my sales knowledge and really hone in on my analytical skills. I'd also like the opportunity to use my findings to edit the sales training process so everyone on the team has an easy way to share what's the most successful for them. But most importantly, I want to work for a company that is redefining the e-commerce space and will allow me to carve out expertise in this industry."

With an answer like this, you're opening up the door for the interviewer to sell you on the role and what you'll be responsible for.

Just make sure to cross-check your answer to the job description so you're not answering with the complete opposite of what they are looking for.

For a full list of common interview questions, check out our comprehensive list with tips for answering here.

The Top Sales Interview Questions

Now that we've covered a few of the common job interview questions, let's focus on sales-specific job interview questions. 

5. Why Did You Choose a Career in Sales?

Similar to "tell me about yourself," this is a great intro question to start focusing on the sales job interview portion of your conversation. There is no need to feel a lot of pressure to go on and on about how passionate you were about sales—if you landed a career in sales through a roundabout career move, share that. If you're a major extrovert who excelled at cold calls and someone suggested you try sales at your first job, share that. 

Don't feel the need to create an elaborate story. And if you're making a career transition into sales, share why you want to do that and what specifically drew you to a sales career. Maybe you were previously in recruiting and you have transferable skills but there is more upside to being part of a sales team.

6. Walk Me Through Your Sales Approach in Your Last Role and Explain Your Sales Process Or Sales Cycle.

This question is all about understanding the candidate's approach, strategy, and tactics.

Do you know how many leads you need to reach in order to make a sale? Do you know the number of phone calls required before you get the right contact? Can you explain the specific steps you take from initial contact to closing the deal?

By sharing your strategies and tactics, you're also showcasing some of these important soft skills and behaviors like being a self-starter and using your motivation for the role to get results.

Don't forget that interviewers know when a candidate is stretching the truth about this. For example, if an interviewee talks non-stop about the sales they won but then can't explain in detail the stages of their sales process, something isn't right. Are they lying? Do they really understand the sales process? As a candidate, make sure you have those metrics ready. If you don't because you're launching a sales career, be honest about that. 

Open-ended questions like this could take 30 minutes to answer. However, prep your answer ahead of time so it's concise enough to leave time for other questions in the interview.

7. Where Do You Rank in Your Current Sales Organization?

This question is where under-performers blush and stumble and top-performers turn braggy and overly confident. The hiring manager is looking for someone who can wear the humility of the under-performer but own the performance metrics of the top performer.

First, don’t hesitate. A pause often indicates dishonesty or shame. Whether you were the top performer or not, this is not how you want to start off an answer. Have your answer already planned.

Second, answer the question. If you performed well, great! Own it. Just be sure your confidence is not perceived as arrogance. If you did not perform well, do NOT play the blame game. Every single alarm will go off in the hiring manager’s mind, and you might as well consider yourself rejected right then and there.

Own your underperformance honestly, but speak to why it is an anomaly in your career. Don’t be afraid to ask the hiring manager, “Are all of your reps making their number?” “What do your most successful reps do?” Flip it around! Must I say it again?

This is sales.

Finally, quantify, quantify, quantify! Every hiring manager in the interview process looking for sales talent wants to see numbers. Whether you were #1 on your team or not, find your “greatest hits” and quantify them. Ideas for metrics to use include pipeline generation, territory percent increase, outbound calls, revenue generated, promotions, deals closed, and awards.

Be sure to provide examples that back up your “greatest hits.” Give the hiring manager proof to take your resume back to the rest of the organization cheering, “This is the perfect hire!”

8. When a Prospect Isn't the Right Fit, How Do You Know? And What Are Your Next Steps?

Your most valuable resource is time. If you're chasing down a prospect that will never buy, you're taking time away from a prospect that could become revenue for the company. The interviewer wants to know your thought process around this. Providing concrete evidence of your decision-making skills is great.

Tell them about a time when you knew a prospect wasn't the right fit—and how you knew. This is a great way to showcase your experience in sales and lead qualification. The employer will get the benefit of your experiences and lead qualification practices because you're more likely to meet sales quotas when you can filter prospects quickly and accurately. 

9. Tell Me About Your Most Successful Sale.

This is another open-ended question, and while you might have lots of examples to share, this is all about storytelling. You can also use the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) method to answer more behavioral interview questions that are open-ended like this.

We love an acronym, and using the STAR method is a great way for you to package everything up into a great answer. We'd recommend packing your mental interview bag with a few STAR answers and story circles.

Pick the example that will be memorable and has a great "before" and "after" element. You will stand out among other candidates. It's more exciting to hear about a sale that wasn't going to happen but then you pulled it off vs. a repeating customer who increased their buy the next year.

10. When You Lose a Deal, How Do You Follow Up With That Prospect?

The best salesperson knows you can't land every deal. Timing, circumstances you can't control, and competing priorities for budgets can get in the way. But the best salesperson also knows that the key to a future deal is following up and maintaining good customer relationships. Part of a sales role includes customer service and gathering feedback to really understand why the deal didn't work this time.

The interviewer wants to know what your strategy is for this and how you organize your communication going forward. First, explain your process and approach in detail. Next, share a scenario with an example of when you used this approach. Ideally, you want to share a story with a positive outcome, such as landing the deal later on.

Lastly, share how you organize this process so you don't forget about potential clients. Maybe you use CRM software, maybe you track things in your own Excel sheets, etc. Whatever it is, you want to show you have great organization skills.

11. Tell Me About a Time When You Fell Short of a Goal. What Happened and What Did You Learn? 

The hiring manager might ask you about a specific time in your career related to your past performance. They might also follow up with questions about how the sales quota or sales target got set, what your performance in other years against those goals looked like, and, of course, what you learned.

You don't want to blame not making a goal on your past boss or team members. Don't bad-mouth your past company culture—even if they did set unrealistic sales goals.

Instead, stick to the facts so the hiring manager doesn't make any assumptions. Show that you can reflect on your past mistakes, have a willingness to collect feedback, and adjust your goals and sales approach when things veer off course. 

12. How Do You Keep Current With Your Target Market and the Industry?

The best employees (and companies!) never stop learning and investing in their career development. And understanding the industry can help the person become a better salesperson, learn about potential clients, and/or influence their sales tactics. As the interviewer, it's critical you learn the candidate's approach to deepening their knowledge base.

For sales candidates, example answers include the thought leaders you follow on social media, industry blogs and online learning you read or use, the events you attend, and the outreach you do with clients to stay in touch.

13. Share Your Time Management Process. How Do You Organize Your Day?

Any person in a sales position knows there are a lot of moving parts. And organization plays a key role in managing them. The interviewer wants to learn how you organize your sales dashboard, prioritize and prepare for sales meetings, and utilize a calendar to structure tasks.

A great way to answer this is by walking through your day. Let them know you start your day by reviewing or setting a clear plan that includes checking in on your current performance.

You might also cross-check your performance against your goals on a weekly basis. And if you use any software like a CRM, share how you use it to stay organized. Bonus points if you can include how you keep your peers and managers updated on your progress. Good communication skills are a must!

14. Pretend We're on a Sales Call. Pitch Me/ Sell Me a Product Right Now.

If you have experience working in sales, then you'll probably get this question. Role playing is important to the sales interviewing process because it's a chance for the candidate to show their skills vs. talking about them. And if you're not prepared for this, the interviewer will also get to see how you perform under pressure.

Start by clarifying the role you should be playing and to whom you are selling. It will really impress the hiring manager—and the best way to sell is by first knowing who you are selling to. 

15. How Did Your Last Product or Service Help Your Customers?

Good salespeople know that the secret to winning customers isn't just being great at describing your company's product—they understand how the product or service solves a particular pain point for the client's market. Why does the client need what you're offering?

It doesn't matter if you're selling B2B with Saas plans or B2C with a new product launch, buyers only exist when they really understand how a product will positively impact them. The interviewer is asking you this question to see if you understand that too. They are not looking for you to regurgitate the "About Us" page. 

16. Would You Rather Achieve Your Quota or Keep Customers Happy?

Getting to brag about hitting a quota and signing new clients is fun, but the reality is sometimes the greatest weakness for a salesperson is not paying enough attention to their current clients.

The interviewer wants to see how you balance these two competing goals. If you reach your quota goal but then you're seeing a lot of churn with the customers, it will be hard to maintain your quota. So what are you doing to understand what keeps a customer happy? How are you using those learnings?

The right answer here isn't 100% quota or 100% happy customers—it's sharing the logic behind your strategy and showing that you know there are variables at play so you need to adapt at any time.

Role-Specific Sales Interview Questions

In today's job market, you'll see postings for a wide variety of sales jobs, from entry-level to mid-level, and even leadership levels. Each job type includes its own variation of specific job interview questions and unique hiring processes. To help you interview for your next sales position, here are a few additional questions to prep for.

Entry-Level Sales Representative Interview Questions 

Questions 17-21 focus on questions an entry-level sales rep might come across. 

Account Management Sales Interview Questions

Questions 22-26 focus on questions a mid-level sales position might come across. 

Sales Manager Interview Questions

Questions 27-31 focus on questions someone in a management position might come across. 

Sales Director Interview Questions

Questions 32-36 focus on questions a director, VP, or sales executive might come across. 

Unique Sales Interview Questions

Interviewers know that salespeople are probably good at giving answers to the interview questions they can predict are coming their way, but what about when you're caught off guard? 

Here are a few unique interview questions that ask you to self-reflect and dive deeper into decision-making skills. 

37. Which Sales Metrics Do You Pay Attention to, and Why?

The interviewer is asking this question to see if you have an understanding of what data really moves the needle. If you have metrics that you track each week and/or month, share what those are. Next, explain how tracking these help your future planning and decisions and actions.   

38. What Core Values Do You Think Define a Good Salesperson and Why?

Find a career, company, and team that is not only a culture fit but also a values fit. There is no wrong or right answer here except that both parties—the interviewer and the interviewee—should give some thought to what they define as their core values. 

Additionally, salespeople and sales teams work better when they are aligned. Do you all share the value of collaboration? Do you value open and ongoing feedback? We listed out some important skills below—but also think about what you value in a team to help you do your job well.

39. Tell Me About a Time You Disagreed With a Manager or Team Member. How Did You Resolve This Conflict? 

There will be times when you disagree with your manager or team. That's okay—but how you resolved the conflict matters. By recalling a negative experience with your team (vs. a proudest one), you'll share alot about your interpersonal skills.

40. Have You Used Sales Software Such as CRM Software Before? If So, Which One(s) and How?

This is definitely a more technical question, but almost all sales teams and salespeople rely on CRM software to help them do their job. If you've never used one before and are interviewing for a mid-level role, it's going to create a pretty big learning curve. 

Skills + Traits Needed for Great Salespeople

Here are some skills and traits that are needed when you're looking to hire a great salesperson. And if you're interviewing, be sure to highlight these!

Sales Interviewing Best Practices

Let's wrap it all up with some best practices to always keep in mind!