Sales Interview Question Bank

EXPERIENCE & TRACK RECORD

Quota & Performance Questions

PERFORMANCE QUESTIONS

QUOTA ATTAINMENT:
"Walk me through your quota attainment over the last 2-3 years."
Listen for: Specific numbers, context, honesty about misses

"Tell me about a quarter where you missed quota. What happened?"
Listen for: Ownership, learnings, actions taken

"How did you rank among your peers?"
Listen for: Awareness, competitiveness, humility

DEAL EXAMPLES:
"Walk me through your largest closed deal end-to-end."
Listen for: Process, stakeholders, strategy, timeline

"Tell me about a deal you lost that you should have won."
Listen for: Self-awareness, learning, competitor insight

"Describe a complex deal with multiple decision makers."
Listen for: Stakeholder mapping, strategy, persistence

Experience Assessment Matrix

Question	Strong Answer	Weak Answer
Quota history	Specific %, owns misses	Vague, blames others
Deal walkthrough	Clear process, learnings	Disorganized, lucky
Competition	Knows competitors, wins	Dismissive, unaware

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COMPETENCY QUESTIONS

Sales Skills Assessment

COMPETENCY QUESTIONS

DISCOVERY:
"How do you prepare for a first meeting with a prospect?"
"What questions do you always ask in discovery?"
"How do you uncover budget and timeline?"

PRESENTATION:
"How do you tailor demos for different audiences?"
"Describe how you handle technical vs executive audiences."

OBJECTION HANDLING:
"What's the most common objection you face? How do you handle it?"
"Tell me about a time you turned a 'no' into a 'yes.'"

CLOSING:
"How do you know when a deal is ready to close?"
"What's your approach to negotiation?"
"How do you create urgency without being pushy?"

PROSPECTING:
"How do you build your pipeline?"
"What's your approach to cold outreach?"

Behavioral Questions

BEHAVIORAL QUESTIONS

COACHABILITY:
"Tell me about feedback you received that changed your approach."
"How do you like to be coached?"

RESILIENCE:
"Describe a time you faced significant rejection. How did you handle it?"
"What do you do when you're in a slump?"

DRIVE:
"What motivates you beyond money?"
"Tell me about a goal you set and achieved."

COLLABORATION:
"How do you work with sales engineers/solutions consultants?"
"Describe working with a difficult internal partner."

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