Congrats, you’ve made it to the interview! Whether onsite or online, this will likely be your last (albeit big) step before you land your dream job. How can you make sure that you nail the onsite and turn that interview into an offer? We created a list of 51 sales interview questions, including questions from top tech companies, so you can prepare for your sales interview and ace it with confidence.
Sales interview questions tend to be far less technical than other tech roles. While you may face some technical questions specific to your role or CMS systems, 90% of questions will probably be variations of common behavioral interview questions. The catch is that sales behavioral questions will usually be framed in terms of past sales experiences. Prepare details from past sales experiences and accounts to answer using the STAR method. Since sales professionals can be expected to act as the public representatives of the company online and in the field, interviewers may also put an extra emphasis on understanding a company’s values, especially at top tech companies like Amazon that prioritize cultural fit.
General Sales Interview Questions
- Cisco question – What motivates you to be in sales?
- Salesforce question – What’s your strategy to generate leads and find new business?
- Slack question – How do you nurture leads?
- Zoom question – How do you close sales opportunities?
- Apple question – Why work for our company specifically?
- Amazon question – Tell me about your experience with CMS.
- Nvidia question – What were your primary KPIs in your last role? Which Sales metrics do you think matter most?
- Adobe question – How do you envision the future of tech sales?
- Airbnb question – How would you estimate Airbnb revenue in a new city we’re targeting?
- Sage question – What are the differences in SMB and large enterprise sales?
- Oracle question – How do you build rapport with customers, specifically?
- Oracle question – Are you familiar with this company’s product offerings?
- Amazon Web Services question – How would you sell me this pen?
- Asana question – Tell me about your last company’s sales process.
- Amazon Web Services question – When do you turn away a prospect?
- Oracle question – What is the difference between cross-selling and upselling?
- LinkedIn question – How do you work with the marketing and product teams?
- Accenture question – Would you close a guaranteed $10,000 Deal or attempt a $100,000 deal that is not guaranteed?
Behavioral Sales Interview Questions
- Amazon question – Tell me about your favorite past sales project.
- Netflix question – How do you keep yourself updated with sales trends and technologies?
- Asana question – Tell me about a time that you failed to achieve a sales goal you set. What went wrong and what did you learn?
- Coursera question – Have you ever had to break up with a client or prospect? How would you handle it?
- Amazon question – How would your sales team describe you?
- Oracle question – Tell me about a time you turned a “no” into a “yes”?
- These 25 most common behavioral questions from top tech companies, but based on examples from your sales experience.
SDR Interview Questions
- Oracle question – What strategies do you use for effective cold outreach?
- Salesforce question – How comfortable are you cold-calling? How do you manage any anxiety?
- Accenture question – How familiar are you with CRM?
- LinkedIn question – How do you prepare before reaching out to a prospect?
- Coursera question – Pretend I’m a prospect. How would you leave me a voicemail?
- Okta question – How do you persevere and stay positive through rejection or long days?
- Zoom question – What do you look for when evaluating a prospect?
- Oracle question – How do you talk about competitors?
- Amazon Web Services question – How do you qualify leads?
- Salesforce question – How do you handle a difficult prospect?
Account Executive Interview Questions
- Cisco question – Tell me about a time you had to juggle multiple accounts at once. How did you stay organized?
- Slack question – What steps do you take to ensure that you meet your revenue goals?
- Zoom question – How do you handle rejection?
- Adobe question – What do you do if a prospect presents resistance or reasons not to buy?
- Oracle question – Tell me about your most successful account. What role did you play in achieving that success?
- Asana question – What strategies do you use to discover sales opportunities?
- LinkedIn question – How do you maintain long-term relationships with key clients and customers?
- Amazon Web Services question – What does a sales demo/presentation need to be effective?
- Salesforce question – How do you explain a client problem to a team you’re working with?
- Adobe question – How do you use social media to identify prospects?
Questions to Ask After a Sales Interview
When the interview ends, you’ll have a chance to ask your own questions. While questions can be informed by what you discuss in the interview, your interviewer will be especially impressed if these questions demonstrate your interest and understanding of the company–Asking thoughtful questions is especially important in sales interviews.
- What percentage of leads and deals will come from inbound leads of MQLs vs. prospecting?
- Do you expect me to find my own leads? How is that supported?
- What support/handoffs are involved with a typical sales cycle?
- How long is a typical sales cycle? What are the customer’s main objections/drop off reasons? How do we address those?
- What are the main contributions and goals of the sales team at the moment?
- 15 more of the best questions to ask at a sales interview.
With these questions & tips in your back pocket, you should be more than prepared for your next technical onsite interview. For more detailed steps on how to become a Sales Development Representative (SDR) and break into sales, see our guides.
Pathrise is a career accelerator that has helped 2,500+ students and professionals land their dream jobs. Our mentors come from top tech companies like Google and have experience interviewing sales candidates just like you. With our data-backed strategies and expert guidance, we’ve seen our fellows interview scores double and their application responses triple..
If you want to work 1-on-1 with any of our expert mentors to get help with your sales interviews or with any other aspect of the job search, become a Pathrise fellow.
