What questions can you ask to evaluate a candidate's sales experience?

1 Sales cycle

The sales cycle is the process of moving a prospect from awareness to purchase, and it can vary depending on the product, service, industry, or customer. Asking about the sales cycle can help you understand a candidate's approach to sales, how they manage their time and resources, and how they handle different stages and challenges. For example, you may want to ask questions such as: how long is the typical sales cycle and what are the main steps involved? How do they qualify leads and prioritize prospects? What preparation do they do for sales meetings and presentations? How do they overcome objections and close deals? And how do they follow up with customers to ensure satisfaction and retention?

2 Sales results

Sales results are the outcomes of a salesperson's efforts, such as revenue, profit, market share, customer satisfaction, and retention. Asking about sales results can help you measure a candidate's performance, achievements, and impact. Some examples of questions to ask include: what are their sales goals and how do they track and report them? How do they compare to their peers and competitors in terms of sales results? What are some of the most successful sales they have made and what were the key factors? Additionally, what are some of the most challenging sales they have faced and how did they overcome them? Finally, how do they handle feedback and criticism on their sales results?

3 Sales skills

Sales skills are the abilities and competencies that a salesperson needs to succeed in their role, such as communication, negotiation, persuasion, problem-solving, and relationship-building. Asking about sales skills can help you evaluate a candidate's strengths, weaknesses, and potential. For example, you could inquire about what the most important skills are for their industry and role, how they rate themselves on each of those skills and why, how they develop and improve them, how they adapt them to different situations and customers, and how they use technology and tools to enhance them.

4 Sales style

Sales style is the way a salesperson interacts with prospects and customers, such as assertive, consultative, collaborative, or adaptive. Asking about sales style can help you determine how a candidate fits your company culture, values, and expectations. For instance, you could inquire about how their sales style matches their personality and preferences, how it aligns with your company's mission and vision, and how they adjust it to different types of prospects and customers. Additionally, you may want to know how they deal with conflicts and disagreements with prospects and customers.

5 Sales motivation

Sales motivation is the drive and enthusiasm that a salesperson has for their work, such as intrinsic, extrinsic, or social. Asking about sales motivation can help you understand what motivates a candidate, what challenges them, and what rewards them. For example, you could inquire about their main sources of motivation for sales and how they cope with stress and pressure. Additionally, you could ask about how they celebrate successes and learn from failures, as well as how they balance work and personal life in sales. Furthermore, you could inquire about how they collaborate and compete with their sales team and manager.

6 Sales scenarios

Sales scenarios are great ways to assess a candidate's sales skills, knowledge, and judgment. Asking about scenarios can help you understand how they think, act, and react in sales situations. For instance, you could ask them how they would approach a cold call to a potential customer, handle a price objection from a customer, respond to an unhappy customer who wants a refund or replacement, deal with a competitor trying to poach their customer or undercut their offer, and recover from a lost sale or missed opportunity. Through these questions, you can gain insight into how the candidate handles uncertainty and ambiguity.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?