Salespeople have to handle rejection daily. They’ll hear “no” from the majority of their outreach, and it's important to be able to take this rejection in stride. When you ask a candidate this question, you’re looking to understand their coping process. The answer to this sales interview question will give you some insight into whether they can shake off rejection quickly or need a moment to recover. What to look for in an answer:

• Acknowledges that rejection is natural to this profession

• Discusses specific coping strategies

• Understands that strong prospecting can reduce rejection rates

Almost all sales positions require some form of cold outreach (calling, emailing, etc.). Cold calling is a tough task because you’re trying to connect and sell to someone who wasn’t expecting your call. While every salesperson may have their unique approach to cold calling, the key is to have a strategy. Your interviewee can showcase their previous experience with cold calling by clearly outlining their personal approach. What to look for in an answer:

• Confirmation of cold calling experience

• The importance of research before the call

• Personal tricks (best time to call, opening line)

A person who is passionate about sales and loves what they do always remembers their most successful sale, partially because it was such a big win and also because it’s the record they’re striving to beat. You want someone who gets excited talking about this sale and mentions the lessons they learned from it. What to look for in an answer:

• Precise information about the sale amount

• What they learned

• What they did differently that resulted in the sale

A lot of sales is about being persistent, even when you hear “no” over and over again. However, there needs to be a balance. Salespeople need to recognize when to give up on a lead, so their attention isn’t being taken away from more fruitful prospects. The answer to this sales interview question will give you insight into whether the candidate knows when to move on and how they determine that. What to look for in an answer:

• Knows when to give up

• Explains the timing in previous roles

• Plans for revisiting dead leads annually

A truly successful salesperson will know how to leverage other departments within the organization to do their job better. One essential department a salesperson should be working closely with is the marketing team. The marketing team is a huge source of leads for sales, and salespeople can work alongside marketing to get better results. What to look for in an answer:

• Willingness to work with other departments

• Understands the crucial role of marketing to sales

• Wants to support marketing

Reaching out to prospects is most effective when the salesperson comes to the conversation prepared. The salesperson should know the lead's current problems, potential budget and whether they're with a competitor. Doing extensive online research can provide you with all these answers. The answer to this sales interview question will demonstrate whether the candidate understands how to find this research quickly and from reliable sources. What to look for in an answer:

• Understands the importance of research

• Knows how to utilize social media for research

• Uses additional sources, such as press releases

Salespeople are typically compensated for their closed sales. However, a truly great salesperson looks past themselves and only closes sales that are a good fit for the company. They understand that selling to someone fully knowing they won't be entirely happy with the product or service will only harm the organization overall. When asking this sales interview question, you're looking for someone who understands that denying a prospect is sometimes the best route for everyone. What to look for in an answer:

• Acknowledges that denial is sometimes necessary

• Understands the impact of customer happiness on an organization

• Puts company goals over individual goals

As with most roles, practice and experience make a salesperson stronger and better at what they do. You want someone who wants to continuously grow and learn from their mistakes. Asking this sales interview question gives the candidate an opportunity to demonstrate they can admit to their faults and learn from them. What to look for in an answer:

• A genuine, specific example

• Understands the lessons learned

• Explains how they handled it at the time

Quarterly goals are often how salespeople are judged on their overall work performance. Naturally, sometimes individuals fall behind on their quarterly goals. However, a salesperson can’t sit back and accept that they’re going to miss quota; they need to do everything in their power to hit their goal. This can include revisiting disqualified leads, doing more cold calling and more. What to look for in an answer:

• Increases outreach

• Revisits old leads

• Willing to try new tactics

Many salespeople tend to solely focus on bringing in new customers. As a result, as soon as a lead becomes a customer, they move on from that contact forever. However, there's incredible value in keeping a good relationship with your closed leads. A good salesperson understands that this can lead to upsells in the future. They also know that the contact may eventually leave their present job for a new company, which creates a new sales opportunity. What to look for in an answer:

• Knows how to upsell

• Understands that they may be able to sell to that person again at a new company

• Asks that customer for industry referrals for new leads