Q. Tell me about a time when your sales skills resulted in a success?
How to answer: This competency-based question is a direct but very pertinent interview question designed to assess your mind-set and level of selling skills. Use the STAR or IPAR techniques to structure your example. In your answer show your awareness of the various techniques for selling and how these vary depending on the type of product involved, the kind of business, and the way in which you interact with the customer.
For example, it is recognised that telephone selling is different from the face-to-face situation, since with the former there are no body language clues available; it is all down to
Q. Tell us about a time when you overcame an objection when selling. How did you deal with it?
How to answer: Answering objections is a common challenge to sales people and one you should be familiar with. Potential customers may say they don’t need a product or they already have a supplier. These are general objections to which you will have a ready answer in terms of the quality and price of the product you’re selling, for example.
When giving your answer the key is not to admit to inadequacies, but to focus on meeting, and surmounting challenges which form a regular part of the salesperson’s job. An example of a skill, or lesson learned as a result of overcoming a difficulty is seen as indicative of a positive and determined attitude.
Q. Tell me about a time when you missed your sales targets; what was the cause and what action did you take?
How to answer: Everybody knows that it is the nature of sales to experience fluctuating results due to all sorts of factors beyond one’s control, such as seasonal issues, economic or market drifts, or changes with a product formula. The interviewer is looking for a degree of sales consistency, but also is interested in how you have faced problems and acted to improve your performance where necessary.
Best to show that you understand that a period of low sales can occur and is a challenge to accept and deal with. In your answer show the interviewer that you have the ability to constantly learn from experience and are ready to change tactics to overcome difficult challenges.