Sales Manager interview questions and answers
This Sales Manager interview profile brings together a snapshot of what to look for in candidates with a balanced sample of suitable interview questions.
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Sales Manager Interview Questions
Sales Managers, unlike Sales Directors, are not directly responsible for the long-term prosperity of your company. But, they should have big picture perspective and be capable of executing the Sales Director’s strategy. They may even be future Sales Directors, and as such they should have a similar mindset. They should be process-driven, metrics-driven, organized, and relentless.
Your Sales Manager candidates should have been Sales Representatives first, and should have excelled in that role. They’ll be driven by more than just quotas. Great candidates will apply to your company because they believe in the solution that your company provides and have a thorough understanding of your product and customers.
Day-to-day responsibilities may differ depending on the company, but generally this is a supervisor or team leader role. They’ll own several aspects of goal-setting and should be capable of training, motivating, and monitoring sales teams to meet those goals. Use these questions to determine whether or not your candidates have the hands-on, practical experience needed to succeed in this role.
See our regional sales manager interview questions for roles specific to a district or region.
Operational and Situational questions
- Describe your product. What are the benefits? Who are your customers?
- Why do customers buy your product? What are the alternatives?
- Describe your customers’ buying decision process. Who approves or blocks the buying decision? What do you need to line up to close the sale?
- Recall a time when you mentored a colleague. Where did they start? Where are they now?
- Recall a time you resolved a conflict between two team members.
- At what point would you advise a sales rep to stop pursuing a customer?
- How would you deal with a sales rep who was underperforming?
- Have you ever changed a process to improve efficiency, lower costs, or increase revenue?
- Describe the sales process at your previous company. What worked well? What didn’t work well?
- How much experience do you have with writing training manuals or other reference documents for sales teams?
- Describe any experience you have in forecasting or developing quotas.
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