Sales interview questions for interviewers

Most sales interviews reward candidates who talk well about selling. The questions below push for specifics: numbers, real deals, real mistakes. Pick two or three per section for a 45 minute interview and keep the last 10 minutes for a role play.

Motivation and coachability

1. Walk me through your numbers last year: quota, attainment and how you got there.

   Good: exact figures, the split between new business and expansion, and the two or three activities that drove most of it.

   Red flag: vague ranges, team results presented as their own, or no idea of their quota.

2. Tell me about a month where you were behind target. What did you change?

   Good: a specific diagnosis (not enough pipeline, poor conversion at one stage) and a concrete change in activity.

   Red flag: blaming leads, territory or product without describing anything they did.

3. What is the last piece of feedback a manager gave you, and what did you do with it?

   Good: names the feedback precisely and shows how their behaviour changed on calls afterwards.

   Red flag: cannot recall any feedback, or describes feedback they disagreed with and ignored.

4. Why sales, and why this kind of sale?

   Good: a reason tied to the work itself (competition, problem solving, earning tied to output) and to our deal type.

   Red flag: only money, or an answer that would fit any job.

5. How do you prepare for a week? Show me your calendar or routine.

   Good: protected prospecting blocks, a weekly pipeline review, a clear daily activity target.

   Red flag: "I just pick up the phone and go."

Prospecting and pipeline

1. How did you build pipeline in your last role? What share was self-sourced?

   Good: a channel mix with rough numbers (calls, emails, LinkedIn, referrals) and which one worked best.

   Red flag: relied entirely on inbound and cannot describe outbound activity.

2. Pick a target account in our market. How would you get a first meeting?

   Good: names a persona, a trigger to reference and a multi-touch sequence across channels.

   Red flag: "I'd send them an email about our product."

3. What does your first 20 seconds on a cold call sound like?

   Good: permission or pattern-interrupt opener, a reason for the call relevant to the buyer, a question.

   Red flag: a long product pitch before the buyer has said a word.

4. How many dials, emails and conversations does it take you to book one meeting?

   Good: knows their own ratios and how they improved them.

   Red flag: has never tracked activity.

5. How do you decide which leads to drop?

   Good: clear qualification criteria and a set number of touches before moving on.

   Red flag: keeps chasing everything, or gives up after one try.

Objection handling

1. The buyer says "We already use a competitor." Respond as you would on a call.

   Good: acknowledges, asks what they like and what they would change, finds a gap before pitching.

   Red flag: immediately attacks the competitor or gives up.

2. "Send me some information." What do you say next?

   Good: agrees, then asks a question to make the follow-up relevant and secures a next step.

   Red flag: sends a brochure and hopes.

3. "It's too expensive." How do you handle price?

   Good: clarifies against what (budget, alternative, perceived value) before defending or discounting.

   Red flag: offers a discount straight away.

4. Tell me about a deal you saved after the buyer said no.

   Good: the specific objection, what they asked, and what changed the buyer's mind.

   Red flag: no example, or the deal was saved by a manager.

5. Which objection do you find hardest, and why?

   Good: honest answer and how they are working on it.

   Red flag: "I don't really get objections."

Discovery and qualification

1. What are the first five questions you ask in a discovery call?

   Good: open questions about the current process, impact, priority and who else is involved.

   Red flag: questions about budget only, or no structure at all.

2. How do you know a deal is real?

   Good: a defined framework (pain, impact, decision process, timeline) and evidence for each.

   Red flag: "They seemed really interested."

3. Describe a deal you disqualified. How did you decide?

   Good: specific criteria and the time it saved.

   Red flag: never walked away from a deal.

4. How do you find out who signs off on the purchase?

   Good: asks directly and maps the buying group early.

   Red flag: discovers the decision maker at contract stage.

Closing and deal management

1. Walk me through your biggest deal from first touch to signature.

   Good: clear timeline, stakeholders, the turning point and their own role in it.

   Red flag: cannot explain why the customer bought.

2. A deal has gone quiet for three weeks. What do you do?

   Good: a reason-based follow-up, a new angle or stakeholder, and a clear close-or-drop message.

   Red flag: "I'd keep checking in."

3. How do you ask for the business?

   Good: a direct ask tied to the buyer's timeline and agreed next steps.

   Red flag: waits for the buyer to bring it up.

4. Tell me about a deal you lost that you should have won.

   Good: owns a specific mistake and what they do differently now.

   Red flag: the loss was entirely someone else's fault.

Head of sales interview questions

For a sales leader, the questions move from their own deals to the system: pipeline, hiring, coaching and forecasting.

1. What did you change in your first 90 days at your last company, and what happened?

   Good: a diagnosis, two or three changes, and measured results.

   Red flag: a plan with no outcome, or "I kept what worked."

2. How do you hire reps, and how do you test them before an offer?

   Good: a defined profile, a structured interview and a practical test such as a role play scored the same way for every candidate.

   Red flag: hires on gut feel or CV alone.

3. How long does it take your new reps to ramp, and how did you shorten it?

   Good: a number in weeks, a ramp plan and practice built in.

   Red flag: does not measure ramp time.

4. How accurate was your forecast last quarter?

   Good: a percentage, the method and what they fixed when it was off.

   Red flag: no forecast discipline.

5. A rep is at 40% of quota mid-quarter. Walk me through your coaching.

   Good: looks at activity and stage conversion, listens to calls, sets one skill to fix, follows up weekly.

   Red flag: "I'd put them on a performance plan."

6. What does your weekly sales meeting look like?

   Good: pipeline review, one skill topic, practice, clear owners.

   Red flag: status updates only.

7. Which metrics do you look at every Monday?

   Good: a short list (pipeline created, stage conversion, win rate, cycle length) and why.

   Red flag: only revenue.

8. How do you work with marketing on lead quality?

   Good: a shared definition of a qualified lead and a regular feedback loop.

   Red flag: blames marketing for every miss.

9. What would your last team say is your biggest weakness as a manager?

   Good: honest, specific and something they are working on.

   Red flag: a strength dressed up as a weakness.

The role play: how to run it fairly

A role play is the strongest signal you have, but most are inconsistent. The interviewer plays a different buyer each time, goes easy on candidates they like and scores from memory. Keep it fair with three rules:

• Same buyer for everyone. Write one persona with a job title, a current solution, one hidden pain and two objections.
• Same length. Eight to ten minutes is enough for an opener, discovery and one objection.
• Score straight after the call on a fixed rubric, before you compare notes with anyone.

Sales interview scorecard

Score each area from 1 to 5. Anything below 3 on objection handling or discovery is a no for a quota-carrying role.

FAQ

How many questions should I ask a sales candidate?

Eight to twelve fit a 45 minute interview. Pick two or three per section and leave 10 minutes for a role play.

Should every sales interview include a role play?

For any role that talks to buyers, yes. It is the only part of the interview that shows how the candidate actually sounds on a call.

How do I compare candidates fairly?

Use the same questions, the same buyer persona and the same scorecard for every candidate, and score before discussing. An AI buyer call makes the role play identical for everyone.