Sales Person’s Interview

To help us evaluate the skills for being a Sales Person please be prepared to discuss issues related to the following questions, and more.  If this looks like it might be a tough interview, that’s our intent.  There are potentially thousands of people from whom to choose.  What fits for one client does not necessarily work for another.

CONTEXT ----- COMPLUS Professional Controllers serve clients (owners of "for-profit" businesses in the Chicagoland area - McHenry to Merrillville) which are too big for him/her to run with only a checkbook in the back pocket and too small to hire one of us full-time (generally 20-100 workers or $2-20 million sales).

• Please describe the ideal company for which you would like to work (eg., size, location, industry, product/service, etc.).
• How do you define the function of “sales?”
• Describe your perception of the selling cycle.
• Under what circumstances would you be willing to work for incentive-only compensation?
• Under what circumstances should a company probably hire employees rather than independent representatives?
• What support (people, office facilities, vehicles, equipment, documentation, etc) resources should we expect to provide for you to maximize your value?
• What fraction of the product/service sales price should go to pay for selling it?
• If you had job offers from two companies in the same market space, with the same compensation potential to you, how would you choose between them?
• Why do you want to sell for my company?
• Under what circumstances might you quit my company to work for my business rival?
• What do you think of salesman/businessman Ross Perot?
• While working for us what kind of car do you expect to be able to afford?
• How do keep track of all the people you know?
• What are your preferred lunch-time arrangements?
• How do you define a legitimate business expense?  What do you expect to do to be reimbursed for what you spend for business expenses?
• What licenses, professional credentials, etc. do you have?
• What is your continuing education strategy?
• With what business associations and professional societies do you participate actively (more than just paying dues)?
• Please provide references.

If you're an employer looking for a sales employee, you might find some of the above questions helpful. Current laws and "best practices" demand that questions asked of a candidate be relevant to reasonable expectations for a successful applicant.  Employers must offer "equal opportunity" and must not discriminate based on race, color, creed, national origin, gender, disability, etc., but may based on skills.