This interview guide for Account Manager / Inside Sales rep roles will help you to quickly identify which candidates should be on your shortlist. By asking these Sales interview questions and assessing answers against the indicators provided, which will help you determine better which are the high performing candidates.
To be effective, however, these Sales interview questions need to be utilised early in the recruitment process to ensure only high performing candidates make it onto your shortlist and attend the final face to face interviews.
Using Video Interviewing as your screening tool can ensure this. It allows you to make sure all candidates are asked the same key interview questions. Video Interviewing allows you to identify high performing candidates earlier in the recruitment process. This means you can be confident that all the candidates you meet face to face have the skills required to be successful in the role.
This guide was prepared by our Head of Assessment Design, Claire Crisp (BSc, MSc, C.Psychol).
Responsibilities
- Manages key client accounts
- Finds upsell/cross-sell opportunities within accounts
- Manages and resolves conflicts with clients
- Prepares sales reports
- Maintains CRM system
Key Competencies Required
Primary
- Client Development
- Managing Customers
- Delivering Results
Secondary
- Initiative
- Collaboration
- Planning and organising
Interview Questions
Below are two Sales interview questions which will help you identify and eliminate those candidates who do not possess the client development and managing customer skills required to be successful in an Account Manager / Inside Sales role. To support these Sales interview questions, we’ve prepared a rating system to help you evaluate a candidates’ answer.
- To assess Client Development- “Give me an example of a client account that you have managed where you increased the services or products they bought from you. What specifically did you do to achieve this?
- To assess Managing Customers- “Tell me about a time when you have resolved an issue or complaint that one of your customers had. What approach did you take and why?
How to assess: Client Development
A suitable candidate will constantly look for opportunities to sell more to their key clients. They will build strong relationships with their clients and ensure they understand their business and needs, in order to uncover further sales opportunities.
| Positive Behaviours | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | Negative Behaviours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shares information with clients in order to build strong relationships | Misses opportunities to share information / build relationships with clients | |||||
| Proactively seeks regular contact with clients | Reacts to clients; rarely initiates contact | |||||
| Asks questions of key individuals to understand their needs | Assumes understanding of client needs; asks minimal questions | |||||
| Offers additional services or products to clients which meet their needs | Offers inappropriate products or services to clients / fails to spot opportunities to offer additional services |
How to assess: Managing Customers
A suitable candidate will quickly and proactively resolve customer complaints. They will put the customer first and ensure ongoing satisfaction is monitored.
| Positive Behaviours | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | Negative Behaviours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prioritises the resolution of customer complaints | Assigns low priority to the resolution of customer complaints | |||||
| Takes immediate and decisive actions which resolve customer issues or complaints | Takes actions which do not resolve customer issues / takes too long to act | |||||
| Proactively follows up with customers to ensure they are satisfied | Assumes customers are satisfied; fails to talk to customers to check satisfaction | |||||
| Views situations from the customer’s perspective | View situations from own perspective rather than that of the customer |
