Sample Interview Questions for a Sales Agent

Sales agents must have good interpersonal skills to maintain accounts.

A sales agent sells goods or services on behalf of a company, usually for a commission income or a set fee. Sales agents operate in various employment settings, including four common work environments -- manufacturer, wholesaler, retailer and service sales. While each work setting has unique selling attributes, common interview questions correlate to positions in each environment.

Tell Me about a Difficult Sale and How You Managed to Get It

The Best Job Interview site's "Sales Interview Questions and Answers Essential Guide," includes this in its category of questions to identify your resilience. Interviewers are trying to determine your ability to overcome negative resistance, to maintain a positive attitude and to be persistent. If your interviewer places strong emphasis on long-term selling relationships, you should also emphasize your ability to work through a tough sale in a way that is low-pressure.

What is Your Approach to Negotiation?

Negotiation skills are another area interviewers want to explore, according to the Best Job Interview site. This question, or a request for a specific negotiation experience, tests your ability to uncover needs, deal with concerns, find alternative solutions and create a win-win selling proposition. Research the company to determine its approach to negotiations. Sales organizations are less inclined in 21st-century relationship selling to have a high-pressure negotiation approach. Instead, selling value while maintaining your price and terms is common.

Sell Me This Pen

This is an intense role-play scenario shared by Job Bank USA. Another basic object could be substituted for the pen. The point of the question is to determine your ability to quickly identify unique features and selling attributes about the item and communicate value to the customer (interviewer). Additionally, the interviewer is trying to determine your ability to think on your feet. Selling can be high-pressure, and this is a good test of your ability to manage. This question, or one similar, is sometimes asked in nonsales job interviews as a way to test the prospect's quick wit and creativity.

Have You Faced an Ethical Dilemma in Selling and What was Your Response?

Selling is a career that requires a high level of ethics on the part of sales agents. The stigma of high-pressure, aggressive and dishonest selling practices used in the early 20th century is no longer valid. Companies want ethical salespeople to build long-term customer relationships. They also need you to understand and abide by industry standard laws and ethical norms. Your response to a question like this about selling ethics should include a clear statement that you are an ethical salesperson. Share an example of a tough situation you have faced and how you demonstrated a high degree of ethical decision making.

References

• Business Dictionary: Sales Agency Definition
• Best-Job-Interview: Sales Interview Questions and Answers Essential Guide
• Job Bank USA: Sales Ability - Interview Questions
• Job Bank USA: Ethics - Interview Questions