Interview Questions for Sales & Marketing

The day-to-day activities involved in operating your business may leave you little time for marketing, or perhaps your strengths lie more in the technical aspects of your enterprise. If so, you may be considering hiring a sales and marketing professional to help your small business grow. A few interview questions can help ensure you're hiring the right candidate for the job.

What Do You Know About Our Products/Business?

This question helps you determine if the candidate has bothered to take the time to research your company and its products. It also gives you the opportunity to see how well the candidate can make a presentation. You could follow up the question by asking what marketing ideas for your company the candidate could bring to the table if hired.

Can You Tell Me About a Successful Marketing Campaign You Helped Develop?

This helps you gauge the candidate's true level of experience regarding developing and implementing marketing concepts. The candidate should be able to take you through the marketing process, from the idea stage to when the marketing program actually hit the streets. You could also ask her what problems she incurred along the way and how she dealt with them successfully.

Can You Give Me an Example of a Time You Overcame an Objection?

Salespeople are constantly forced to overcome objections to make a sale. A successful salesperson should have no problem providing examples of times when he had to leap a major hurdle, such as having higher prices than a competitor, but was still able to gain the business. A follow-up question could involve asking what the candidate perceives as a major objection to selling your products and how he would overcome it.

What Motivates You?

This question helps you gain a better understanding of what makes the candidate tick. If the candidate indicates she is motivated by attaining prestige and the job she's interviewing for is selling plumbing supplies, it might not be a good fit. On the other hand, if the candidate is highly motivated by money and your job offers only a small salary but has the potential of high earnings from incentives, you may have found the right person.

What Do You Like Least About Your Current Position?

The answer to this question can alert you to any potential red flags. For example, if the candidate indicates he doesn't like dealing with the "little things," it may be a sign that he is lax in areas such as paying attention to detail or following through with customers. Since sales and marketing positions typically involve frequent customer interaction, these traits could make for some unhappy customers.