GlenRoss

Account Executive

Best question to ask when hiring AEs?

I just started interviewing people for my team and don’t really have a set process down.

What are some of the best questions you ask in interviews that are very telling if a candidate is a good or bad fit for a sales role?

📚 Resource

19 comments

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braintank

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

I hate interviewing people. But I always default to: why are you leaving? what do you know about us? why do you want to work here?

Palladium_Rog

Valued Contributor

Account Executive

I hate these questions with passion. As salesperson I'd answer "I know you're still on the market therefore you make money" and "I wanna work here to make money".

I much rather prefer work-related questions like "how do you handle slumps? How do you work with a difficult prospect? How do you prioritise your day/week/month" etc.

braintank

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

If someone said they want to work at my company to make money we probably wouldn't hire them.

Yes, we're all coin operated, but I want to know why you want to work at my company, as opposed to the thousands of others out there.

Palladium_Rog

Valued Contributor

Account Executive

Frankly, it's hard to say anything about a company before you've worked there. I heard so much stuff about companies I've worked in before joining them and then reality check came. Practically nothing turned out to be true.

Therefore, if I was hiring I wouldn't believe any of the bullshit they'd tell me about my company. Probably half wouldn't be true anyway. People are driven by money and if they get compensated well they don't care if you have fruit Tuesdays or your CEO wears pink underwear.

I had zero knowledge of my current company. They approached me, not the other way around. They told me what they do and how, and they convinced me to apply. Interviews were full of questions I mentioned previously and not mundane, pointless questions like "where do you see yourself in 10 years?"

I see myself in Tesla riding on the moon. What? I'm a visionary.

paddy

WR Officer

Director of Business Development

"Sell me this intern" is what I use when dealing with human traffickers in Cambodia

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

Interactive. I like it.

1nbatopshotfan

Politicker

Sales

This may be a bit of a gimmick, but I like to ask them to teach me a skill. Whatever skill they feel comfortable teaching. It shows how they’ll present when they have our product and process down. It’s our job to get them to that comfort level, so seeing them walk through a describe something that may be mundane shows me how they’ll do in front of a client.

Also ask about attainment, what drives them, are there any common hurdles they have run into at previous jobs.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

I taught my boss how to pageant walk and pose. It was pretty damn fun.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

That does sound cool, and I hope you got that on video.

Beans

Big Shot

Enterprise Account Executive

Got this in my last interview...

bandabanda

Tycoon

Senior AE Mid Market

How do you approach your day, week, month?
What’s your sales process or methodology?
(They’ll talk about their successes/achievements) - why do you think you’ve been successful?
I might be old school but I also like behavior based questions (tell me about a time when…)

justatopproducer

Politicker

VP OF SALES -US

These are the questions you get asked for salesforce. But I also agree with them. Shows their success is repeatable and they have a plan or can follow one at least.

bandabanda

Tycoon

Senior AE Mid Market

Wasn’t intentional lol. I did interview there but these are some top questions I’ve gathered over multiple interviews.

IndianaShep

Politicker

Director of Sales and Marketing

Ask what kind of follow up they rely on, then see if they practice what they preach on you following the interview.

Blackwargreymon

Politicker

MDR

This may be a bit of a gimmick, but I like to ask them to teach me a skill. Whatever skill they feel comfortable teaching.

Coffeesforclosers

Notable Contributor

Director Sales and Market Development

have you ever failed to hit your quota?

2 parter here-
1. if they say no, bullshit youre a liar and interview over
2. yes, ask what did you learn from it, those honest answers are best

mollybloomstanaccount

Politicker

AE (Account Executive)

Got this one in a recent final round “Tell me about a time you lost a deal and what you learned from it”

MR.StretchISR

Politicker

ISR

Welcome to the Dark Side

Clashingsoulsspell

Politicker

ISR

To be a good sales manager you have to know your way around sales. 2 years really doesn’t cut it for most places, so I feel like this is either a courtesy, or you’re betting set up to fail. Managing is a different gig with a totally different skill set, but you’ll have a hard time getting people to respect your position with so little experience.

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