Hi sales savages. I am actively interviewing and am curious what everyone thinks are the best answers to these questions: "Tell me about a time that you did not hit quota. What did you learn from it and how did you change your approach moving forward? " Tell me about a time when a deal didn’t follow the typical sales process. What was different about it and how did you adapt? (obviously this is specific person to person but I am struggling for some reason to pull out a specific example"

killingquotakenny

Account Executive

Interview advice

Hi sales savages. I am actively interviewing and am curious what everyone thinks are the best answers to these questions:

"Tell me about a time that you did not hit quota. What did you learn from it and how did you change your approach moving forward? "
Tell me about a time when a deal didn’t follow the typical sales process. What was different about it and how did you adapt? (obviously this is specific person to person but I am struggling for some reason to pull out a specific example"

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goose

Politicker

Sales Executive

I'm going to go with "honestly". The thing about experience-based questions is that it doesn't really matter what you say but how you say it. People are looking for the context around your answer, not necessarily just your answer.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

Yes. Take ownership and end on a positive note.

1nbatopshotfan

Politicker

Sales

I would say for number 1, just be honest if you have a month/quarter/yearly miss. What happened. I’d take a wild guess and say 80% of sales people missed a monthly number last year because of Covid shock. How’d you adapt from that miss? What actions helped you recover. What did you do to thrive? Answer that with your response and that will give a good view into your work ethic and desire.

I think question 2 is bait to see if you can tell a deal review that is basically “client was out of control, dictating to us and I had to reset them to follow a loose process” or something similar.

hh456

Celebrated Contributor

sales

Call me old fashion but #2 is a trap. Here are my answers. 2) I’ve always hit quota. It’s about putting in the effort and knowing I need to perform to earn a living. Quota is the minimum, I’ve always done at least the minimum. 4) Think of a time a deal went all goofy and you closed it. “My team was working a deal and they entered and exited the sales funnel a few times. We ended up bumping into our point of contact at a conference, mentioned our solution to them, spent some time showing them a demo on my laptop over dinner, they asked for contract so I went to my hotel room and sent one over from our platform and they signed it that evening. We had them scheduled for training in two weeks and we adapted by shooting our shot, striking when the iron was hot and being persistent” Or whatever.

MLD

Good Citizen

SVP

When I’m interviewing candidates I’m looking for awareness and action with regards to question #1. Are you aware of what you did wrong and did you take action to change? Question 2 involves awareness and grit, ability to get things done and maybe creativity. Looking for the quality of the answer to address the above.

The_Sales_Badger

Notorious Answer

Account Executive

2) First, I asked my manager/upper-management that Ive known for years for feedback on why they thought I didn’t hit quota. With their feedback about my prospecting techniques, and follow-up - I approached 3 of our top-earners and shadowed each to see why they were successful. Being open-minded and willing to adapt changed everything for me the next quarter.

The_Sales_Badger

Notorious Answer

Account Executive

4) Whats the craziest, roller coaster of a sale you’ve ever experienced? Why was it crazy? How did you win? Who helped you get there (teamwork is preferable). Respond to this, and Ill see if we can tighten it ip

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killingquotakenny

Interview advice

7 comments

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