Sales Intern Interview

What interests you the most about a career in sales?

Yeah so I think what interests me most about a career in sales is a few things first of all it's the ability and the chance to have autonomy over my success it's the competitive environment which I thrive in and it's the space that conduces a growth mindset and the strive to get better every day when it comes to having control over your success that's the name of the game in sales the more you sell the more effort you put in the more small things you do the higher the outcome is of your job which makes me passionate about sales when it comes to competitive environment I've grown up my entire life playing sports and competition fuels my drive to succeed which I know is a huge aspect of the sales landscape especially in Tech and when it comes to having a growth mindset and sales especially in this very Dynamic landscape that is Tech sales you need to constantly be improving you need to always be refining your craft learning new Concepts learning new technologies and overall getting 1% better every day which fuels me not just professionally but personally as well whether it's in the gym whether it's financially whether it's with relationships and I think that growth mindset ties all back into sales at the end of the day

Your answer effectively highlights several key motivations for pursuing a career in sales, such as autonomy, competition, and a growth mindset. These elements are particularly relevant in a sales role, especially in a dynamic field like tech, making your response fit well with the question.

Strengths of Your Answer:
1. Personal Connection: You share your background in sports, which establishes a personal connection to your competitive drive. This makes your answer more relatable and authentic.
2. Focus on Growth: Emphasizing the importance of continuous improvement and learning aligns well with the current demands of tech sales, where keeping up with trends and technology is crucial.
3. Clear Structure: Your answer is organized into distinct points, which makes it easy to follow.

Areas for Improvement:
1. Conciseness: While your points are valid, try to express them more succinctly. This will help maintain the interviewer’s attention and avoid redundancy.
2. Examples: Incorporating specific examples or experiences related to these motivations (e.g., a particular moment in sports that taught you about competition or any sales experience you may have) would strengthen your answer further.
3. Wrap-Up: A concluding statement that ties all your points together and reiterates your enthusiasm for the role could provide a powerful finish.

Overall, I would rate your answer 4/5. The content demonstrates a solid understanding of what makes a career in sales appealing, but refining it for brevity and including specific examples could enhance its impact.

Can you describe a time when you had to overcome a challenge in a team setting?

Yeah so I think this is a very important question especially in a sales workplace because you're always driving off of your teammates and trying to improve with your team so I think a good example of this has to be back in Q3 of this year in my current role so I was working with the team about three other sdrs on a certain contract for a real estate mentorship program which was about $4,000 and offered by a prominent real estate investor so we were doing solid we're getting a good amount of calls booked on the calendar but the problem was the show rate was starting to slip for our calls booked so I noticed this and I talked to my team and we decided to hop on a zoom call lasted about 2 hours and on that call we just went through the CRM we looked into leads that we booked to see which leads were showing up the meetings and which leads weren't and what we noticed was the lead that showed up at a much higher rate usually had a day before check-in call or a very personalized text or email as opposed to the leads that just got a systematized basic text the day before so we realize this and we implemented a new workflow to where we would call the leads the day before every single one and give them a personalized email to ensure their attendance on the meeting the next day and from this new system within the first week of implementing our changes the show rate went from about 65% to I think around 83% on meetings booked which was a huge Improvement and led to an overall increase of I think $60,000 in Revenue within a month and that really just shows the value of teamwork and how working together on a common goal is much more efficient and as my mentors always say if you want to go fast go alone but if you want to go far go together

Your answer effectively addresses the question about overcoming challenges in a team setting. It showcases your awareness of team dynamics, highlights a specific problem (the declining show rate), and demonstrates your proactive approach to finding a solution. You provide a clear example of collaboration with your colleagues, which is crucial in a sales environment. Additionally, you quantify the results of your efforts, indicating the tangible impact of your team’s work, which is compelling to potential employers.

However, there are a few areas for improvement:

1. Structure: Consider breaking your answer into clearer stages – problem identification, collaborative solution development, and results. This structuring would help the interviewer follow your thought process more easily.

2. Specificity: While you mention working with three other SDRs, a brief mention of each team member's role or perspective would further illustrate teamwork and collaboration dynamics.

3. Reflection: Including a brief insight on what you learned from that experience or how it has shaped your approach in subsequent situations could provide a more rounded response.

Overall, your answer is relevant and demonstrates strong teamwork and problem-solving skills, crucial for a sales role. However, refining the structure and reflecting on lessons learned would strengthen it further.

Rating: 4/5

How do you prioritize your tasks when faced with multiple deadlines during your internship?

Yeah so I think this is very important especially in the fast-paced sales landscape so when I have multiple headlines and it's getting tight on time I like to break everything into time blocks so I would kind of group the most important projects or deadlines in the first part of my day knock those all out and then sort of reverse engineer my day from there in order of most important to least important and most time demanding to least time demanding for instance if I had a few Discovery calls that day I would try to have them scheduled towards the morning to knock all those out and to get in some way of a flow State and then from there if I had to make 80 to 100 cold calls that day I would do that all in one time block after my first discovery calls again they get in the Flow State I also like to focus on the Pareto Principle or 20% of your actions are responsible for 80% of the results and focusing on those 20% tasks and being able to identify those is huge when Facebook multiple deadlines

Your answer is on the right track and demonstrates an understanding of prioritization in a sales environment, but it could use some refinement. Here’s a breakdown of your response:

1. Clarity and Structure: Your answer effectively outlines a systematic approach to prioritizing tasks through time blocking. However, the delivery could be clearer; consider breaking it into shorter sentences for better readability.

2. Practical Examples: You provided practical examples of how you would structure your day, mentioning Discovery calls and cold calls. This is excellent as it shows your understanding of sales activities.

3. Reference to Principles: You invoked the Pareto Principle, which is relevant and demonstrates a higher level of strategic thinking. This adds depth to your answer.

4. Flow State Concept: Mentioning the "flow state" indicates an awareness of productivity techniques, which is a valuable insight in a fast-paced environment.

Areas for improvement:
- Conciseness: Streamline your thoughts to avoid redundancy. For instance, rather than saying "knock those all out," you could just say "complete them."
- Response to Deadline Pressure: It would be beneficial to explicitly mention how you adapt if unexpected tasks or urgent deadlines arise. This shows flexibility.
- Conclusion: Summarize your answer succinctly, perhaps reiterating your commitment to meeting deadlines while maximizing productivity.

Overall, I would rate your answer 4/5. It shows a solid understanding of the importance of prioritization and effective task management in sales, but could benefit from clearer organization and some added depth regarding adaptability under pressure.