Director of sales interview questions

This Sales Director interview profile brings together a snapshot of what to look for in candidates with a balanced sample of suitable interview questions. Similar job titles include Director of Sales.

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Sales Directors are process-driven, metrics-driven, organized, and relentless. They know more than anyone else that their success in this role depends on a viable business plan and lockstep teamwork. They will see this interview as an opportunity to evaluate your company and product as thoroughly as you’re assessing their experience and qualifications.

Your Sales Director candidates must demonstrate great leadership above all. This the quality that distinguishes sales directors from sales managers and regional sales managers. These candidates should be able to present concrete examples of how they have hired, trained, motivated, and monitored sales teams. Listen for responses that are informed by hands-on experience, as opposed to a theoretical knowledge of building and managing teams.

In addition, you want to hire someone with expert-level knowledge of their process, product, and customer. Strong candidates must be able to walk you through sales processes they’ve designed, and justify these processes with facts and figures. They should be able to pitch their product to you in a compelling fashion, and tell you how their product stacks up against their competitors. They must fully understand their customers’ needs and be able to walk you through the customer’s buying decision journey in detail.

Operational questions

• What kind of sales did you do at your last company? (Inside sales? Field sales?)
• What was the size of your team at your last company?
• What was your sales quota?
• How did you generate leads?
• Describe your product. What are the benefits? Who are your customers?
• Why do customers buy your product? What are the alternatives?
• Describe your customers’ buying decision process. Who approves or blocks the buying decision? What do you need to line up to close the sale?
• Where do you find great sales talent?
• What criteria do you use to evaluate sales skills?
• How do you monitor the performance of individual team members?
• How do you motivate your team?