Sales

Sales Targeted Selection Interview

Teamwork

Working with others

• Tell me about a time when you were involved in a team project and what part did you play.
• Describe a situation when you have had to work on something in close collaboration with others over a period of time.
• What were the main problems you encountered and how did you overcome them?
• Describe a situation when you have had to persuade or influence someone to accept your ideas or plans? Why did you do this and how did you approach it?

Supportive Leadership

• Describe a time when you have had to lead a team of people. Describe what approach you took. Was it successful, if so why, if not why?
• Tell me about a time when you have been working in a team where certain members were not ‘pulling their weight’. How did the team handle this and what in particular did you do?

Flexibility

• Tell me about a time when you had to go out of your way to satisfy a customers requirements.

Planning/Organisational Skills

• Describe to me an event that you have organised.
• Tell me about a major project or task that you were involved with.
• Describe in detail the approach you took to organise and carry out the project or task through to completion.
• Can you describe a situation when you had to change your plans at short notice? What approach did you take?
• What time management skills would you utilise to overcome a heavy workload?
• How do you plan your time?

Building Rapport

• Tell me about a time when you successfully built rapport with a potentially difficult customer.

Customer Service

• Tell me about the most you have ever done to satisfy a particular customer.
• Provide an example of when you had conflict with a doctor - what happened and what was the result?
• Tell me a time when you have gone over and above the call of duty
• Tell me a time when you experienced difficulty with access. What did you do differently to get in?

Sales Skills

• Tell me about your most satisfying achievement. What was the result? How did you achieve these results/this award?
• Give me an example of when you weren't meeting your targets - what did you do, what was the result?

Personal Qualities

• Could you tell me about an event, task or piece of work that you started by your own initiative?
• To what extent did you carry on with it through your own initiative?
• Tell me about a time when you challenged yourself to learn, change or to take on more responsibility?  What did you do?
• Can you tell me about a time when you had a number of tasks or projects going on at the same time? How did you prioritise the tasks? How did you organise your timetable to accommodate those tasks?

Innovation

• Where have you saved the company time / money or made them money?
• What ideas have you contributed to the company?  How many were adopted and how much did that make / save the company?
• Can you give me an example of when you changed a process or a system?

Drive / Motivation

• What have you done above and beyond the role expectations?

Presentations

• Ensure acetates are typed, unfussy and without spelling mistakes, get someone else to check your presentation through
• Use bullet points where possible
• Ensure any crib notes are simple
  • They are a prompt, not a script
• Stand with your feet slightly apart facing your audience
  • This will make you twist your body to read the screen and remind you that by doing this you are no-longer facing your audience
• Speak slowly, clearly and confidently
  • Nerves may make you ramble and mutter and say ‘Err’ and ‘Umm’ a lot
  • Be aware of this and check yourself on it
• Know your presentation inside out
  • Practising in the mirror will let you see how you come across
  • Go over it time and time again
  • The better you know it, the better you will be on the day
• Smile and be enthusiastic
• Engage your audience
• Inform the audience that you will be happy to deal with any of their questions at the end of the presentation
  • This will let them know you are confident and in control
• Make sure the presentation deals with the title subject and let your audience know what you are trying to achieve with the presentation.
• Make sure it has a beginning, middle, and end
• Maintain equal amounts of eye contact with everyone you are presenting to
• Deal with any questions at the end
• Finally thank your audience for their attention

After the initial interviewing stages it has become increasingly common for the client companies to invite the strongest candidates to an assessment centre.  This is usually a full day involving a number of competency-based tasks and activities including:

• Psychometric Test
• Occupational Personality Questionnaire (OPQ)
• Competency Interview
• Role-play
• Group exercise
• Presentation

Each exercise assesses specific competencies, usually assessing five or six competencies overall, and these competencies are scored throughout the day.

The day usually starts early in the morning and finishes around 5pm. To start the day there is a presentation by the company to provide the candidate with a good understanding of the company. 

You will need to maintain your motivation and impact throughout the day. There will be coffee breaks and a lunch break which gives you a chance to fully display your personality and network with the other candidates and assessors.  Remember that not all candidates on the assessment will be your competition, often they will be recruiting for several vacancies.

Psychometric Tests

• Verbal and Numerical tests.

The key is not to panic and to keep calm. If you can’t answer one question leave it and return to it later.  In this exercise quality and quantity count as it is timed (usually 30-35 minutes).

Occupational Personality Questionnaire (OPQ)

• This is a questionnaire specifically designed to assess personality characteristics in the working environment.  Several similar questions will be asked in an attempt to catch you out so honesty is the best policy.  There is no time limit.

Competency Interview

• Follows the same format as previously stated. Demonstrating your key attributes, skills and behaviours with specific and relevant examples.  The use of a brag file to demonstrate your track record of success would be highly beneficial.

Role Play

• This is usually a sales scenario, for example, selling a mobile phone.  Again there is no need to panic in this exercise.  Follow the basic IDEALS steps to selling.  At the end of the exercise the assessor may ask you for feedback on your own performance.  Be honest and suggest possible improvements for future selling scenarios.  This demonstrates that you have self-awareness.

Group Exercise

• A group of candidates (usually 4-6) will be given a brief for this exercise either written or verbal. The brief is used to initiate discussions within the group allowing the assessors to analyse your communication skills, team-working abilities and team dynamics.  This exercise involves reasoning of hypothetical situations. Aim to get your point across clearly and with justifiable reasoning.  Listen to others and encourage their input.  Challenge but do not confront other candidates aggressively. This exercise will be time limited.  Time keeping is important so make sure you are reaching a conclusion at the end of the exercise.

Presentation

• You will be given a brief which will outline the presentation title, any relevant data, the preparation time and the length of presentation required.  An example is “Describe your first six months on territory”. This focuses on business planning. The time limits assess your time-management skills and presentation skills.  Understand what you are presenting and have good reasoning for your choices because there will be a question and answer period at the end.

At the end of the day the assessors will meet and discuss each candidate individually and mark you on the day’s activity. Don’t worry if you think you have messed up one exercise because you can make it up in the other exercises. Although it is quite a daunting day, most people come away having enjoyed the day and with a positive impression of the company.  It gives you more than one chance to impress them.  It is a long and exhausting day but with beneficial results.

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