The Top 12 SDR Interview Questions to Ask Your Next SDR Superstar

I know you wear a lot of hats as a manager and your to-do lists must take a lot of ink. The candidate connects their needs to the role they’re interviewing for. The interviewee showcases their values for hard work and personal development.

Ask your candidate about their favorite ways to upskill and how frequently they do it. Account managers are problem-solvers who play a crucial role in the growth of a business and usually develop long-term relationships with a select amount of valuable customers. They do this by making sales, handling complaints, collecting and analyzing customer data and trying to improve the overall buyer experience. This is another way of seeing how your candidate deals with rejection and failure. A great answer will reveal they’re always aiming to learn from unsuccessful deals, as great salespeople ask for constructive criticism and feedback on performance.

What Excites You About the Future of Sales?

This answer should reveal if they’re a good fit for your company culture. Make sure to ask follow-up questions to learn more about their mindset throughout that success, as well as the way they dealt with any hurdles and even the way they celebrated this sale. Despite the challenge of finding the perfect salesperson for your team, sales positions are the top hiring priority for talent acquisition leaders. Introduction The role of a salesperson cannot be overstated in this day and age. A salesperson is the first touchpoint for your business, which means you would…

If they say that one comes at the expense of the other, they may not be the right candidate. Of course, your company’s responsibility is to find intuitive technology that your team can learn without getting Sales Development Representative job stressed out or frustrated. Many SaaS providers design their interfaces specifically to be easy to adapt, so even sales reps without a firm grasp of technology can still make good use of their software.

The SDR role is an individual contributor position, however, you achieve and beat sales quotas as a team. Just like in sports, everyone wants to know where each team or individual stands. The motivation comes from not only wanting to be the MVP of the team, but even more so, from not wanting to consistently be at the bottom. Someone who will change the status quo, propel not only themselves to new heights, but the ‘sport’ of sales development!

Why should we hire you?

This question also allows you to figure out how well they can package several issues quickly in a conversation. It allows you to figure out how well your interviewee takes criticism. This question will also determine how well your interviewee shifts their attitude in response to criticism.

Responding well to sales hurdles is the mark of a strong candidate. Sales reps generally rush to close short cycles and take a long, personally tailored approach on long cycles. Evaluate how the candidate approaches each of these strategies and see where they put their spin on it. You should also learn their preference between long and short cycles if they have one. This question allows you to assess the candidate’s feelings about sales tech and their willingness to adopt a new tool. A good answer will include mentions of a sales CRM like Zendesk Sell.

How would you change our company’s approach to sales?

They want to know if you can be presented with a challenging situation and how you made it work. “Once, when I was working with a client on an important project, I told them I’d be finished in 3 weeks time. Standard time in the United States to give your current employer is 2 weeks notice. In the UK, for instance, I’ve heard of people giving 2-3 months notice. They want to know how quickly your process needs to move and how seriously you are taking the job search.

To recruit a perfect candidate, you have to ask all the right SDR interview questions and look for a well written CV. Some of them may be generic, some of them may be very sales-specific, yet you do need to know as much as possible about candidates before you hire them. SDRs have to ask insightful questions to get to the heart of prospects’ problems, and investigate their current environments. People with natural curiosity won’t have a problem enthusiastically sharing something they learned with you. But if the candidate struggles to come up with an example, it might be a red flag. If you plan to represent a company – even as an SDR/BDR who rarely leaves the office, plan on having a professional haircut and no facial hair.

It was an initial phone call, a follow up zoom call, and then another zoom call with the hiring manager. You get asked questions that has to do with your experience and your previous job positions. Next, the interviewee should apply the pen’s benefits to the interviewer and their needs. The candidate can ask questions about their workflow or suggest a common problem, like ballpoint pen rollers sticking in the middle of notetaking. Team culture plays a significant role in individual job satisfaction and team workflow.

• Inexperienced candidates may be eager to please and say “yes” without knowing the company or product details.
• You get asked questions that has to do with your experience and your previous job positions.
• Sometimes, your deals will pop out of nowhere, but, those are called “bluebirds” and don’t appear very often.
• These questions do absolutely come up during the interview and it is a really good move to prepare these answers ahead of time.

Some offer certain days of the week in office, others offer certain teams to be in the office. In hindsight, I knew that I should have underpromised so that I could overdeliver. After that experience, I would manage expectations appropriately from the onset of a new client project and always set a time that’s more than how long I know it will take. Come up with two to four things that are truly important to you in a working environment.

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Candidate rushes to begin pitching without thinking through their sell and fails to highlight unique benefits to the pen or consider the user’s needs. Besides, sales are a performance game, and you want an SDR who’s willing to chase every sale, no matter the method they have to use to get it. Demonstrates candidates’ ability to cope and work under pressure. Candidates should touch on the importance of understanding pain points, needs, and solutions. Solid candidates will show a desire to make compromises and persevere when possible.

They were considering a competitor’s service that offered this bonus at a slightly higher price. Answers should acknowledge the client’s needs and feelings https://wizardsdev.com/ with respect and understanding rather than disdain. Candidates who talk poorly of the prospect or client are unlikely to fit in with your team.

This is even more important if your organization prioritizes team-based goals. Plus, when a candidate values teamwork, it shows humility since they can recognize that two heads are better than one. Some SDRs are tasked with handling different parts of the sales process. So, ask this question to get an understanding of what parts you handle.

What Do You Know About Our Company and Product/Service?

How would you sell your favorite gel pen or a sweet Fuji apple? Sales managers love this question because it provides a glimpse into the candidate’s sales process and how they communicate with a prospective client. Many of the same principles that apply in interviews for other positions will carry over to your sales development representative interview.

Career-switchers and college grads often can bring fresh perspectives to the sales field. In fact, most people sort of “fall into” sales, so you’re not alone if you’re using past non-sales experience to help get you your first sales job. They want to know you are a team player and work well with others.

Sales Interview Questions (and How to Answer Them Like a Boss!)

Coachability is critical for sales development reps. Observe how well the candidate incorporates your feedback into their second attempt. This will indicate their level of coachability, as well as demonstrate their listening skills. As Daniel Pink argued in his book Drive, internal motivators such as autonomy, mastery, and purpose often trump external motivators like money or prestige.