Sales representative interview questions

What this hire must get done

Write the scorecard before you interview, then hire against it. Set the bracketed targets from your own numbers.

What to tell candidates before the interview

Say the hard parts plainly. People who wouldn't stay drop out early, and the ones who stay knew what they signed up for.

• Say where appointments come from, roughly how many a week in [busy and slow months], and whether you expect the rep to find their own leads.
• Show the pay plan in writing before the interview: what commission is paid on, when, any draw or training pay and how long it lasts, and what happens when a sale cancels. California requires commission agreements in writing, and it's good practice anywhere. Say too that you track cancellations and reviews next to sales.
• Name the schedule: appointments run [weekday evenings until 8 p.m. and Saturdays], when homeowners are home, with more in [your busy season].
• The job means driving to customers' homes. Say that you check driving records, and when in the hiring process that happens.

How to run the interview

1. Same questions, same order. Ask every candidate the questions below and the same follow-ups. It is the only way to compare people fairly.
2. Two interviewers. An owner or manager and someone who does the work. Take notes on what the candidate says, not on how you feel about them.
3. Score right after each answer. 5 sounds like the strong answer, 3 like the mixed one, 1 like the weak one. Use 2 and 4 for answers in between.
4. Rate alone, then compare. Compare candidates question by question, and talk only after everyone has scored. Big gaps are worth a conversation.

1. Technical · Discovery

   Walk me through the first fifteen minutes of an in-home appointment, before you show any price.

   The opening shows whether the rep learns what this customer needs or runs a script and hopes it fits.

   Follow-ups

   • What questions do you always ask, and why those?
   • How do you learn what they want to spend without opening with "What's your budget"?
   • What do you do if someone who'll make the decision isn't there?

   5Strong

   Keeps small talk short, asks why now, what they've tried, what matters most and how long they plan to stay in the home, inspects or measures before pricing, and sums up the problem in the customer's words before presenting anything.

   3Mixed

   Asks good questions but runs them as a checklist, without following up on the answers, or presents before summing up what they heard.

   1Weak

   Opens with the company's history, or goes straight to the price.

2. Behavioral · Discovery

   Tell me about a sale you lost that, looking back, you lost in the first ten minutes.

   Reps who trace a loss back to the opening learn from it. Reps who blame the price never do.

   Follow-ups

   • What did you miss or skip?
   • How did you find out what went wrong?
   • What do you do differently in the first ten minutes now?

   5Strong

   Names a specific appointment and the mistake, like not asking why now, pitching to the wrong person or assuming the budget. Says how they learned it and a habit they changed and still use.

   3Mixed

   Has a real loss and a fair guess why, but the lesson is general, like "build more rapport".

   1Weak

   Blames the price, the lead or the customer, or says they don't lose sales early.

3. Situational · Honest options

   You've shown three options. The customer points at the lowest-priced one and asks whether it's junk. What do you say?

   Options only help the customer if each one is real. This shows whether the rep built the low option to sell or to scare.

   Follow-ups

   • How do you build the three options in the first place?
   • Which one would you recommend for them, and why?
   • When would you tell a customer the lowest option is the right one?

   5Strong

   Says what the basic option does well and what it gives up, such as warranty, efficiency or expected life, and who it suits. Recommends the one that fits what the customer said they want, and is fine if they pick the lowest.

   3Mixed

   Answers honestly about the trade-offs but won't recommend one, leaving the customer to sort it out alone.

   1Weak

   Runs down the low option to move them up, or admits it's there to make the middle one look good.

4. Technical · Selling what can be built

   Walk me through how you write up a sold job so the crew can build it exactly as you sold it.

   The handoff is where sales mistakes turn into rework, discounts and angry customers.

   Follow-ups

   • What measurements or photos do you always include?
   • What do you put in writing that the customer only told you out loud?
   • Tell me about a time what you wrote up didn't match what the crew found.

   5Strong

   Includes measurements checked twice, photos, product or material choices, access and site conditions, what's not included, and anything promised out loud, like moving furniture or a start window. Confirms dates with production before promising them.

   3Mixed

   Covers scope and measurements well but leaves out exclusions or spoken promises, so the crew learns them at the door.

   1Weak

   Leaves the crew to figure it out on site, or says paperwork is the office's job.

5. Situational · Closing without pressure

   You've presented and answered questions, and the customer says, "We need to think about it." What do you do and say next?

   It's the stall every rep hears. The answer shows whether the rep finds the real concern or reaches for pressure.

   Follow-ups

   • What would you say, word for word?
   • When, if ever, is a price for signing today fair?
   • What do you leave with them, and when do you follow up?

   5Strong

   Respects it, then asks once what they want to think through, like price, the option, timing or another quote, and answers that. Leaves a written proposal and sets a follow-up time they agree to. Uses a same-day price only if it's real and in the price book.

   3Mixed

   Accepts it politely and leaves a proposal, but never asks what's holding them back or sets a time to follow up.

   1Weak

   Pushes a "tonight only" price, calls the manager for a special deal, or keeps rebutting.

6. Behavioral · Selling straight

   Tell me about a time a customer didn't need what your company sells, or needed much less than they asked for. What did you do?

   Pressure sales come back as cancellations, complaints and bad reviews. A rep who has walked away from a sale before will do it for you.

   Follow-ups

   • What did walking away cost you?
   • How did your manager react?
   • What happened with that customer later?

   5Strong

   Gives a specific case: told the customer plainly, sold the smaller fix or sent them elsewhere, and knows what came of it, like a referral, a review or a later sale. Says it was right even though it cost them.

   3Mixed

   Did the right thing, but only when the job was too small to matter, and can't name a time it cost them a real commission.

   1Weak

   Sold it anyway because the customer agreed, or can't think of a time.

7. Technical · Selling straight

   A homeowner signs a contract at their kitchen table on a Saturday. What do you tell them about canceling, and what do you leave with them?

   Many in-home sales fall under the FTC's Cooling-Off Rule. A rep who skips or blurs the buyer's right to cancel puts the sale and your company at risk.

   Follow-ups

   • When does their right to cancel end on that sale?
   • What do you say if they call the next morning to cancel?
   • What would you do if a manager told you to skip the cancellation forms on a busy night?

   5Strong

   Tells them out loud they can cancel until midnight of the third business day: Wednesday for a Saturday sale, later if a federal holiday falls in between, since Sundays and holidays don't count. Leaves a dated copy of the contract and two filled-in cancellation forms, plus anything your state adds.

   3Mixed

   Tells them they have three business days and leaves the forms, but has to look up the exact deadline and isn't sure what happens when a customer calls to cancel.

   1Weak

   Says all sales are final, skips the forms, or tries to talk the customer out of canceling.

8. Behavioral · Follow-up and pipeline

   Tell me about a proposal that closed after the first visit didn't. What did you do between the visit and the signature?

   Follow-up turns open proposals into sales. Nagging turns them into complaints. You want the rep who knows the difference.

   Follow-ups

   • What did you send or say that wasn't just "checking in"?
   • How many times did you reach out, and how?
   • When do you stop following up?

   5Strong

   Set the next step before leaving, followed up on time with something useful, like an answer to their question, photos or a revised option, logged each touch in the CRM, and stops when the customer says no or asks them to.

   3Mixed

   Followed up and closed it, but with general check-ins on no set schedule, and can't say what moved the customer.

   1Weak

   Stops after one call, or calls until the customer gives in.

9. Situational · Selling what can be built

   A customer will sign today if you promise the job starts within two weeks. Production is booked four weeks out. What do you say?

   A start date the crew can't meet turns into cancellations and angry calls, and they land on your production team.

   Follow-ups

   • Who do you check with before you answer?
   • What do you say if they walk away over it?
   • What would you put in writing about the start date?

   5Strong

   Tells the truth about the schedule, checks with production for a real opening, offers a spot on a cancellation list, writes the honest start window into the contract, and accepts losing the sale over a promise they can't keep.

   3Mixed

   Doesn't promise two weeks, but gives a vague "we'll try" that the customer hears as yes.

   1Weak

   Promises two weeks to get the signature and leaves production to sort it out.

10. Behavioral · Follow-up and pipeline

    Tell me how you've been paid on commission before, not what you earned: how the plan worked, and how you ran your month around it.

    Commission reps manage themselves. How they understood and worked a past plan shows whether they track their own numbers or wait for good leads.

    Follow-ups

    • What did the plan reward, and what did it miss?
    • What numbers did you track for yourself each week?
    • What did you do in your slowest month?

    5Strong

    Explains the plan clearly: base or draw, what commission was paid on and when, and what happened on cancellations. Tracked their own close rate and average sale, and names specific steps in a slow month, like working old proposals or asking past customers for referrals.

    3Mixed

    Understood how they were paid but didn't track their own numbers, so slow months just happened to them.

    1Weak

    Can't explain how their pay was figured, or blames the plan or the leads for every bad month.

Work exercise: mock in-home appointment

Build a made-up appointment packet: lead notes, photos and measurements of a home, and a price sheet with three options. Give finalists [15] minutes to prepare, then play the homeowner for [20] minutes. Ask real questions back, and near the end say you need to think about it. If you can't role-play, have them write the proposal and follow-up message from the same packet in [30] minutes. Use only made-up materials, and never send a candidate into a real customer's home unpaid.

Use made-up materials, never real customer work, and keep it to the time shown. Follow your own safety rules for anything hands-on.

Reference check questions

Tell finalists you'll call a former manager, and get their permission first. Ask about what they did, not whether they were nice.

• Compared with reps working the same kinds of leads, how did their close rate and their cancellations look?
• What did customers say about how they sold, in reviews or complaints, and how did they respond?
• When their sold jobs reached the crew, what was usually missing, if anything?
• How did they handle proposals that didn't close at the first visit, and would you hire them again?

Questions to skip, and what to ask instead

Ask only what the job needs. Questions that touch age, health, family or pay history can break federal, state or local law, even when you mean well.

• SkipWhat did you earn last year?

  AskThis role pays [the commission plan, any draw and a realistic first-year range]. What range do you need from this job?

• SkipSaturday appointments won't clash with church, will they?

  AskAppointments run [weekday evenings and Saturdays]. How would that schedule work for you?

• SkipAny tickets, accidents or DUI arrests I should know about?

  AskTell finalists you check driving records for this job, and when. Run the check [after a conditional offer] with their written consent, following federal and state rules: if a screening company pulls it, give the notice on a separate form first. Judge every record against the same written standard.

Common mistakes when hiring a sales representative

• Hiring the closer with the cancellations

  A rep who led the board at their last company may have done it with same-day pressure. Ask references about cancellations and complaints, not just sales, and watch how they handle "think about it" in the role-play.

• Judging the pitch instead of the questions

  A polished presentation is easy to admire. Count how many real questions they ask before showing a price. A rep who skips discovery sells the wrong job.

• Sending a new rep out before the paperwork is ready

  Some states require home improvement salespeople to register before they sell. California's contractor board does, for example. Check your state, and have your contract and cancellation forms ready before the first appointment.

Sales representative interview FAQ