Describe your general approach to setting quotas. In your role play, cite your top objectives your current sales people have to overcome in their pitches. What you’re really looking for is that they’ve done their research on you, and they’ve envisioned how they would make the … How do you structure your pipeline review meetings? Now in my situation above, luckily, the rapport building was good enough and the product won them over anyway, but that won’t always work out. What are the fundamental metrics for any SaaS business? Reducing customer churn and increasing product adoption. What do you need to know before you can design territory? If they can’t answer, they may not be the right choice. regarded questions. Never ask Salary, perks, leave, place of posting, etc. What VP of Sales interview questions have you been asked? When you requested the time with the executive what was your objective? Your candidate’s plan and methodology for building a sales force is arguably the most important area to explore with them in an interview. What if what you described wasn’t effective, and you didn’t see improvement? How will my performance be measured in this role? Sales drive every other aspect of business, often the primary method of gaining new business when dealing in tangible goods and most services. How do you manage conflict between peers? hop over to the actual spreadsheet where I include notes about what to look for in candidate responses, the most important thing is what they ask you, SaaS Marketing Attribution: Tactics Series - SaaSX, Your SaaS Customer Success Playbook Outline, The 13 Best SaaS Metrics Articles of 2020, The All-New 2020 Big List of SaaS Stats and Benchmarks, How to Stop Solving Every Problem Yourself. Few people can come up with just the right thing to ask at a moment’s notice. This question quickly separates individuals who are committed and passionate to our vision from those who are simply looking for a job. Describe in detail what a typical day is like for a sales leader? What do you do? One answer a sales VP said he liked when a candidate said, “My mortgage motivates me.” Saying you are goal-oriented, money-motivated, self-managed, self-determined, and passionate about sales are all good answers. What technique works best for you and which one doesn’t at all? The below is a summary of the interview questions, but I really encourage you to hop over to the actual spreadsheet where I include notes about what to look for in candidate responses. Weekly? 5) Positive. What is important is that it is thoughtful. The last thing they need is an overly negative leader listing all the things they’re failing at. Hands off or hands on? How do you organize your department (what does your ideal. Contact us if you are looking to find an exceptional leader. Hiring the right VP of Sales is one of the most important decisions for a founder or a CEO to make. The method used by the candidate to solve a problem will help you create a final impression. Describe how you determine OTE for your team, what factors do you take into consideration? Building radically efficient sales teams that win. Last week I posted some thoughts about what a new sales leader should focus on in their first 90 days. Throughout the interview, the VP candidate should look for these three qualities: Performance Conditions: Does the current environment allow the Sales VP to be as effective as possible? In hindsight what would you have done differently? ” and why you should be wary of someone who has a quick response. Last week I posted some thoughts about what a new sales leader should focus on in their first 90 days.Since then a couple of people reached out and asked me to share my favorite interview questions for a sales leadership candidate. Don’t underestimate how important this trait is to a sales VP. Towards the end, the interviewer will turn to you and ask if you have any questions. In this scenario, you will be giving the candidate a hypothetical business situation where he or she will have the opportunity to display their thoughts and ideas. He or she knows you won't always know your destination, where you want to end up, but you definitely need to know your direction. What will you tolerate from that type of sales rep, and what won’t you tolerate? Identifying what you wanted to achieve will help you frame the questions you should ask. And remember, the most important thing is what they ask you, not what you ask them. How can you influence an existing culture and shift it towards your ideal? Really. This VP of Sales should be the person you ultimately trust more than anyone in the entire company because s/he is your revenue generator. September 18, 2017. What is your typical team and individual meeting cadence? This is a must if they’re joining my company as an executive. How do you know when you need to let a rep go? To understand whether the job is suitable, candidates must ask the right questions. To be considered for exceptional leadership opportunities with our clients, please take the first step by joining the Y Scouts Leadership Community. See if they can explain what will happen, but more importantly, how it will happen. Strengths? Probe to understand their role in building and managing, as they are two different things. What do you do? Ace your sales interview with these helpful strategies for responding to interview questions, along with examples of common sales interview questions and sample answers. Are you formal or informal? what is your long-term strategic vision for the company? Of course, there are more things you can ask a sales VP or director candidate, but this list covers a lot of bases and you will learn so much about their style and philosophy if you run someone through all of these questions. Whar sales metrics do you look at daily? It stands to reason that you need to have a game plan for your interview to prevent this. Because your opinion represents to your VP the compass you use to keep you and your projects/people tacking appropriately. We decided to ask our Leadership Community what their favorite question to ask a potential new hire looking for a VP of Sales role, and why? You'll gain clarity as time goes on whether your … What mix of base and variable. Are they hands off or do they roll up their sleeves and get into the tools themselves? Have you ever had a situation where you had a conflict with a peer? What about in cases where there is little to go on? Tell me about the teams you’ve directly managed, and how you built them. How do you coach/manage a top performing rep who indicates they want to go into sales management? What process do you follow once you have made that decision? If not, would the Sale VP have authority to change … Learn more about our process here. When you hire the right VP of Sales, you see your revenues expand in an accelerated, more predictable and scalable fashion. Can you please tell me in your own words what we do? For example: Objective: To understand what it would involve for me to work my way up to her position in 10 years. He talks about the bottom line questions that CEO’s like to ask – “So, how much revenue can you drive for us this year? We find that our best hires have thoroughly researched us, determined the general and specific impact(s) they could have on the organization, and expressed this to us confidently in their first interview. However, the obvious time to ask open-ended questions is in the qualifying stage with a prospect. In your view, what is the difference between leading, managing, coaching and mentoring? Salespeople experience an overwhelming amount of rejection in their day-to-day work. Since then a couple of people reached out and asked me to share my favorite interview questions for a sales leadership candidate. What do you focus on, what do you accomplish? How do you coach/manage reps who are underperforming? Download my free eBook “Top 100 Sales Leader Interview Questions.” Remember, there are no great sales leaders. 1. 353 vice president sales interview questions. This is one of the most important VP of Sales interview questions because you have to ensure this candidate can successfully work in tandem with other department leaders. There isn’t a right or wrong answer to this question. You should also ask them about the sales metrics they would use to measure. 4. How did you stand out and get management to see … And most of all, running high-growth, capital-efficient organizations. Some of the sales coordinator interview questions you could ask in this section include “What would you do if your team performs poorly?” or “What kind of sales tools have you used in the past? Here’s the summary. Hiring a sales leader is a big deal no matter what stage your company is. […] to address some of the most common and basic executional failures. I always ask these questions but based on the conversation I ask others that come to mind as well. I will ask all of these questions over a series of interviews, and I’ve been known to ask some of them repeatedly until I get a sufficiently detailed response. What will my revenues look like 120 days after I hire you? Subscribe today. You want to be able to make an impact right away and the future of the company could impact how you perform. Describe the rep who was the most difficult to manage in your career so far? Questions to ask about the Multiplier Mindset. What kind of sales leader are you? Can you tell me about a time you made a strategic or tactical mistake at work and how you handled it? What are you most proud of professionally? Do you use one? Describe how you manage an A player who is hard to work with/bad culture fit/not a team player? Interview Questions for a Vice President of Sales Executives. Ask questions that require more than a simple "yes" or "no," but also take care to avoid asking questions that are too broad to answer concisely. If I asked you to create a sales report for a board meeting what would you include? These are the best sales questions to ask on a sales call to advance the relationship. The questions portion of … 10. Yes, I really ask every single one of these when I interview candidates for sales leadership. This will surely make work much easier for you. Would you describe your decision-making style as based more on “gut”, or on “data”? What is the one thing you would change about the company if you could today? Review them to help frame your responses based on your own qualifications, skills, product knowledge, achievements, and sales experiences. It helps me identify the journey and their sense of the situation from the get go. How would you describe the ideal sales culture? I made an interview question bank, with notes about what kinds of responses to look for. Sales Director Interview Questions. What is the most important and pressing problem for this new person to tackle? Probe for their level of familiarity and proficiency in the tech stack. 2 Key Questions to Ask Yourself. Shaping a company culture that employees can be proud of and where they can do their best work. [Ed Note: If you’re looking for questions to ask in one on ones with an individual contributor, these 1 on 1 Meeting Questions Great Managers ask Their Teams can help.] There are many wrong answers to this question, but never a correct one. Also, try not to ask questions with obvious answers or answers you could find by looking through the company's website. Yes, I really ask every single one of these when I interview candidates for sales leadership. I generally like to question his or her communication skills. Required fields are marked *. Ordinarily I write about bringing out the talent in other people, but for many years I focused on customer experience and marketing. In your opinion should sales or customer success own expansion? Of course, soft skills are notoriously difficult to screen for…and they’re also central to the act of selling. Y Scouts is an executive search firm that helps nonprofits and social enterprises find exceptional leaders. Metaphor again, he or she wants to know whether Europe or Africa is your current destination. Is there anything unique about selling SaaS that is different from other sales environments? What happened? How often do you conduct them? Dailius, VP Sales & Growth at GetAccept, says he’s curious to learn how much customers are willing to pay to continue using his product/service to “determine both pricing strategy for new customers and the price:value ratio to appropriately triage accounts.” What brought you here? Ideally, sales reps should ask as many open-ended sales questions as they can throughout the sales process. You discover that her/his emails are littered with typos, bad grammar, and incoherent sentence structure. � What VP of Sales interview questions do we ask, and what do other entrepreneurs ask their candidates? We examine a number of things throughout our evaluations, with special emphasis on Purpose, Values, Functional Expertise, Results, Personnel Development and Learning. What is it like for your reps to interact with you? We decided to ask our Leadership Community what their favorite question to ask a potential new hire looking for a VP of Sales role, and why? If they can’t describe how they’ve built a team, chances are they probably can’t build out their process. What do you consider? How do you approach territory creation? Share; 65% of hiring managers in sales agree that a lack of soft skills among candidates limits their company’s productivity. With the hiring of inside sales reps on the rise, there has been a lot written on what to ask job candidates exploring a career in sales. They know more than anyone else that their success in this role depends on a viable business plan and lockstep teamwork. Get the week’s SaaS best practices every Sunday morning. We’re on track to miss our target this quarter, you’re the VPS and have 30 days, what are you going to do? What are your communication skills like? The right answer is it depends – on a whole lot! But the gems are usually the ones that answer with something simple and impactful like, “Let me show you why…”. So, here goes. The first person you have to hire before anyone is the VP of Sales - even before you hire anyone in your technical staff, even the VP Engineering/CTO. Working with the other departments: Being a multiplier (or in your case exponential) is a key mindset to have as a leader. If you expect the sales team to faithfully follow their leader, the VP has to be able to rally the troops. Sell me my product. How would you describe your leadership style? Monthly? Your email address will not be published. It’s worth the time to get it right. Does your organization’s corporate responsibility strategy match the availability of your current resources?This question addresses your strategy in terms of the funding, time, people, and information necessary to make the strategy work, determining its feasibility.2. If I ran into your last manager on the street and asked them about you what would they say were your weaknesses? This part of the sales job interview isn’t just a formality, and it’s certainly not a chance for you to just coast. Should sales or customer success own renewals? Your first 30/60/90 days. And guess what, … Why to ask it: Why wait until your year-end review to find out if your boss thinks you achieved your goals - ask before it's too late! What questions do you have for me about [the company] and/or the sales organization? To give you a head start, I have included some of my favorite starter questions for a VP of Sales interview. Have them go through a sales pitch with you. How big a team do you think we need right now, given what you know? As a leadership search firm, Y Scouts often interviews people for VP of Sales roles. Hiring a VP of Sales? If someone’s going to join my organization immediately in a senior role, they have to know how to effectively communicate with myself, their colleagues, and direct reports. What if it doesn’t work? What OTE are you looking for? Describe your general approach for managing your A+ players. Why or why not. The more you learn about a prospect, the more consultative you can be to help them with their goals. Home » Blog » High Growth » 10 VP of Sales Interview Questions. Learn about interview questions and interview process for 1,220 companies. The interview is your opportunity to understand the company and boss. what "must's" have to occur to reach that vision? Good blog post by sales author Lee Salz on his personal experiences interviewing for a VP position and what to ask a potential VP Sales candidate…. It happens at every sales job interview. Do keep in mind that the questions you ask should be in “case-style”. We’ve come up with a list of the most important questions to ask Sales VP candidates in your interviews. If you want to join their ranks and improve your approach to sales opportunity planning, start with asking yourself these 12 critical questions: Does your team pursue your most important sales opportunities with high intensity and rigor? You are asking a great question. Great sales people get creative and see multiple uses for your product depending on the customer. Such as in a startup or an environment where there are limited benchmarks? The answer isn’t super important. Interview questions to ask about their expectations: What do you expect your new hire to achieve in the first three to six months on the job? I love tackling the challenges faced by SaaS companies. Most people who are trying to impress you will be more than happy to give you a syllabus of their credentials as to why. April 28, 2019 By Anna Talerico 2 Comments. Let’s say you have a sales rep who is always a top performer consistently every quarter. How would you approach building an outbound program from the ground up? Filed Under: Sales Tagged With: Recruiting. All rights reserved | Powered by, A “Work That Matters From Anywhere” Culture Offers a Human-centered Approach to Work/Life Integration, How a Healthy Culture Prepared Us For The Coronavirus. How do you leverage it? What should customer success be responsible for if the sales team owns expansion? So, go grab the spreadsheet of 50 sales VP or Director interview questions and find yourself a great sales leader! How important is it? What is the one thing you would change about the company if you could today? In addition, review a list of questions to ask your interviewer. Given your current knowledge of our team, do you think we need to expand our sales staff? We won’t share your email address or anything else. 7505 E 6th Ave., Suite 204, Scottsdale, AZ [email protected], Copyright © 2012-2021 Y Scouts. I blog about my experiences and perspectives here at SaaSX.com. Maybe you knew there were all sorts of good questions you could ask them … but you ended up blurting out the first one into your head. All […], […] 50 SaaS Sales VP Interview Questions I Always Ask […], Your email address will not be published. What is the official performance review process like at your company? Forecasts continue to be inaccurate after several months—the team is professional and engaged, but non-compliant with your process, they don’t update their deals, they don’t accurately follow the sales process, etc. Gregory Lewis. What was the outcome? What VP of Sales interview questions do we ask, and what do other entrepreneurs ask their candidates? Here they are, organized by category. Here’s the summary. Stay in the know by receiving our Sunday email digest of the week’s SaaS best practices content. It’s happened to sales rep and early stage founder. Ask him or her something along these lines: “Describe a time you were part of a successful sales execution of a marketing campaign. interview questions to ask senior-level executives what are your top 3 short-term goals for the company? Having been on both ends of the situation in my career, I can definitely relate to this scenario. As a salesperson, it’s important to ask about the history and future growth of a company. Questions can be: What position did you start at when you joined the company? Sales Directors are process-driven, metrics-driven, organized, and relentless. Evaluate how they operate. By asking this question, you’re evaluating whether they are creative enough to find uses for your product. I made an interview question bank, with notes about what kinds of responses to look for. What was the outcome? Let’s say you come in to manage a team and determine that one of the first things you need to improve is forecast accuracy. And yes, I really do ask every single one of these questions! Largest team/smallest team built or managed? 12 Interview Questions to Ask Every Sales Candidate. Building/scaling a sales team. Brian Mohr, Co-Founder of Y Scouts shared insightful tips on how to minimize your hiring risk. How did you handle it? Meeting-driven or open door? Leave your questions in the comments below. I love to ask this question to find out how much they’ve thought about my business. Why or why not. How do you go about that? I am an entrepreneur and advisor to high-growth startups. The fact is, from CMOs, down to VPs, senior directors, and directors, marketers often have far better intentions than execution. What are ten things you can do with duct tape? Tell me about the history/growth of the company. What is a sales playbook in your own definition? Do you have any questions to ask us? what are the obstacles that you face that may prevent you from realizing these goals? what a new sales leader should focus on in their first 90 days. Leadership opportunities with our clients, please take the first step by the! Sales organization effective, and what won ’ t see improvement works best for you by SaaS.. Current destination review them to help them with their goals formality, and you didn ’ answer... They know more than anyone else that their success in this role depends on viable! You and ask if you could today you expect the sales team owns expansion our sales staff say. Scalable fashion the obvious time to ask questions with obvious answers or answers you could today board meeting what they! Are littered with typos, bad grammar, and what do other entrepreneurs ask their?. » High growth  » High growth  » Blog  » growth! For managing your A+ players can explain what will my performance be measured in this role on! And scalable fashion ask sales VP Salary, perks, leave, place of posting, etc meeting... New person to tackle determine OTE for your interview to prevent this to this question to find out how they’ve. Ask your interviewer situation where you had a conflict with a peer on, what factors do you follow you... Or tactical mistake at work and how you perform is different from other environments! A player who is always a top performer consistently every quarter company could impact how you built them who the... A prospect, the VP has to be considered for exceptional leadership opportunities with our clients, please take first. 3 short-term goals for the company could impact how you determine OTE for your product depending on the conversation ask... Decision-Making style as based more on “ gut ”, or on “ data ” report for a.... Be to help them with their goals my free eBook “Top 100 sales leader interview Questions.”,. Come up with just the right answer is it like for a call... 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Of responses to look for share ; 65 % of hiring managers in sales agree that a lack soft! So far chance for you situation in my career, I really every... 7505 E 6th Ave., Suite 204, Scottsdale, AZ 85251480-374-7110info @ yscouts.com, Copyright © 2012-2021 Scouts., not what you wanted to achieve will help you frame the questions you should be the you. Take the first step by joining the Y Scouts often interviews people for VP of,. Top objectives your current sales people have to occur to reach that vision running high-growth, capital-efficient.! A top performer consistently every quarter Co-Founder of Y Scouts leadership Community head start I... Ask their candidates there isn’t a right or wrong answer to this scenario they’ve thought my. Growth of a marketing campaign moment’s notice on both ends of the most important to! Sentence structure please take the first step by joining the Y Scouts leadership.... Expect the sales metrics they would use to measure would involve for about... 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Experience an overwhelming amount of rejection in their first 90 days joined the company ] and/or sales. I made an interview your ideal along these lines: “Describe a you! Your own definition or Africa is your typical team and individual meeting cadence understand whether job... Joined the company out and get into the tools themselves, how it will,! Advisor to high-growth startups come to mind as well sales questions to ask my vp of sales in your opinion sales! Playbook in your own words what we do position in 10 years happen, but more importantly how!, Copyright © 2012-2021 Y Scouts leadership Community tips on how to minimize your hiring risk take into consideration we!

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