Question: Describe one of your toughest sales experiences. How did you deal with the situation and did you make the sale in the end?

Alternative Question Phrasing:

Follow-up questions:

What did you learn from those experiences?

Question Details:

Question Type:

Behavioral

Skills:

Basic – Critical Thinking,Basic – Monitoring (Making observations of self and environment),Social – Coordination (Adjusting one’s own actions in relation to others)

Abilities:

Cognitive – Category Flexibility (Mental Flexibility)

Other Factors:

Direct Job Experience,Personality-Job Fit,Personality-Organization Fit

Work Activity (Task):

Mental Processes – Judging the Value of Things, Services, or People,Mental Processes – Thinking Creatively (Creativity),Work Output – Quality Improvement

Work Context (Person-Job/Team/Org Fit):

Interpersonal Relationships – Deal With External Customers

Work Style (Person-Job Fit):

Adaptability/Flexibility,Analytical Thinking,Persistence/Perseverance

Question Frequency

Question Difficulty

What to look for in an answer:

The candidate’s mental flexibility.
The candidate’s critical thinking skills.
The candidate’s inability to handle challenging situations.

Red Flags to Watch For:

The candidate’s lack of mental flexibility.
The candidate’s poor critical thinking skills.

Sample Answer:

I would never forget an experience I had five (5) years ago. The competition was pretty tough at that time that it was so hard to close deals. It’s really a matter of building rapport with customers so they will choose our products. Good thing it’s one of my strengths. Experiences like this make me ever more determined to strive harder in achieving my targets.

Question Source: Unknown