Mastering the Corporate Sales Manager Interview: 11 Essential Questions to Prepare For

Interviewing for a corporate sales manager role can be an intense and nerve-wracking experience As a sales leader, you’ll be expected to demonstrate exceptional strategic thinking, management capabilities, and motivational skills. Preparation is key to standing out from the competition and landing the job.

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore the 11 most common and critical interview questions for corporate sales managers. We’ll look at why recruiters ask them, provide sample answers, and help you craft winning responses with confidence. Read on to ace your upcoming interview.

1. “Tell Me About Yourself”

This ubiquitous opener is inevitably going to kick off your interview. Don’t let it catch you off guard. Prepare a smooth 2-3 minute elevator pitch highlighting your sales achievements and management experience. Share:

• Your current role and company
• Notable sales, growth, and management accomplishments
• The scope of team, territory, and budgets you oversee
• Relevant skills like CRM excellence, coaching, and analytics
• Why you want to become a sales manager

This high-level overview displays your fit for the position while teeing up deeper discussion of your background. Keep it focused, positive, and remember – first impressions matter.

2. “Why Do You Want to Be a Sales Manager?”

With this question interviewers want to understand your motivation and vision for the role. They’re looking for candidates passionate about sales leadership itself – not just fleeing a current job or seeking a promotion.

Strong responses include:

• Desiring greater impact through leading and developing a team
• Eagerness to spearhead revenue growth and sales strategy for the company
• Interest in the management, coaching, and mentorship elements of the job
• Wanting to rise into executive sales leadership long-term

Convey your sincere interest in the nitty-gritty of sales management. Share specific aspects of the job that excite you, not just the title or compensation bump.

3. “What Qualities Make a Great Sales Manager?”

This question tests your understanding of key sales management skills. Leaning on your experience, highlight must-have qualities like:

• Leadership ability – motivating teams, managing diverse personalities, instilling vision
• Coaching prowess – asking insightful questions, providing tailored feedback, developing sellers
• Analytical skills – monitoring metrics, identifying trends, informing sales strategy with data
• Relationship-building – connecting with reps, managers, and executives across an organization
• Problem-solving – assessing underperformance and implementing solutions

Back up your answers with examples of how you demonstrate these qualities already. This showcases your alignment with the role’s core competencies.

4. “How Would You Describe Your Management Style?”

With this common question, interviewers want insight into how you oversee teams. Respond by emphasizing the management approach most relevant to their open position. Useful frameworks to reference include:

• Collaborative – soliciting input, empowering team decision-making, promoting open communication
• Coaching – investing time in mentoring, professional development, unlocking potential
• Goal-Focused – tracking metrics, celebrating wins, maintaining focus on objectives
• Leading by Example – modeling desired behaviors, rolling up sleeves, getting hands dirty as needed

Back up your approach with specific tactics you use to motivate sales teams. This provides a well-rounded view into your style and methods.

5. “How Do You Coach Underperforming Sales Reps?”

Underperformance is all but guaranteed on even the highest-flying sales teams. Interviewers want to know how you’d diagnose and tackle this issue. In your response, convey balance and expertise by:

• Asking reps questions to pinpoint gaps in their process, pipeline, or skills
• Jointly creating improvement plans, setting mini-milestones, and monitoring progress
• Providing hands-on training – roleplay, objection handling, pipeline reviews
• Leveraging performance data to identify patterns and shape coaching
• Praising effort and keeping spirits high through slumps

The best managers don’t just threaten the stick – they collaboratively work reps through slumps. Share your patience and commitment to nurturing talent.

6. “How Do You Motivate Sales Teams to Exceed Goals?”

Hiring managers want to understand your playbook for catalyzing peak sales team performance. Effective tactics to cite include:

• Tying rep success to company mission and impact
• Making goals visible through leaderboards, thermometers, competitions
• Highlighting top performers and success stories in team meetings
• Leveraging non-cash incentives like awards, offsite adventures, swag
• Gamifying outcomes via mini-goals, badges, tiered reward programs
• Publicly recognizing achievements big and small

Convey the range of motivational tools you successfully deploy beyond just commissions and bonuses.

7. “What Sales Metrics Do You Track and Monitor?”

Today’s data-driven sales environment demands managers have command of key performance indicators. Respond with metrics like:

• Quota attainment – revenue booked vs. quota target
• Pipeline coverage – value of active opportunities vs. historical close rates
• Lead response times – initial outreach to prospect contact
• Activity metrics – calls made, emails sent, demos completed
• Win/loss rate – deals closed vs. proposals submitted
• Customer retention/churn – upsells vs. downgrades

Illustrate how you analyze trends in these KPIs to shape strategy and improve results. Don’t just list metrics – demonstrate how you leverage them.

8. “How Do You Align Sales and Marketing?”

Interviewers want to understand your perspective on enabling sales and marketing collaboration – an essential ingredient for success. Share ideas like:

• Instituting joint quarterly planning meetings to map programs to revenue goals
• Analyzing campaign performance together, optimizing based on sales feedback
• Driving adoption of shared technology like CRMs to increase transparency
• Creating cross-functional “SWAT teams” to develop campaigns, events, etc.
• Fostering open communication channels between departments
• Celebrating shared wins and cross-team appreciation

Convey both the operational tactics and cultural philosophies needed to foster alignment day-to-day.

9. “Describe Your Experience Creating Sales Plans and Forecasts”

Hiring managers will probe your track record and approach to sales planning. Illustrate your prowess by:

• Detailing past experience building annual budgets, quotas, and incentive plans
• Discussing how you synthesize inputs like market trends, product launches, and internal data into your planning
• Highlighting the KPIs you monitor to stress test projections and refine forecasts
• Describing the tools you leverage to model, analyze, and present plans
• Conveying the collaborative approach you take to gain insights from reps, marketing, finance, etc.

Take them through your comprehensive step-by-step planning process at a high-level. Position yourself as a data-savvy leader.

10. “How Do You Manage Conflict on Sales Teams?”

Left unmanaged, conflict can sink sales team morale, collaboration, and results. Bosses want to know you can deftly address issues. Share how you would:

• Openly acknowledge disputes and hear each side’s perspective
• Identify core root causes driving interpersonal tension
• Coach individuals privately on how to constructively handle issues
• Outline rules of engagement for respectful debate of ideas
• Mediate open and non-judgmental dialogue between parties
• Follow-up consistently to reinforce positive behavioral change

Convey empathy, objectivity, and commitment to growth – conflict resolution is an art and science!

11. “Do You Have Any Questions for Us?”

Always close interviews by asking 1-2 thoughtful questions. This displays genuine interest in the company and role. Strong options include:

• Asking about challenges the sales team faces and how management aims to address them
• Inquiring about the onboarding and ramp period for new sales managers
• Wondering what success looks like for the open position in the first 6-12 months
• Asking what attracted the interviewer to the company personally
• Seeking insight into the interviewer’s leadership philosophy and management style

Smart, strategic questions make you stand out while gleaning valuable intel to inform your decision making.

Preparing killer answers to these 11 essential sales manager interview questions will set you apart. Illustrate your sales leadership vision, management approach, coaching skills, analytical abilities, and collaboration savvy. With deliberate practice, you’ll convey the experience, strategic perspective, and leadership presence to land the job. Now get out there and crush your next interview for sales management success!