Route sales representatives sell products to customers along designated routes. They ask current customers to bring out new lines of products, come up with sales plans to hit sales goals, and get potential customers interested in their products.
When hiring route sales representatives, look for people who have worked in sales before and know how to keep existing customers happy while also finding new business. Be wary of candidates with limited knowledge of sales strategies and those who lack interpersonal skills. Special Offer.
If you have an interview coming up for a Frito-Lay route sales representative role, congrats! Landing a job with this leading snack food company can set you up for an engaging, active career delivering iconic brands like Doritos, Lay’s, and Cheetos to retail stores across the country.
However, Frito-Lay has a very rigorous interview process for its direct store delivery roles. You’ll need to showcase your skills in sales, customer service, logistics, and more to stand out from the competition.
In this article, we’ll look at some of the most common Frito-Lay route sales interview questions and provide tips to help you craft winning answers. With preparation and practice, you’ll be ready to crush your interview and snag the job opportunity.
Why Do You Want to Be a Route Sales Representative for Frito-Lay?
Frito-Lay will want to know that a role as a route driver aligns with your career goals and interests, Focus your answer on
- Your passion for sales and direct customer interaction
- How you thrive in an active, fast-paced work environment
- Previous experience in delivery, retail, or customer service roles
- Your competitive spirit and drive to exceed sales targets
- Your enjoyment of autonomy and independence
- Your organizational skills fitting with the route planning and execution
- Any preference for an outdoor, on-the-go type of work
Convey your enthusiasm and fit for both the company and the specific requirements of the job.
How Would You Build Strong Relationships with Store Managers?
Developing partnerships with the retail managers on your route is crucial Discuss how you would
- Make regular visits to stores and be highly available
- Ask questions to understand their needs, issues, and goals
- Follow up quickly whenever concerns arise
- Work collaboratively to find solutions to problems
- Keep them informed on new products, promotions, and inventory
- Capture and act on their feedback to improve service
- Use a friendly, positive tone in all communications
- Ultimately make their jobs easier and drive their store’s success
Proving you can cultivate mutually beneficial relationships is key.
How Would You Prioritize Your Route When Under Time Constraints?
Route sales reps need to maximize efficiency. Be ready to walk through how you would:
- Plan each day’s stops in advance based on factors like store urgency, geography, traffic patterns etc.
- Re-optimize routes on the fly when unexpected issues crop up
- Identify stores that need expedited service that day and service them first
- Determine lower priority stops that can be shortened or moved to the next day if needed
- Leverage knowledge of your route and experience over time to continuously refine
- Find the balance between speed and providing top service at each stop
Convey your understanding of time management and accountability in this role
How Would You Handle a Big Weekly Order From a Major Retailer?
Display your logistics skills by discussing how you would:
- Collaborate with the retailer ahead of time to forecast inventory needs and confirm delivery date
- Coordinate with warehouse team to ensure order components are pulled together in time
- Load vehicle strategically to accommodate large order and route sequence
- Leverage dolly, pallet jack or other tools to efficiently move large quantities
- Provide retailer point person with updates as you get closer to arriving
- Make the delivery as the top priority stop on your route that day
- Follow all proper receiving protocols and confirm order accuracy
- Collect payment if required or submit order for centralized billing
Highlight your planning, communication, and execution abilities.
How Would You Respond If a Store Manager Complained About Out of Stocks?
You will inevitably have to deal with problems in your role. Share how you would:
- Listen carefully and empathize with the manager’s frustration
- Apologize sincerely and take ownership of resolving the issue
- Review latest inventory numbers and sales trends to diagnose what went wrong
- Develop a plan to prevent future out of stocks – increased order frequency, minimum inventory level, etc.
- Provide interim solution if needed – partial order, substitute product, etc.
- Follow up after to confirm new process is working
- Ask for feedback on how the issue was handled
- Learn from the experience
Demonstrate how you would take a customer-focused approach to turn problems into solutions.
How Do You Stay Motivated to Exceed Sales Goals?
Success as a route sales rep requires strong motivation. Share:
- Your competitiveness and drive to keep improving performance
- How you track detailed metrics to benchmark against
- Your enjoyment of bonus opportunities when goals are met
- How positive customer feedback fuels you
- Your passion for providing the brands people know and love
- Examples of contests, awards, and other recognition you’ve earned
- How having an outgoing, social personality keeps you engaged
Convey your inherent enthusiasm and work ethic.
What Are Your Strengths That Would Make You a Great Route Sales Rep?
This is your chance to highlight your top skills. Share strengths like:
- Communication and relationship building abilities
- Organization, efficiency, and planning skills
- Comfort lifting, driving, and being on your feet all day
- Independence, accountability, and problem solving
- Passion for sales and drive to succeed
- Ability to balance speed and customer service
- Knowledge of store operations from past retail experience
Tie your strengths directly back to the nitty gritty of the role.
Bringing your A-game to these behavioral and situational Frito-Lay interview questions will set you up for success. Combine it with thorough research on the company and industry and ample practice and you’ll ace your interview. Soon enough you’ll be snacking your way through your workday as a route sales representative spreading the joy of Frito-Lay.
Can you explain your approach to keeping sales records?
Reveals the candidates experience in recordkeeping and their proficiency in sales software.
Interview Questions for Route Sales Representatives:
Demonstrates the candidates sales experience and their ability to sell products.
Route Sales Interview Questions
FAQ
How to prepare for a Frito-Lay interview?
What does a route sales representative do at Frito-Lay?
Why do you want to work for Frito-Lay?
