hardSales Executive interview question
You learn late in the cycle that the prospect is leaning towards a competitor. How do you respond?
What the interviewer wants to hear
- Find out the real reason directly
- Re-engage the decision maker
- Refocus on differentiated value tied to their goals
- Avoid panic discounting or attacking the competitor
- Know when to walk away and learn from it
Model answer
I would first ask my champion directly and honestly what is driving the preference: price, a feature, a relationship or risk. Then I would request a short meeting with the decision maker to revisit their main goals and success criteria. I focus on where we are truly different for their situation, with proof such as customer references in their industry or a clear ROI. I avoid attacking the competitor and I do not panic with a huge discount, which can look desperate. If it is still a bad fit, I accept the loss gracefully, keep the relationship and run a loss review to learn.
Can you answer it under time pressure?
Take a timed hard round and get scored on every answer.
More hard Sales Executive questions
- Tell me about a time you missed your quota. What happened and what did you change?
- The business team wants your product, but procurement is pushing hard for a 25% discount near quarter end. How do you handle the negotiation?
- Your manager wants you to add a deal to commit to make the team forecast look better, but you believe it will not close this quarter. What do you do?
- You are given a new territory with no existing pipeline and a quota starting in 90 days. How would you plan your first three months?
- A customer who signed three months ago says you mis-sold them and wants to cancel. How do you handle it?
- Your manager wants you to push through a deal you believe the customer will regret. What do you do?
- You have a mid-size customer paying $50,000 a year. How would you try to grow them to $150,000 over two years?
- Your commission plan pays most on a product that is often not the right fit for your customers. How do you handle this?
- You take over a territory where most of the pipeline is old, inactive or unqualified. How do you rebuild it quickly?