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    Salesforce Sales Representative Interview Questions

    Updated 10 Sep 2018
    60 Interview Reviews

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    Helpful (17)  

    Sales Representative Interview

    Anonymous Employee in San Francisco, CA (US)
    Accepted Offer
    Positive Experience
    Average Interview

    Application

    I applied online. The process took 1 day. I interviewed at Salesforce (San Francisco, CA (US)) in September 2007.

    Interview

    The recruiter called me and we had a brief conversation. She asked me about my previous work experience and my knowledge of the company. She asked me why i wanted to join salesforce and future goals. She scheduled a meeting with 4 other people, including the Vice President for salesforce latin america. She recommended that i did more research on the company, and sign up for a free trial. I spent an entire day looking at the website, getting started on the free trial, and watching demos. I also googled the company to learn more about the company, CEO, and work culture. Once i arrived at the salesforce office, i realized that its a young, energetic, and fun company. The people are stylish, competitive, and driven. Most of the salesforce employees live in the Marina district in San Francisco. The office is painted in bright colors and the kitchen has big colorful bowls filled with all sorts of snacks. The interview went smoothly. The Vice President asked me about my knowledge of CRM and how I would sell it to the latin american market. They asked me about any challenges i had enountered in the past and how did I manage to overcome those challenges, very typical interview questions. I asked "why would you not hire me"? they said because of the lack of technology knowledge. Because it was a sales rep role, they were ok with my lack of tech experience. As soon as the interview was over, the recruiter called me back and told me that I had done well and followed up with me within a couple of days. She emailed me a job offer and I took the job.

    Interview Questions

    Negotiation

    You really cant negotiate your salary. They have a base salary and commision. The base is pretty good though, so you cant complain.

    Other Interview Reviews for Salesforce

    1. Helpful (11)  

      Sales Representative Interview

      Anonymous Employee in San Francisco, CA (US)
      Accepted Offer
      Positive Experience
      Difficult Interview

      Application

      I applied online. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Salesforce (San Francisco, CA (US)) in August 2010.

      Interview

      I initially applied for the Account Executive role, and reached out to a recruiter via Linked In InMail. That worked well at quickly getting a call scheduled with the recruiter, who then told me I didn't have the appropriate experience for the role. He passed me along to another recruiter for a different role, but didn't tell me what it was. I did have to follow up with the initial recruiter by email because I never heard at first. Once I made contact via email, I scheduled a phone interview. The 2nd phone interview was very vague, no tough questions. She asked me to pitch my company and told me more about the role. She then invited me in for a live interview, 4 30 min sessions with 4 different people 1:1, 2 being in the role currently and 2 being managers. The first 2 rounds were easy, just getting to know me and telling me more about the role. The 2nd two did inquire more about personal achievements and the ability to hit goals, and how I would react if I was coming in at the bottom. Once the interviews were over, I heard 4 days later that I was given a verbal offer.

      After reading some reviews on this site, I was extremely prepared with knowledge of the product and ready for tougher questions. I think knowing what was going on with the company and how the tools worked helped.

      Interview Questions

    2. Helpful (2)  

      Sales Representative Interview

      Anonymous Employee in San Francisco, CA (US)
      Accepted Offer
      Positive Experience
      Difficult Interview

      Application

      I applied through an employee referral. The process took 2 days. I interviewed at Salesforce (San Francisco, CA (US)) in April 2010.

      Interview

      phone interview, group interview and then a presentation to senior management.

      Negotiation

      Little negotiations

      3. Join the Salesforce team
      See Our Latest Jobs

    3. Helpful (28)  

      Sales Representative Interview

      Anonymous Interview Candidate in San Mateo, CA (US)
      No Offer
      Neutral Experience
      Difficult Interview

      Application

      I applied through an employee referral. The process took 4+ weeks. I interviewed at Salesforce (San Mateo, CA (US)) in April 2011.

      Interview

      After my friend referred me, I was contacted by a recruiter to set up an initial phone screen interview that would take around 20 min. This went fine, although my background does not fit a typical sales background so I had to find ways to apply my skills towards sales. She asked me what I knew about the position, why I was interested in tech sales and what I knew about the product. She asked me to do a brief sales pitch which my friend had warned me about. I felt really prepared and was glad that I was.

      Next they set me up for 4 1:1 interviews in the San Mateo office. 2 with current Sales Representatives and 2 with managers. The Sales representatives were more casual and didn't ask me really any questions. They advice you to prepare lots of questions for them and I felt very prepared. They asked about my background, what I was looking for in a job, etc. etc. The mangers were a little more tough and kept asking how and why I wanted to change my career and get involved in sales. I really tried to sell myself saying that I wanted the job and know I could do it. They are looking for someone who is very competitive and can reach goals for this position. If there's anyway you can showcase that I would. One of the managers asked me typical interview questions like "When was a time you hit the wall?" and "How would you change that situation now?" Another one was "What drives you?". They asked me to do a short sales pitch which I researched the Elevator Pitch and made a short 2 min. description in laymen's terms of the products and company. Download the trial, everyone asked if I had used the CRM products before.

      I walked away knowing I was prepared but felt like I might not have a shot since my background is so different. They are more concerned with personality, attitude, etc since they will train you and set you up with a mentorship program. About a week after the interview, they called me to say that although my interview went well, they went with someone with a tech sales background. I was upset since Salesforce.com would be an amazing company to work, they can be choosy. Good luck!

      Interview Questions

    4. Helpful (2)  

      Sales Representative Interview

      Anonymous Interview Candidate in San Francisco, CA (US)
      No Offer
      Neutral Experience
      Average Interview

      Application

      I applied online. The process took 3+ weeks. I interviewed at Salesforce (San Francisco, CA (US)) in February 2013.

      Interview

      Phone Interview with recruiter- very standard questions, but make sure you know as much about salesforce's products (not just CRM) as possible

      In person interview in SF- Nice offices but kind of static. It isn't culty like other people have said on glassdoor, but It seemed very corporate (quiet, not a lot of smiles, everyone typing away).

      First an interview with a sales rep- very friendly girl. Not that bright but friendy

      Then a panel interview with sales managers. Make sure you know the products inside and out, and make sure you can show that you are fine making a ton of calls a day and doing just that, developing leads and nothing more.

      Interview Questions

      • What salesforce product would you sell and how would you sell it?   3 Answers

    5.  

      Sales Representative Interview

      Anonymous Employee in San Francisco, CA (US)
      Accepted Offer
      Positive Experience
      Average Interview

      Application

      I applied online. The process took a week. I interviewed at Salesforce (San Francisco, CA (US)) in January 2013.

      Interview

      I have enjoyed the interview process thus far. The recruiters are very friendly and transparent.

      Interview Questions

      • Asked about specific sales metrics at my current position.   Answer Question

    6. Helpful (1)  

      Sales Representative Interview

      Anonymous Employee in San Mateo, CA (US)
      Accepted Offer
      Positive Experience
      Difficult Interview

      Application

      I applied online. I interviewed at Salesforce (San Mateo, CA (US)) in November 2011.

      Interview

      You should prepare yourself well for this, know the product and the company values. You should have a knowledge of the applications and the products that the company sells. Have confidence when you talk and know what to say.

      Interview Questions

      • They differ depending on the interviewer.   1 Answer

    7. Helpful (7)  

      Sales Representative Interview

      Anonymous Interview Candidate
      No Offer
      Negative Experience
      Average Interview

      Application

      I applied through an employee referral. The process took 1 day. I interviewed at Salesforce.

      Interview

      I had the opportunity to have a phone interview because i was referred by and existing employee.I was asked what i knew about the company and why i wanted to go into tech sales. I believe I was more the prepared as I researched the company and studied all the programs for days.

      Interview Questions

    8. Helpful (14)  

      Sales Representative Interview

      Anonymous Employee in San Francisco, CA (US)
      Accepted Offer
      Positive Experience
      Average Interview

      Application

      I applied through a recruiter. The process took 1+ week. I interviewed at Salesforce (San Francisco, CA (US)) in March 2013.

      Interview

      Pretty simple process but there was a lot of phone interviews with various people within the company. I met with a recruiter, interviewed with 3 people on 3 different occasions, and then started my role. The only big negative thing I had was that I felt Salesforce.com had their own agenda when it came to timing. They were looking for a spot to fill by X date, and if they decided they liked you, they would offer you the job but not give you a ton of time to decide. For me, I found out that they needed a sales rep by (lets call it) March 1st, and I had only about 3 days to make my decision. At the time, I was interviewing elsewhere and wouldn't have heard back from a few of those places until after Salesforce.com needed an answer. I took the job, but I do wish I had had the opportunity to say no.

      Interview Questions

      • For me the most challenging question was the mock sales question. Essentially, they gave me a product and asked me to pitch it to them via a cold-call. It caught me really off guard and having never done a cold-call, it was pretty uncomfortable! That being said, there's really no good way to prepare for that, just sound confident :)   Answer Question

      Negotiation

      Like I mentioned above, there was essentially no negotiation phase. The contract is the same given to every sales rep, so there's not much wiggle room anyways, but the turn around time was a little too quick for me.

    9. Helpful (5)  

      Sales Representative Interview

      Anonymous Interview Candidate
      No Offer
      Positive Experience
      Easy Interview

      Application

      I applied through an employee referral. I interviewed at Salesforce.

      Interview

      I had an employee at the company put in my resume. The recruiter got in contact with me a couple of days later and we set up a call for the next week. It's your basic phone screen that is completely casual. The recruiter will just ask you about your previous experiences and how they will translate to the position at salesforce. Just make sure you are familiar with all of salesforce's products and have your reasons ready for wanting to join salesforce.

      I was prepared for everything and answered the questions convincingly. I just did not have the required 1-2 years of direct sales experience, which is what left me out of the next round of interviews.

      Interview Questions

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