Dear job seeker,

I will keep this page short and to the point. Here’s what I have for you today:

account executive interview guide cover

In the eBook, you will find multiple great answers to each of the following questions:

  • What do you consider your biggest weakness as a salesman?
  • What motivates you the most in work?
  • How would you discover new sales opportunities?
  • What role do sales strategies play in your work?
  • What do you consider pivotal for success in sales, in this particular business/industry?
  • Imagine that you haven’t sold anything for three weeks. The end of month is approaching, and you will miss your targets. What will you do?
  • Describe the most difficult deal you’ve ever closed.
  • What role does reporting, tracking, and monitoring play in your work?
  • Imagine that a client calls you. They say that they have found a new supplier, and do not want to cooperate with us anymore. What will you do?
  • Describe a time you managed to reach an objective when odds were against you.
  • How do you decide whether a deal is profitable for the company?
  • Describe the biggest failure of your professional career.
  • Do you prefer to get a fixed salary, or to be compensated for you work on a commission basis?
  • Try to sell me this notepad (or pen, or any other object in the room).
  • … and ten other tough questions you may face in your interview for a job of an Account Executive.

Check the sample to see how this eBook can help you:

 

Sample from the eBook


Q: What role do sales strategies play in your work?

Hint: Sales have leaped a mile over the recent decade. Big data, AI, and individual approach to every customer (since we know so much about them) help us to achieve conversion rates our predecessors could only dream of, in any sales business.

Ensure the interviewers that sales strategies play a huge role in your work. More likely than not, they have some amazing strategies in place (based on historical data, for each market segment).

The entire sales process is often divided into small parts. They will tell you how to react to any objection a customer could possibly have. They will show you how to close the deal…

Tell the interviewers that you are eager to learn more about their sales strategies, and apply them in your work. Show your willingness to adapt, to do things in their way, regardless of the level of your experience.

The only exception is when you apply for a lone position of an account executive (or manager) in a company. In such a case, you will be responsible for devising (and continually revising) sales strategies. In that scenario, ensure the interviewers about your readiness for the task.

 

Sample answers

– They definitely play a big role in my work. I can’t wait to learn more about your successful sales strategies, and to apply them in my daily job. It is crucial to be ready for each possible reaction of a customer, each objection they may have. That’s the only way how to improve our conversion rate, how to get the most of each phone call and meeting with a prospect.

Surely, as time progresses and I’ll have many meetings behind me, I’d like to bring my inputs on board, and possibly suggest improvements to existing sales strategies. But at the beginning it’s all about learning, and applying the existing concepts.

 

– They play a major role in my work. I have devised complex sales strategies in my last job, including follow-ups and answers to more than fifty different objections. And though I’ve never worked in your industry, I am sure that with my attention to detail and experience, I’ll manage to develop effective sales strategies.

Step by step, from the first hello, to signing a new contract. I do actually find this process fascinating, and can’t wait to start.

 

Q: Imagine that you haven’t sold anything for three weeks. The end of month is approaching, and you will miss your targets. What will you do?

Hint: Ensure the interviewers that you won’t panic. And that you won’t resign (though in reality you may leave them, or they may fire you).

Bad days and weeks belong to every sales job. Now, you have several options of answering this question.
One is saying that you always focus on the bigger picture. Many external factors can impact sales in any given week or month (hurricane, rainy weather, corona virus worries, anything).

Focusing on quarterly or even yearly targets, you aren’t too concerned about the bad streak. You know that in a long run, 5% of customers will sign up for the deal (an example).

And you know how many phone calls and meetings you have to make and go to, until the end of the year, to acquire certain number of customers. And so you will trust in the process, and push through the difficult period.

Another idea is saying that you will reconsider your sales strategy. You will carefully analyze what happened, and think about the most common objections thrown upon you.

You will try to identify the point in the sales process when things turn against you, when you lose the chance to close the deal. And then you will try to improve this part of the process.

 

Sample answers

– I won’t panic. I’ve been in sales long enough to understand that a few weeks of no sales do not say anything about the qualities of an account executive. If my sales strategy (my pitch) has been working up to this point, I will simply continue calling prospects and going to meetings.

In a long run I should achieve the average conversion rate, and attain quarterly sales targets—though I might miss on the monthly ones. Series of rejections belong to every sales job, and I won’t be discouraged by them.

 

– If things aren’t working, we should change them. I may consult the manager, trying to discuss my strategy with them. I may ask them to do a role play with me, so they can identify mistakes I make while trying to close the deal.

Breaking the sales cycle to smaller parts, we should identify the problematic area, the Achilles’ heel. It can be the lead generation—maybe I am not doing it right, and the leads just can’t convert. Or the first call, my first sentence, or the way in which I reply to certain objections, or it can be my follow-up.

Anyway, I can make a mistake, just like everyone else. And strategies that worked last month will not necessarily work this time around—something may have changed. Therefor it is important to constantly revise our sales strategy, to never be 100% satisfied, to always look for improvements.

End of the sample


 

These were just two questions. You will find 25 in the eBook, including difficult behavioral questions, and a role play (sell me this pen/notepad). But that’s not all.

To ensure you will get the job, I included in the book six principles you need to understand before you can ace your interview for an Account Executive  job.

Without talking too much about them, let me show you another sample from the book:

 

Sample no. 2


Principle no. two: Show willingness to learn and adapt

Unless you apply for a lone sales position in a company (can be the case in a small business, or in a new startup), you won’t use your creativity much. At least not at the start.

Perhaps you are the best salesman in the world—in the making, the raw diamond that, once polished, will break all sales records in the company.

And you have your sales strategies and want to apply them in your job from day one.

However, this is not how it works in a corporate sphere. You will receive an extensive training before picking the phone for the first time, before meeting your first client.

They will teach you everything, from lead generation to cold calling, from dealing with objections to signing contracts. And you should obey, because their strategies are proven by time, their sales methods have been bringing money to the company for years on end.

Certainly they do not represent the pinnacle, the culminating point you can reach in your sales career. And once you have some successes and experience, you may come up with your own sales strategies and methods, and beat the results they achieve with their existing concepts.

But that’s not something you should talk about in an interview. Anytime they ask you about your attitude to work, sales strategies, attitude to training and mentoring, you should show humility.

You know that better salesmen work in the company, and you want to learn from them. You have your skills, empathy, understanding for the needs of the customers. But you are eager to learn, and to apply their most successful strategies in your work.

You may add a simple twist here and there, but, …………………………….

End of the sample


Matthew Chulaw
Matthew Chulaw, author of the eBook

So that’s it. I do not want to waste your time with lengthy sales pages, and imaginary discounts or fake reviews, like most other people do on their websites, while trying to sell you something.

You have read the samples, you know what the eBook is about, and surely you can tell whether it will help you.

I sincerely believe it will. And you can read it easily in two to four hours, it’s 14,000 words. Only things that truly matter, no secondary content.

Plus, of course, like with everything else we sell here on InterviewPenguin.com, you have a risk free sixty days money back guarantee. If you don’t like this eBook for any reason, or no reason at all, just let me know (email me at matthew[at]interviewpenguin[dot]com) within 60 days and we will give you a full refund.

Quick Summary

account executive interview guide cover

  • Brilliant answers to twenty five difficult questions you may get in your interview for a job of an Account Executive.
  • Published in 2020, updated for 2022.
  • Several sample answers to each question, so you can choose one that reflects your values and experience (including answers for people with no working experience).
  • Six principles of acing the interview, things you simply need to know in order to make the right impression on the hiring managers, to win them over.
  • Instant download, .PDF format (you can read it on any device (mobile, kindle, PC), and you can easily print it).
  • Secure and simple checkout with PayPal, you can pay with your credit/debit card, or with your PayPal account.
  • Price: $24.95, one time payment, no hidden fees or upsell. 60 days risk free money back guarantee . Sold exclusively on InterviewPenguin.com.
  • Click the checkout button below to proceed to the payment.

(After the payment you will be directed back to our website, to a protected page, to download your eBook. You will also receive a download link and instructions to your email, just to ensure that you will get the book without waiting, even if the redirect fails.)

 


That’s it. Your interview does not have to be stressful, or difficult. You can interview with confidence, and give brilliant answers to all tough questions–much better answers than your competitors in an interview, because they won’t have access to this premium material… Download the guide today, and succeed in your account executive interview.

Sincerely,

Matthew Chulaw,

Your personal job interview coach

P.S. Send me a message if you have any questions about the guide or about anything else. I try my best to answer all emails within twelve hours (matthew[at]interviewpenguin[dot]com). Thank you!

Matthew Chulaw
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