Sales coordinators are the unsung heroes of the sales team. Similar to a behind-the-scenes audio-visual technician supporting a lead singer, the sales coordinator handles most of the sales development work and receives little recognition for their efforts. However, the role of a great sales coordinator is to make sure the show goes on without a hitch!

Sales coordinators are responsible for "getting the ball rolling" with a prospect before bringing in a closer to “take over” the deal. Taking on tasks like sales outreach, coordinating meetings, managing schedules, crunching numbers, and preparing presentations. For this reason, sales coordinators must be organized, detail-oriented, and meticulous. They should be familiar with the company's products and services, the tools needed for outreach and prospecting, and sales methodologies to help them win deals and build trust and rapport with potential customers.

Interview Questions for a Sales Coordinator

If this is your first time hiring a sales coordinator, fear not, this article will give you not only the surface-level sales coordinator interview questions to ask but in-depth options as well. We'll cover how to craft your questions to uncover candidate insights, what tools could be beneficial as you interview applicants, and examples of sales coordinator interview questions and answers so you can find the right fit for your team.

The reason we started this article off by saying that sales coordinators are the unsung heroes of a sales team is that they do the tasks Account Executives (AEs), and Account Managers don't love doing. They're the force behind Cold calls, cold emailing, and other outreach tasks where they face regular rejection, and yet, they persevere. This is why the hiring process for a sales coordinator should be meticulous in finding out if the applicant is cut out for this role.

Sales Coordinator Interview Questions with Answers

Qualifying a sales coordinator in a screening call is simple. Decide what level of experience your applicants must have to perform well in the role and then find out if they bring that level of experience to the table.

Screening and Interview Questions like:

Q: Tell me about your past role as a sales coordinator. How long were you there and what were your primary responsibilities?

A: In my role as a sales coordinator, I was responsible for managing the schedules of our sales team, organizing and preparing materials for presentations, coordinating meetings with potential clients, and conducting initial outreach through cold calls and emails.

Q: If you look at an average day in your previous role, how much time did you spend in outreach vs other activities?

A: On an average day, I would spend about 60% of my time on outreach tasks such as cold calling and emailing, while the remaining 40% was spent on other activities such as scheduling meetings and preparing materials.

Q: How do you handle rejection or worse, silence from prospects during outreach?

A: In my experience, rejection and silence are common in sales. I handle it by staying positive and persistent, constantly refining my approach, and trying different methods to grab the prospect's attention.

Q: Can you give an example of a successful outreach or lead generation strategy that you have implemented in the past? How did it perform?

A: In my previous role, I implemented a targeted email campaign to reach out to potential clients in a specific industry. This strategy resulted in a 20% increase in leads and ultimately led to closing a deal with one of the companies we targeted.

Q: Over the past year, how many times did you hit quarterly (or monthly) objectives?

A: In the past year, I consistently hit or exceeded my quarterly objectives. This was achieved through effective time management and prioritization of tasks, as well as constantly adapting and improving my sales techniques.

Screenings and preliminary interviews should primarily focus on the qualification of the candidate while later interviews should focus on mock activities, skills assessments, and culture fit. If you'd like to create your own sales coordinator interview questions, click here and paste your job description into the text field. In less than 5 minutes, we'll send you a comprehensive interview guide for your next interview. Or, connect our interview intelligence software to your virtual interview platform to make interview prep a cinch!

Entry-Level Sales Coordinator Interview Questions

Sales organizations often use terms like "freshers" to refer to entry-level salespeople. This can refer to recent college graduates or individuals with little to no experience in sales. As a result, entry-level sales coordinators are often hired with the expectation that they will be trained and developed for the role instead of bringing experience to it.

Entry-level sales coordinator interview questions will generally assess a few primary factors. Basic knowledge of sales processes, coachability, communication, skills, tools, and cultural fit. As you conduct interviews, use the following questions to evaluate each candidate's potential for success in the role.

1. Tell me about your past sales experience, if any.
2. How do you stay organized and prioritize tasks in a fast-paced environment?
3. Can you give an example of a time when you successfully handled rejection or objection from a potential customer?
4. How do you approach researching potential clients and finding leads for outreach?
5. Have you ever used any sales tools or software? If so, which ones and how did you utilize them?
6. How do you handle multitasking and managing multiple deadlines at once?
7. Can you walk me through your approach to preparing for a sales presentation or meeting?
8. How do you keep yourself motivated and driven in the face of rejection or setbacks?
9. Describe your experience with cold calling and cold emailing.

As you get further into different specialties, you may want to ask specific industry sales coordinator interview questions. Industry-specific questions could be: "Can you tell me about any experience or knowledge you have in the medical or pharmaceutical industry? for a pharmaceutical sales coordinator position (OR) "Do you have any familiarity with CRM software? Can you give an example of how you have utilized it in the past?" for a SaaS sales coordinator.

In any case, interview questions and answers for sales coordinators should accurately reflect the role you're hiring them to do.

In-Depth Sales Coordinator Interview Questions

As we move from entry-level to interviewing more seasoned sales coordinators, it's important that we verify that their sales methods, outreach style, and experience match the values and culture fit of your organization. This means going beyond the basics of the role and assessing not just what they do, but also how they do it. Technical proficiency is only one aspect of a great salesperson, they also need the soft skills and situational awareness to adapt to your customer's needs. In-depth sales coordinator interview questions should cover these areas and go deeper into the candidate's specific experience, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills.

1. How do you handle competing priorities or conflicting objectives from different departments within a company? For example, when quarterly goals from marketing and sales may not align.
2. Can you give an example of a time when you had to pivot your sales strategy due to changes in the market? How did you learn about the change? What did you need to adapt? and what was the outcome?
3. Tell me about a particularly challenging sale or negotiation that you have successfully closed. What was your approach and how did you overcome any obstacles?

When approaching in-depth sales coordinator interview questions you're looking for specifics. Consider what they say, and probe for what they're leaving out.

Next, we have behavioral and situational interview questions. Sales coordinator situational interview questions look at a candidate's critical thinking skills and thought processes to assess their future potential to handling difficult sales situations. Behavioral interview questions assess their past experiences and actions to determine if they align with your organization's values and culture.

1. Tell me about a time when you had to handle a difficult or dissatisfied customer. What was the issue, how did you address it, and what was the outcome?
2. Give an example of how you have leveraged social media to generate leads and close sales.
3. How have you adapted your communication style when working with different types of customers or clients?

Finally, we'll need to closely consider the candidate's responses to your interview questions and uncover insights that would help you decide whether they're a good fit or not.

Example sales coordinator job interview questions and answers could be:  "What motivated you to want to join our company?" or "How do your personal career goals align with the goals of our organization?" These questions give insight into a candidate's motivation and values, which are crucial for success in any role.

In closing, while it may be tempting to focus on the technical skills and experience alone when hiring a sales coordinator, it's important to look at communication style and cultural fit as well. Crafting sales coordinator interview questions isn't hard, but it's definitely important to take the time and effort to ensure you're hiring the right person for your team.

If you'd like to use our questions generator, click here, or book a demo of our interview intelligence to see how Pillar can help you make better hiring decisions and build an incredible team.