Vice Presidents (VPs) of Sales shape the revenue and growth trajectory of Startups, SMBs, and Enterprise organizations. As a pivotal figure on the revenue team, the VP of Sales is required to balance strategy and execution to achieve objectives passed down from the C-Suite. This places them at the intersection of sales, marketing, and leadership.

The strategic importance of a VP, especially to larger sales organizations, becomes evident when the activities of the sales team and the overarching sales strategy are in harmony with the company's goals, quotas are exceeded, and growth targets are met. In Startups, VPs of Sales are often the growth engine, in SMBs, they refine and scale operations, and in Enterprises, they ensure market dominance, process improvement, and innovation in sales processes.

But the impact of a great Vice President of Sales goes deeper than revenue targets and numbers alone. As the direct connection to the C-suite, the VP also plays a huge role in creating a culture of success, mentoring emerging talent, crafting resilient sales processes, and building team morale. This leads to a streamlined, successful, and enjoyable organization to work for.

On the other hand, a bad VP of Sales will quickly tear apart a great sales team. Through misaligned goals, micro-management, miscommunication, and a host of other faux pas, the VP can easily sabotage an organization's growth objectives.

Given the gravity of this role, the interview process for finding a VP of Sales that delivers on all fronts is mission-critical for any organization's success.

Understanding Specific VP Sales Interview Questions

Interviews for a VP of Sales position often include a wide variety of questions—from VP of sales interview questions and answers that focus on past leadership examples and strategic decision-making to advanced VP sales interview questions probing into the candidate's ability to innovate and adapt to evolving market challenges and trends.

Questions might range from "How do you align the sales strategy with overarching business objectives?" to "Describe a time when you had to pivot the sales strategy in response to market changes." The underlying importance of these questions lies in their ability to uncover a candidate's strategic thinking, leadership style, and resilience in the face of challenges.

Answers to VP of Sales Interview Questions

VP of Sales Applicants should approach these interviews with a clear narrative of their career achievements. Emphasis on results, regular promotions, leadership, and strategy will highlight their ability to adapt and grow in any org. Examples of interview responses could be: "By closely collaborating with cross-functional teams up and down the org chart, I've been able to help (XYZ) company grow 25% YOY for the last 3 years and exceed growth targets every quarter." (OR)  "One of my key strengths is building high-performing sales teams by identifying and mentoring top talent. In my previous role, I implemented a training program that led to a 30% increase in individual sales performance within the first year."

The process of hiring a VP of Sales involves navigating well-crafted questions designed to explore a candidate's true fit for the role. But human eyes and ears can miss things in the interview process- this is where interview intelligence can have a huge impact. Pillar's interview intelligence software uses the power of AI to create interview questions, assess candidate's skills, and deliver interview insights to help you make better hiring decisions.

Tough Sales Interview Questions And Best Answers

Vice Presidents don't make it to the top without facing challenges, and well-crafted VP of Sales interview questions should mine those challenges for golden nuggets of information that help hiring managers make great decisions. Tough sales interview questions (and the best answers) should focus on failure, learning, resilience, team conflict, and responsibility as these are the primary areas where a good VP can fuel growth and a bad VP can sink an org.

Tough Sales Interview Questions:

1. Tell me about your biggest career failure. In retrospect, how would you change it to get a better outcome?
2. Have you ever had to fire someone? How did you do it?
3. If you had to choose between a great sales org or a great product, which would you pick and why?
4. If your former team were asked to honestly assess your leadership style and skills, and they knew you'd never find out what they said, what do you think they would say about you?
5. How do you handle conflicts within the sales team, especially when it involves top performers?
6. Describe a time when you had to navigate through budget cuts, and economic shifts, and still achieve growth targets.

VP-level interview questions and answers should dig into potential weaknesses and failures to get to the bottom of a candidate's leadership style. This one factor will affect your team more than anything else. Look for applicants who give thoughtful responses and avoid cliché answers. Remember, a great VP of Sales is more than just a numbers person. They should be able to create and lead a culture of success and growth within the sales team.

As we transition into the final section of this article, one thing that we haven't covered yet is how your questions will vary based on your industry. VP of Sales interview questions for various industry segments such as B2B, SaaS, and e-commerce may differ slightly. For example, in a B2B environment, you may want to ask about their experience in complex sales cycles and key account management. In a SaaS company, questions about revenue analytics, subscription models, and customer retention may be more relevant.

The key takeaway here is that VP of Sales interviews should not be approached with a one-size-fits-all mindset. Tailoring questions to your specific industry, segment, and organization will help you find the right fit for this critical role.

Final Round Interview Questions And Answers

If you're here preparing for a final round of interviews, congratulations on making it to the final stages. There is a wealth of resources online to help you prepare for the final round of interview questions and answers. One of the first you should consider is Reddit. As a popular platform for discussions and forums, Reddit has a number of subreddits (or specific communities) dedicated to career advice and job interviews.

Some top subreddits for VP Sales interview questions and answers include:

• r/sales (general sales discussion)
• r/Career_Advice
• r/interviews

These subreddits can provide real-life experiences from people in those positions (potentially in the companies you're interviewing with) and provide a great space for discussing strategic questions to ask in a sales interview. These communities will also help you gather insights from peers who are facing the same interviewing challenges as you and can offer solutions that may help land your dream role.

Next, platforms like LinkedIn offer posts like this one by Scott Leese and courses to help you prepare for a VP of Sales role. Review sites like Glassdoor and Great Place to Work also offer company-specific insights and reviews that can help you prepare for your final round of interviews. Indeed provides a great place to see other employees' interview experiences with the company you're applying to. Quora provides a great space to get answers from sales professionals who can provide insights into specific industries. And don't forget, reach out to your network - ask colleagues or friends who have experience in VP of Sales roles for tips or recommendations.

These online resources (and more that weren't listed) are a valuable way to gather board insights about a role, or granular information about a company. You can see other's interview experiences and find ways to prepare for your interviews. Either way, they will give you opportunities to interact with industry veterans and thought leaders who can offer nuanced perspectives on navigating the final interview round.

There are also blogs, online courses, and tests to help you prepare for a VP of Sales interview. Two of the most popular include:

1. The Predictive Index - personality test
2. GTMnow - Tips to Crush the Interview

Getting ready for a VP of Sales interview means taking a deep dive and doing the prep work – you've got to reflect on your own experiences, how to frame the narrative of your careers, get the lowdown on the company, the industry, and tap into online communities and resources for extra insights that will help you win the trust and respect of the hiring team. Show off those strategic chops, bring the charisma, and bank on your communication and leadership skills mattering to an interviewer but also be real, be vulnerable, and share your failures and mistakes- but more than that, showcase how you learned from them so they aren’t repeated. If you've done all the things we've talked about in this section you already have the secret sauce to standing out in the interview - now it's time to shine. Good luck with your interview!

To put a bow on our exploration of VP of Sales interviews, a great VP of sales will empower and fuel the growth of your team and organization. It may take a bit of time to find the right fit but in the end, this person can do wonders for your business.

If you'd like to see how interview intelligence can help you hire better executives, book a demo of Pillar today!