What’s inside this VP of Sales Interview Template:

1👋 Introduction

Ask the candidate to give a quick introduction.

• Tell me about yourself

2💰 Previous sales experience

What is the candidate’s past sales experience? What deals have they closed?

• What deal sizes have you sold to? On average? Range?
• Tell me about deals you’ve lost to competitors.

3🛠 Tooling

What is the candidate’s experience with different tools? Do they have recommendations of tools to invest in or processes to implement?

• What sales tools have you used and what works for you? What hasn’t worked well?

4🤝 Collaboration

How well does the candidate work with other teams? Do they have much experience working cross-functionally?

• How should sales and client success/management work together?
• Do you work with sales engineers and sales support?  If so, what role do they need to play at this stage when capital is finite?
• How should sales and marketing work together at our phase?

5👥 Sales team

What is the candidate’s ideal team given their prior experience? What roles are they thinking of (BDRs, SDRs, Account Executives)?

• How big a team do you think we need right now, given what you know?
• Who do you know right now that would join you on our sales team?

6💬 Management

What experience does the candidate have leading and building teams?

• Tell me about the teams you’ve directly managed, and how you built them.

7💡 Ideas & plans

Does the candidate have an idea of strategies that they’d use? Or any medium-term targets to work towards?

• How do you deal with FUD in the marketplace?
• What will my revenues look like 120 days after I hire you?

8❓ Questions

Any questions for me?