35 Sales Engineer Interview Questions (with Example Answers)

Updated 30 July 2023

A sales engineer uses their extensive knowledge of a business's technical products and services to develop product sales information and sell products to customers. To secure a position as a sales engineer, hiring employers often require suitable job candidates to attend an interview where they can ask them questions about their relevant experience and skills.

Learning about potential sales engineer interview questions can help you ensure you're well prepared. In this article, we list a variety of questions you may encounter in a sales engineer job interview and provide some example answers for you to review.

10 general sales engineer interview questions

An interviewer may begin by asking you some general sales engineer interview questions. These questions typically focus on your professional goals and accomplishments, interests and working style. Their purpose is to help the hiring employer determine whether you're a suitable fit for the position and the work environment. To help you prepare, here are 10 general questions an interviewer might ask you:

How would you describe yourself?
Why did you apply for this position?
What do you enjoy most about working as a sales engineer?
Why did you pursue a career in sales engineering?
What are your biggest strengths as a sales engineer?
What are your biggest weaknesses as a sales engineer?
How might your former colleagues describe your personality and working style?
What's your most significant achievement as a sales engineer?
What are your salary expectations for this job?
If we offered you the job when might you be available to start?

10 questions about experience and background

A hiring manager may ask you a variety of questions about your experience and background to assess your competence as a sales engineer. Being well-prepared for these questions and having succinct answers can assure the interviewer you're a good fit for the role. Here are 10 experience-related questions you may encounter in an interview:

Describe some of your major experiences as a sales engineer.
How do your experiences make you a suitable candidate for this role?
What are some significant challenges you've experienced in previous roles? How did you overcome these challenges?
What are some relevant certifications or degrees you have?
Tell us about a project to which you've contributed.
What are some sales engineering skills you have that can help you succeed in this role?
What type of working environment have you found helps provide you with the greatest success?
What are some types of software you've used to complete sales engineering responsibilities?
How much experience do you have collaborating with teams?
How much experience do you have speaking in public settings?

10 in-depth interview questions

You may also encounter some in-depth questions during an interview. These questions are often specific to the role and typically require you to provide more elaborate answers. They may also involve hypothetical scenarios. The purpose of this is to evaluate how you might respond if exposed to a potential situation. Here are 10 in-depth questions you can refer to when practising your interview responses:

What are some strategies you can use to describe technical terms and language to potential customers?
If asked to deliver a presentation to potential customers, what aspects might you focus on?
Explain what machine learning is and describe some of its key benefits.
Who do you believe our target audiences are?
What are some software programs you believe are beneficial for a sales engineer?
If you're providing a customer with solutions to a technical problem, and they're not having the intended effect, how might you respond in this situation?
What are some effective strategies you could employ when trying to secure leads?
If you're preparing a sales presentation, what's some useful information you might research on the potential customer?
What are some effective conflict resolution strategies you might employ if you were experiencing conflict with a customer or colleague?
What are your research methods when you're trying to find information about sales engineering trends?

5 interview questions with example answers

Below are five interview questions with example answers you can study when preparing for a job interview for a sales engineer position:

1. Describe the role and the daily responsibilities of a sales engineer.

A hiring manager may ask you a question similar to this one at the beginning of an interview so they can learn how knowledgeable you are about a sales engineer's role and responsibilities. When answering this question, aim to keep your response brief. Consider giving a succinct description of a sales engineer's role and mention several of their major daily responsibilities.

Example: 'A sales engineer uses their technical knowledge to help companies sell their technological products and services. They can handle various daily duties, but some typical responsibilities they undertake include building relationships with potential clients, preparing presentations to explain a product's technical information and providing technical support to customers.'

2. How do you typically handle sales calls?

Because handling sales calls is often a sales engineer's key responsibility, an interviewer may ask you this question to discover your method of communicating with potential customers. You can answer this question by explaining the various strategies you employ when executing sales calls.

Example: 'My key objective when handling sales calls is to understand the customer's needs. Once I know their needs, I can begin explaining how the company's products can help them. In my experience, applying this method allows me to build a connection with the customer, as I'm enquiring about their needs and desires rather than trying to sell them a product. Forming this positive connection helps develop trust, which enables me to convey the value the company's products or services can bring them without them feeling sceptical of my intentions.'

3. Describe some successful sales projects you've been involved in?

A hiring manager may ask you about your experience in sales projects to assess your level of expertise in undertaking major projects. It can also provide them with insight into your professional process and whether it's conducive to success with the hiring employer. To prepare for this type of question, consider briefly describing one or two projects you were involved in and the achievements you accomplished in them.

Example: 'A major project I was a part of involved gaining more responses from our prospective customers. To accomplish this, my team and I conducted thorough research on our prospective customers so we could develop communication strategies tailored to their needs. This approach was a great success that increased lead responses by 25%. Another successful project I worked on focused on resolving key challenges of existing clients. These challenges were mainly technical issues with products, so we collaborated with engineering and technical teams to build viable product updates. The results were positive, and client satisfaction scores increased by 35%.'

4. What are some key advantages of the products we offer compared to our competitors' products?

You may encounter a question such as this one because it can help an employer determine how informed you are about their products and their market competition. You can prepare for this question by conducting research on the employer's products and services and familiarising yourself with some of their major competitors.

Example: 'From the research I've conducted, the major products this company offers are more reliable, possess more advanced features than competitors' products and provide customers with attractive price options. I also reviewed several dozen customer reviews and noticed customers were on average more satisfied with the user-friendly features of this company's products.'

5. If we asked you to provide demonstrations to customers, how might you approach this task?

If the sales engineer position you're applying for requires you to provide customers with technical demonstrations, you may encounter a question similar to this one in your interview. Posing this hypothetical scenario to a candidate can help an employer assess your ability to simplify technical information to customers. Answer this question by briefly outlining the steps you might take to provide effective demonstrations to customers.

Example: 'First, I would research the prospective customers who are attending the demonstration. Learning about who I'm demonstrating to can help me prepare a presentation that's tailored to their individual needs. During my demonstration, I may open by introducing the product or service, followed by a step-by-step guide explaining how to use it. Throughout my demonstration, I might also make it a priority to explain technical terms in simple language the customers can understand.'