Sales Engineer

Tell me about a time you grew business with an existing customer who already felt they were buying everything they needed from you.

What they are checking: Whether they can find new needs inside an account rather than relying only on new-customer hunting.

Tell me about a time you missed a sales target. What did you change afterward?

What they are checking: Whether they own the miss, diagnose the cause honestly and adjust their activity instead of blaming the market.

How do you plan your week so you're meeting a monthly number instead of just staying busy?

What they are checking: Whether they break targets into weekly activity and protect selling time from reactive tasks and drive time.

Tell me about a complex technical question from a customer that you couldn't answer on the spot. How did you handle it?

What they are checking: Whether they admit gaps, pull in the right experts and follow up quickly, which keeps trust with technical buyers.

Your territory is mostly small and medium machine shops. How would you decide which ones to visit first in your first ninety days?

What they are checking: Whether they can build a territory plan around revenue potential instead of just calling whoever answers the phone.

A customer wants a lower price and a shorter delivery time than you're allowed to offer. How do you handle that conversation?

What they are checking: Whether they negotiate within their authority and trade value for concessions instead of giving away margin to close.

What kind of market intelligence would you bring back to product management after a week of shop visits, and how would you log it?

What they are checking: Whether they see themselves as the company's eyes in the field and record what they learn in the CRM.

A strategic prospect is happy with a competitor and won't take a meeting. What do you do?

What they are checking: Whether they can stay persistent and useful over months without becoming a pest or discounting just to get in.

Walk me through how you'd figure out what workholding a shop actually needs when they call asking for a quote on a vise.

What they are checking: Whether they ask about parts, machines, volumes and setups before selling, which is how they match value to the customer.

How would you explain the difference between a zero-point clamping system and a standard vise setup to a shop owner focused on cost?

What they are checking: Whether they understand how workholding cuts setup time and can turn that into dollars a small shop cares about.