Marketing interview questions 1.

Highlight the difference between traditional organization chart and modern customer oriented organization chart. 2. Explain: a.) Customer Delivered Value b.) Total customer value c.) Total customer cost 3. Explain: a.) Basic marketing b.) Reactive marketing c.) Accountable marketing d.) Proactive marketing e.) Partnership marketing 4. Draw and explain BCG (Boston Consulting Group) Model. 5. You are asked to write a marketing plan. What will be the major headings under which you will divide the whole plan? 6. What are the qualities of good marketing research? 6. Differentitate between potential market and available market. 7. Explain the difference between trend and fad. 8. Explain the following abbreviations used for target market: a.) SKIPPIES b.) MOBYS c.) DINKS d.) DEWKS e.) PUPPIES f.) WOOFS 9. What are the major factors influencing the buying behaviour? 10. What are the various stages of buying decision process? 11. Differentiate between business market and consumer market. 12. Explain: a.) Straight rebuy b.) Modified rebuy c.) Systems buying 13. What are the various oraganizational factors influencing the business buyers? 14. What is insitutional selling? 15. Explain: a.) Pure Monopoly b.) Oligopoly c.) Monopolisitic competition

d.) Pure competition 16. What is a strategic group? 17. Explain following types of competitors: a.) Laid-back competitor b.) Selective competitor c.) Tiger competitor d.) Stochastic competitor

18. List the steps you will take while designing your competitive intelligence system. 19. What is a competitor centered company? What are its main features? 20. What is a customer centered company? What are its main features? 21. Explain: a.) Mass marketing b.) Mass marketing 22. What are the benefits of segment marketing over mass marketing? 23. Explain the approach you will take for market segmentation. What major segmentation variables will you use? 24. What are the characteristics of effectively segmented market? 25. What is megamarketing approach? 26. Differentiate between identity and image. 27. What are the different positioning strategies used by companies? 28. What steps will you pass through while developing a new product? 29. What are the various methods for the test marketing of consumer goods? 30. What are the different stages in consumer adoption process?

What Do You Know About Our Products/Business?

This question helps you determine if the candidate has bothered to take the time to research your company and its products. It also gives you the opportunity to see how well the candidate can make a presentation. You could follow up the question by asking what marketing ideas for your company the candidate could bring to the table if hired.

Can You Tell Me About a Successful Marketing Campaign You Helped Develop?
This helps you gauge the candidate's true level of experience regarding developing and implementing marketing concepts. The candidate should be able to take you through the marketing process, from the idea stage to when the marketing program actually hit the streets. You could also ask her what problems she incurred along the way and how she dealt with them successfully. Related Reading: Questions to Ask During a Sales Call

Can You Give Me an Example of a Time You Overcame an Objection?

Salespeople are constantly forced to overcome objections to make a sale. A successful salesperson should have no problem providing examples of times when he had to leap a major hurdle, such as having higher prices than a competitor, but was still able to gain the business. A follow-up question could involve asking what the candidate perceives as a major objection to selling your products and how he would overcome it.

What Motivates You?

This question helps you gain a better understanding of what makes the candidate tick. If the candidate indicates she is motivated by attaining prestige and the job she's interviewing for is selling plumbing supplies, it might not be a good fit. On the other hand, if the candidate is highly motivated by money and your job offers only a small salary but has the potential of high earnings from incentives, you may have found the right person.

What Do You Like Least About Your Current Position?

The answer to this question can alert you to any potential red flags. For example, if the candidate indicates he doesn't like dealing with the "little things," it may be a sign that he is lax in areas such as paying attention to detail or following through with customers. Since sales and marketing positions typically involve frequent customer interaction, these traits could make for some unhappy customers.
1. What are the top three things that youll need to make your number this quarter/year? Focus on the big umbrella content and resources your sales reps need. Force them to think about what they needversus what they want. 2. If there were only three things that marketing can do for you this quarter/year, what would they be? Show that marketing cares about delivering the big needs by asking the reps to make a shortlist rather than a long list of missing pieces. 3. If there were only three reports/dashboards that marketing could provide to get yo ur job done and make your number, what would they be? Sales reps are results-oriented. Ask them what kind of data they need to see from marketing to achieve results, and whats just filler. 4. What markets/verticals/types of organizations would you like to sell more into? Whats holding you back from doing so now? Out in the field, reps might be seeing open opportunities that marketing isnt prepared to sell into. Asking helps identify new revenue opportunities. 5. What are your thoughts on the sales tools available to you now? Is there too much, too little? Sometimes sales feels underwhelmed, sometimes they feel overwhelmed. This question will help you discover whether marketing is not delivering the right assets, or even if sales just doesnt know whe re to find them. 6. How is marketings overall communication to the sales team? Do you have a good sense of whats coming up from a marketing programs perspective? Similar to question five, sometimes you have rich resources for sales but your communication between teams is poor. 7. What are the top two or three things that we do well from a product release and marketing perspective? At the end of the day, sales reps need to sell your products and servicesnot just your brand image. Find out what youre delivering around specific products that are working. 8. What are the two to three things that youd like to see marketing do more of? Focusing first on whats working, rather than whats not, is a great way to change attitudes and plan ahead strategically.

Asking sales what scares them about competitors can help identify marketing blindspots.

9. What are the two or three things that marketing should stop doing? If a certain tactic isnt delivering the goods, why keep doing it? Have the reps name underperforming programs so you can cut the chord and move on. 10. What are the top three things that keep you up at night in terms of your competition? Sometimes reps can get spooked and reactive when a competitor makes a move. Instead of focusing on short-term reactions, ask your reps to focus on the big strategies competitors employ time and time again. 11. What can we do to improve your access to and use of contact data? Sales reps need data. They need to know leads prospects needs, buying actionstheir digital body language. Find out how you can improve the flow of this information between teams. 12.What are the top two to three areas where our current messaging works really well for you? Marketing is the messaging apparatus for the entire organization. Salespeople can usually tell you what messages are actually resonating and whats falling flat. 13.What are the top three things that marketing can do to leverage our alliances and partnerships in order to sell more? Many times your organization will have great partnerships in place that arent being tapped into. By asking sales, you can identify opportunities to drive more value out these alliances. Asking sales reps about their needs in a focused manner can dramatically increase marketings overall value to the business. Just make you sure you adopt the right approach. And for more detailed tips download our

1) What does your sales process look like?

Okay, this one may seem a little rudimentary if you already know the basics of how your sales team operates. But first of all, a little review never hurts, and second, you may be missing important pieces of the sales process that you hadnt realized. For example, do you know how your sales reps begin a conversation? Do you know how -- and how quickly -- they work in information about your product or service? How much time do they spend on the phone with a lead? How long does it take the sales rep

on average to get your product in front of the decision maker at the leads company? Its critical to develop a strong understanding of exactly how your sales team works your leads. That knowledge should be used as the foundation of your strategy, and it will prove immensely valuable for increasing your marketing effectiveness, since you'll have a better understanding of how you can create marketing campaigns that complement -not counteract -- the sales process.

2) What qualities make a lead good or bad?

Now, you may already have a lead scoring system in place (and if you don't, you might want toconsider it), and thats a great tool for qualifying leads, but its still important to get detailed feedback from your sales reps about what they think makes for a particularly strong or weak lead. Your reps may also have different opinions about what qualities are most indicative of a lead that will most likely close or a lead that most likely wont, based on their various experiences and techniques. Find out what factors they look for when theyre deciding which of their leads to call, and figure out how you can generate more of those kinds of leads for them.

3) Are there specific marketing offers that signify a particularly strong or weak lead?
This one goes along with number two, but it will give you a narrower focus on the actual content youre using to generate leads. Lets say youre creating ebooks and hosting webinars as part of your lead generation strategy. Are leads more likely to convert into customers if they downloaded an ebook or attended a webinar? What about if the ebook was intended to teach readers about your specific product versus a facet of the broader industry? You should already be tracking this data so you can analyze your marketing offers to know which ones convert at what rates, but you may also find that your sales reps can provide additional insight into which offer topics and formats work best. Ask them which types of conversion events they like to see when they decide which leads to call. Are there any offers that make it particularly difficult or awkward for them to start a

conversation? Use this feedback to make your offers stronger so you can generate the kinds of quality leads that your sales team likes to work.

4) Do leads typically have the right expectations about what theyre getting?
Messaging is a core part of marketing. You need to make sure youre setting expectations correctly. Check with your sales reps to see if the leads theyre calling actually know why the rep is getting in touch with them in the first place. Are they aware that theyve requested a demo of your product? Maybe your calls-to-action are unclear. Maybe your landing page copy needs rewriting, or your email subject lines are misleading. If youre sending your sales team leads that didnt intend to sign up for a free trial, and a rep calls them, saying, I see youve requested a free trial, not only is that embarrassing, but youre also wasting your reps valuable time.

5) What is the number one thing leads like and dislike most about our offers?
Are your reps conducting demos of your product? Providing free trials? Maybe assessments of some sort? Find out how these offers are performing from the reps perspective, and ask your reps to shed some light on how helpful these offers are from their leads perspectives, too. What do people enjoy most about the demo or assessment? How valuable are they finding your ebooks, webinars, or other downloadable content? What are a few pieces of criticism the rep has received? Understanding what your leads do and don't like about your marketing offers will help you improve both their format and delivery, as well as your ability to effectively position these on the marketing side.

6) What are the top reasons a lead doesnt close?

This is a big one. As marketers, our job is to not only generate new leads for sales, but to alsonurture leads who are not yet qualified, which include ones that reps have attempted to work but were not yet ready to buy. Instead of just throwing all of these not-yet-ready leads into one bucket, ask your reps about the most common reasons

why those leads were not ready to buy. Lets say the top 3 reasons are budget, timing, and not seeing the value of your product. Thats extremelyvaluable information to you as a marketer, because now you can segment those leads accordingly and target your nurturing campaigns to address their specific pain points. The more effectively you can nurture these leads, the more effectively you can get them to be sales ready and hand them back to your reps to close.

7) Are there any ways marketing can help or do better?

Its good to get a general idea of how your sales team feels your marketing team is performing, but chances are, theyll have some specific points of feedback that could be really useful to both you and them. Dont forget -- they have insights into the qualities, needs, challenges, and behaviors of your leads and their sales cycles that you most likely dont. Maybe theres an opportunity to hand a certain type of unqualified leads back over to Marketing to nurture. Maybe a new type of lead-gen offer, a different positioning of your product, or a new angle for your follow-up messaging might be more effective in getting your leads to be sales ready. Let your sales reps share their ideas, and see which ones make sense to implement. Its easy to get caught up in your own strategy. And while you should absolutely be conducting your own analyses to figure out what works and what doesnt, your sales reps are the ones who are actually talking to your leads, and taking it from where you leave off. A short conversation can go a long way. So go grab a rep, grab some coffee, and make your marketing -- and yoursmarketing -- way more effective.

Examples of Internship Interview Questions

Here are some of the top internship interview questions you can expect and the most suitable answers for them:

Tell me about yourself.

Does this ring a bell? The question during the first day of school when you are still in first grade is still important. When an interviewer asks this question, the main intent behind the question may pertain to several layers of your personality. Most interviewers just ask this question to get to know you better and to get you

comfortable. It is very important that you remember all of the information in your resume since you will need to go over it eventually. Be sure to know every single detail in your resume. This includes dates, tasks performed, title, etc. Knowing your resume well will help you answer a good chunk of internship interview questions. Other questions you can prepare for include personality type questions. Remember not to be a drag. Your chronological work history should be as brief as possible. After that, focus on your strengths. Good answer: I am really enthusiastic and passionate about the work I do. After two years of experience in the same field, it enabled me to boost my confidence

What are your career goals?

When interviewers ask this question, their main intention is to find out how serious you are about the internship and how it fits in the larger scheme of things. At this stage, you need to be completely honest and discuss your intentions in the future and how you intend on using the internship to get some real work experience for the field. Similarly, if you are looking to continue with the same employer with a full-time job, you can also mention the same. However, if the interviewer asks you whether you want to continue full-time with them or not, there is really no right answer for this. You do need to be honest but put forth your views in the most tactful way possible. How you answer this question may very well determine whether you get the internship or not.

How much do you know about our company?

This is another important question that is usually asked for most internships. You must take the time out and research the company well before walking into any interview. In other words, if you are really serious about the internship in that particular company, you must show it through your enthusiasm to know more about them. The least you can do in this case is to visit the companys official website and get a good idea about what the company does and how it operates in order to get a clear idea about the company. This will help you answer the question with confidence.

How will you fit into our company?

This question provides you with a great opportunity to align your qualifications and experience with the companys requirements. Make it amply clear to the interviewer that your experience and qualifications are relevant for the particular internship you are looking for. For example, if a sales internship is what you are looking for, it is important to highlight your marketing knowledge and expertise.

Tricky Internship Interview Questions and How to Answer Them

Your internship interview may include several other similar general questions that address issues such as your work experience, academic background etc. However, many interviewers may also look to test your presence of mind and ask some questions that may be rather tricky to answer. Below are several of them.

What is your greatest weakness?

The best way answer this question is to make use of your negative side and turn it into something that contributes positively about you. For instance, a weakness you managed to overcome. Good answer: I am not that confident when it comes to facing and talking to other people. Realizing this weakness as a big hindrance to my career, I did the best I could to improve my ability to face other through attending seminars, workshops and public speaking classes. And I was able to improve and given many opportunities to meet new people Many candidates often feel rather uncomfortable when asked about their weaknesses because they consider it to be a bad thing. However, how you deal with the question determines if the outcome is positive or negative. For example, saying that you are obsessive about your work and tend to be perfectionist means that you are stating a weakness. However, it is the kind of a weakness that is considered to be positive. Even if you are brutally honest with stating your weaknesses, make sure to follow it up with a statement about how you are working to improve on it. Either way, it is important to not let this question throw you off track.

What would you do if you were faced with this situation?

This is another question interviewers use to test the practical knowledge and aptitude of a candidate. At this moment, it is important to say what you think must be done in the mentioned situation and not what you think would be the best thing to say. Many college students have the habit of basing their answers on bookish knowledge. However, some of this knowledge may not really be applicable in practical situations. You need to show your ability to be unique, stylistic and a visionary and sticking to the textbooks on every given situation may not work in your favor.

Are you willing to jump into a project that does not interest you at all?
This, again, can be quite a tricky question. On the one hand, you need to convince your employer about your love for the job. On the other, you can show lack of excitement and enthusiasm to be working in a company you pick. At this time, you must respond positively and show the willingness to pick up any project as long as it gets you closer to getting better at your dream job. Many of these seemingly uninteresting projects may also teach you a lot and expressing this understanding about projects that do not interest you will surely earn you a positive response.

Do you have any questions for the company?

Most interns do not expect this question and often freeze and ask nothing at all. However, this is your opportunity to who your knowledge about the company and your willingness to work for them. Ask them about the staff makeup, the job timings, the interviewers experience in the company, prospects of growth etc. Curious people are always welcome in interviews and this is where you get a chance to express your personality and incisive nature so make sure you do not lose out on the same.

Great Answers to More Common Internship Interview Questions

What do you want to gain from this internship?
In this question dont simply say that you hoped to complete all that is required for your major. The best answer you could give is to state the things that you expect to learn. Good answer: I really think I will learn a lot from this internship and I do believe that with your company on my side, I would be equipped with enough knowledge and preparation when I venture into

Why did you choose to pursue your major?

With this interview question, an answer like This is not really the major I chose but since I love my parents and I wanted them to be happy is not really a good choice. Instead, state the things you enjoy about the major and why you consider it worth pursuing. Good answer: Aside from teaching Mathematics, I do enjoy kids. It is very fulfilling for me to see them learning through my help

How would you describe you work ethic?

Are you a hard worker? Responsible? Give the interviewer insight into your character and use positive examples. Good answer: I am always motivated to meet the expectations and deadlines. I know that this internship also requires much time. Studying and working in the industry at the same time motivates me a lot

Why should I hire you?

If you feel like you are the best candidate for the job, do not simply say it. A good answer will state your qualifications and your uniqueness.

Good answer: I am a very determined person. Combining my passion and what Ive learned in school, I am confident in my abilities to contribute positively to the image and reputation of the company. I am an expert when it comes to computer software which means I can work more efficiently

Final Tips and Guidance

Good preparation and practice will surely boost self confidence. Most interviewers consider self confidence as one thing they look for. If youve covered a good number of internship interview questions and reviewed good answers (as well as bad answers), then you will be more confident. If youre more confident during the interview, employers will notice it and have a better first impression of you. This, combined with your education, will help you land those perfect internships. And remember that the best way to tell others about yourself is through honesty and sincerity. Good luck on your internship interview! Here are some additional potential questions from Virginia Tech. If you havent found internships to apply for yet, check out Indeed.com.