Medical Device Sales Mock Interview
Master 30 Medical Device Sales interview questions covering clinical knowledge, consultative selling, and OR experience.
Question 28 of 30
Have you ever missed a sales target or quota?
Why the Interviewer Asks This Question
How to Answer
What to Avoid
Example Answer
Community Answers
Jenna has 6 years of in-house and agency recruiting experience for roles in the consumer packaged goods and adult beverage industries.
This question is a riff off of the classic "tell me about a time that you have failed." The interviewer wants to see that you are accepting of your own faults and are able to take responsibility for the times that you have missed your targets.
Jenna has 6 years of in-house and agency recruiting experience for roles in the consumer packaged goods and adult beverage industries.
The most important part of your answer to this question will not be your "yes" or "no," but rather that you are able to articulate WHY you did not achieve your targets and that you can see the role your actions played in missing the mark. You will likely even get bonus points with the Interviewer if you are able to speak on how this miss affected your future actions so you did not miss another target!
Jenna has 6 years of in-house and agency recruiting experience for roles in the consumer packaged goods and adult beverage industries.
Avoid using an example of a time when you missed a sales target or quota due to a factor that was completely outside of your control. For example, if you were to tell the interviewer that the only time you have ever missed a sales quota was when your products were fully out of stock, the interviewer will gain no true insight into how you work or how you have grown through your professional experiences.
Jenna has 6 years of in-house and agency recruiting experience for roles in the consumer packaged goods and adult beverage industries.
"I hate to admit it but I have in fact missed a target before. Most recently, I made a mistake in planning out my service schedule and was unable to dedicate the time that my accounts needed to fully learn to utilize my products. Because of this, not all of my clients implemented the new devices into their services as soon as I had imagined. This led to fewer re-orders during the month of my sales target and I missed the target by just a hair!"
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Anonymous Answer
Yes, I have missed a sales quota. I had a situation where a customer wanted to buy bulk products to take advantage of discounts which caused me to fall short in the next quarter.
Chad's Feedback
You do well to take an honest approach to this question and admit to the interviewer that you have missed a sales target in the past. Well done! To strengthen this response, discuss what you learned from this experience, and how you were able to implement that learning to ensure you did not miss another target.
Anonymous Answer
In my pharmaceutical career, I have not missed a quota yet. I know that I like to hit the ground running with any position that I start, and with my nursing foundation am able to leverage education and training quickly. I know there are always areas of improvement, hence why I've always wanted to break into medical devices. I am up for the challenge and will work my hardest every day to meet and exceed quotas.
Marcie's Feedback
Wow! It's very impressive that you've met all of your quotas to date. Consider talking about how you ensure that you meet or exceed your quotas. Do you regularly monitor your metrics? What do you do if you think you're not going to meet a quota? These additional details will further build out your answer. Great job!
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