Interview scorecard by role
Sales Representative Interview Scorecard & Questions
Sales hiring goes wrong when interviewers reward charisma instead of process. The best reps are curious, disciplined about pipeline, honest about numbers and resilient after a lost deal. A role-play and a pipeline walkthrough reveal far more than "sell me this pen."
What to assess: 5 core competencies
Copy this scorecard. Assign each competency to one interviewer, rate it 1–5 and write down the evidence before discussing the candidate with anyone.
| Competency | What good looks like | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prospecting | builds pipeline consistently through research, outreach and follow-up. | ||
| Discovery | asks questions that uncover the buyer's real problem, budget, timeline and decision process. | ||
| Objection handling | responds to concerns with understanding and evidence rather than pressure. | ||
| Pipeline discipline | keeps CRM data accurate and forecasts honestly. | ||
| Resilience | recovers quickly from rejection and learns from lost deals. | ||
| Overall | ☐ Strong no ☐ No ☐ Yes ☐ Strong yes | ||
10 structured interview questions for a sales representative
Ask the same core questions, in the same order, to every candidate. Probe with "What did you do?" and "What was the result?"
- Walk me through your pipeline last quarter: numbers at each stage and your close rate.
- Tell me about a deal you lost that you thought you'd win. What happened?
- How do you research a prospect before a first call? Show me with our company.
- Describe your weekly prospecting routine. How many touches, through which channels?
- Tell me about a time a customer said "it's too expensive." What did you do?
- What questions do you ask in a first discovery call?
- Describe a deal you closed that almost fell apart.
- When have you walked away from a deal, and why?
- How do you decide which deals to forecast as committed?
- Role-play: a 10-minute discovery call with an interviewer playing a skeptical buyer.
Rating anchors for the critical competencies
Anchors stop one interviewer's "4" from being another's "2". These cover the two competencies that most often separate strong and weak sales representative hires. Read our interview rating scale guide to write anchors for the rest.
Discovery
| 1 — Below the bar | Pitches features immediately; asks few or leading questions. |
|---|---|
| 3 — Meets the bar | Asks open questions about the problem, impact and decision process. |
| 5 — Exceptional | Uncovers quantified pain, stakeholders and urgency, and summarizes it back so the buyer feels understood. |
Pipeline discipline
| 1 — Below the bar | Can't state their numbers or conversion rates. |
|---|---|
| 3 — Meets the bar | Knows quota attainment and stage conversion; keeps CRM updated. |
| 5 — Exceptional | Uses funnel math to plan activity, forecasts accurately and spots risk weeks ahead. |
Red flags to watch for
- Vague about numbers or inflates quota attainment.
- Talks more than listens in the role-play.
- Speaks negatively about every previous customer or manager.
30-60-90 day plan outline for a new sales representative
| Days 1–30: Learn | Learn the product, ICP and sales playbook; shadow 10 calls; build a target list of 100 accounts. |
|---|---|
| Days 31–60: Contribute | Run discovery calls independently, hit an initial activity target, get first opportunities into the pipeline. |
| Days 61–90: Own | Reach ramped activity and pipeline goals, close first deals, share one insight from the field with the team. |
Turn this into a full plan with goals and check-ins using our 30-60-90 day plan guide or the 30-60-90 Day Onboarding Kit.
Skip the setup: get ready-made, editable scorecards
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Hiring end to end? The Complete Hiring Bundle adds the pipeline tracker and onboarding kit for $49 (save $23).FAQ
How many interview rounds should a sales representative go through?
Two or three focused stages are usually enough for a small company: a short screen, a structured interview using the questions above, and a practical exercise or final interview. Score every stage on the same 1–5 scale.
What is the most predictive part of a sales representative interview?
The practical exercise — "a 10-minute discovery call with an interviewer playing a skeptical buyer." — because it shows real work rather than descriptions of it. Score it against the anchors on this page.
Generate more questions with the free interview question generator.