How to Hire a Sales Representative: Step-by-Step Hiring Process

Since sales performance affects revenue, retention, and forecasting, hiring sales representatives is one of the highest-impact decisions you make. It’s also a role with meaningful churn: Harvard Business Review has highlighted average annual sales turnover in the 25%–30% range (1).

This guide is designed to be genuinely useful as a repeatable hiring process you can apply across industries, plus industry-specific checklists and assessment ideas.

Industries covered: SaaS, manufacturing, retail, financial services, insurance, pharma, medical device, logistics, media/advertising.

Key takeaways

• Define the motion first: clarify the role as in inbound/outbound, B2B/B2C, cycle length.

• Use a scorecard: ensure consistent hiring decisions.

• Use structured interviews + work samples: get a higher signal than “vibes” (2) (5) (6).

• Add short simulations: apply outreach + objections + pipeline judgment to catch “good talkers” before they become costly mis-hires (4).

• Licensing and codes of conduct can change what “great selling” even means (7) (8) (9) (10).

• Use an online assessment tool to scale with consistency. TestInvite can help you deliver structured work samples and evaluate candidates fairly. (11) (12) (13).

Step 1: Define the sales role and sales motion

Before you post a job ad, get alignment on how the role actually sells.

Sales motion questions to answer

• Is it B2B, B2C, or hybrid

• Inbound, outbound, or full-cycle

• Deal size and average sales cycle length

• Stakeholder complexity

• Territory-based field sales or inside sales

• What success metrics look like in the first 90 days and first year

• Any regulatory constraints

This step prevents the most common mismatch: hiring a “closer” for a role that’s really pipeline creation, or hiring an inbound rep for a heavy outbound motion.

Step 2: Build a sales representative hiring scorecard

A scorecard keeps hiring decisions consistent, fast, and defendable.

Sales rep scorecard example

Pick 8–10 competencies, define what “great” looks like, and score each interviewer’s feedback using the same rubric.

Core competencies that translate across industries

If you want a simple weighting model:

• Prospecting discipline and resilience — 15% (or 25% for SDR roles)

• Discovery quality — 20%

• Value articulation — 15%

• Objection handling — 15%

• Follow-up and written communication — 10%

• Pipeline management and next-step control — 15% (or 5% for SDR)

• Coachability — 5%

• Ethics and customer-first judgment — 5% (increase to 15% in regulated industries)

Structured interviews are commonly described as asking predefined questions consistently and scoring responses using consistent criteria (2).

Sales hiring red flags

• Can’t quantify pipeline creation

• Blames product/marketing for missed targets

• Talks a lot, asks few questions

• Avoids written communication tasks

• Can’t explain deal stages clearly

Step 3: Source candidates by skills, not just industry

Industry experience can help, but it’s not always the biggest predictor of success—especially when the sales motion is different.

Practical sourcing channels

Referrals from your top reps and managers

Competitor and adjacent-industry searches

LinkedIn search with motion-specific keywords such as “outbound,” “cold prospecting,” “territory plan,” “enterprise deals,” “renewals”

Communities tied to the industry: logistics groups, SaaS meetups, medical device networks, etc.

Build two lanes of candidates

Proven lane: has sold to the same buyer type with similar deal cycles

Potential lane: adjacent background but strong skill signals, learning speed, and coachability

Step 4: Screen quickly with job-relevant signals

Use a short screen to validate basics before deeper interviews.

A high-signal sales screening checklist

• Why this role and why now

• Ability to describe past pipeline creation and conversion rates

• How they prepare for discovery

• How they handle rejection

• Comfort with tools and process discipline

• Clarity on compensation expectations and work setup

Step 5: Use structured interviews to improve consistency

Unstructured interviews often over-reward confidence. Structured interviews help you compare candidates more fairly and reliably.

Public HR guidance notes that higher-structure interviews tend to show stronger validity and reliability and less adverse impact (5). Practical HR bodies also recommend structured interviewing to improve consistency and reduce bias (2) (3).

Sales interview questions that work across industries

Organize questions around the scorecard, for example:

• Prospecting: “Show me a real cadence you used. What did you do after no reply?”

• Discovery: “What are the first 6 questions you ask in a first call and why?”

• Objections: “The prospect says your price is too high. What do you do next?”

• Process: “How do you decide what’s in forecast and what isn’t?”

• Coachability: “Tell me about feedback you didn’t agree with at first. What happened next”

Step 6: Add a sales work sample assessment

If you want to reduce mis-hires, add a short work sample. Work samples and simulations are widely used to mirror real tasks (4).

A professional evidence summary from SIOP has highlighted structured interviews and work sample tests among strong predictors of job performance (6).

Sales assessment ideas you can run in under 45 minutes

Choose 2 tasks, not 6. Keep it realistic and respectful.

Cold outreach writing task

• Prompt: email plus LinkedIn message to a specific persona

• Score: relevance, clarity, value, CTA, professionalism

Discovery call plan

• Prompt: 20-minute first call plan with questions, hypotheses, and success criteria

• Score: question quality, prioritization, curiosity, qualification

Objection handling scenarios

• Prompt: 5 common objections, candidate writes responses and next steps

• Score: empathy, reframing, control of next step

Pipeline prioritization

• Prompt: mini CRM pipeline, candidate chooses next actions and forecast risk

• Score: judgment, process discipline, prioritization

OPM also notes work samples are most appropriate when candidates are expected to possess required competencies upon entry (4).

Tip: Use a 1–5 rubric for each criterion and weight tasks based on what the role actually requires (e.g., writing-heavy roles weight outreach higher).

Step 7: Adjust your hiring strategy based on industry needs

Below are industry checklists you can copy into your hiring plan.

SaaS and software sales

Look for

• Strong discovery and stakeholder mapping

Comfort with CRM discipline and stage management

• Ability to learn product and buyer pain fast

Test with

• Discovery call plan

• Objection handling

• Pipeline and forecast scenario

Common mistake

• Hiring “great demo energy” without validating discovery skill.

Manufacturing and industrial sales

Look for

• Territory planning and relationship depth

• Technical curiosity and ability to sell outcomes, not specs

• Patience with long deal cycles

Test with

• 90-day territory plan

• Spec-to-value translation exercise

Common mistake

• Hiring purely transactional sellers for consultative, long-cycle roles.

Retail and consumer sales

Look for

• Consistency, service mindset, and speed

• Upsell ability without pressure

• Emotional control during objections

Test with

• Customer scenario role-play

• Situational judgment questions

Common mistake

Hiring personality over reliability and follow-through.

Financial services and securities sales

Look for

• Trust-building, documentation discipline, and compliance awareness

• Clear communication of complex products

Licensing note

If the role involves selling securities, licensing and registration requirements may apply. FINRA describes the Series 7 as assessing competency for an entry-level registered representative (7), and the SEC explains that individuals who want to enter the securities industry to sell securities generally must take the Series 7 exam (8).

Test with

• Ethics and compliance scenarios

• Plain-language explanation of risk and suitability

Common mistake

Overvaluing persuasion without verifying compliance judgment.

Insurance sales

Look for

• Prospecting endurance and consistent follow-up

• Needs analysis and renewals mindset

• Comfort with regulated language and documentation

Test with

• Needs-analysis simulation

• Renewal follow-up email task

Pharmaceutical sales

Look for

• Learning agility and scientific credibility

• Territory planning

• High compliance awareness in messaging and interactions

Compliance note

The PhRMA Code focuses on interactions with healthcare professionals related to marketing of medicines and emphasizes appropriate, accurate communication about benefits and risks (9).

Test with

• Compliant outreach writing scenarios

• Territory visit planning and call preparation

Common mistake

• Bringing general B2B tactics into a heavily constrained environment.

Medical device sales

Look for

• Calm, ethical selling in high-stakes contexts

• Ability to work closely with clinicians and hospital processes

• Strong professionalism and relationship depth

Ethics note

AdvaMed provides code guidance on ethical interactions and relationships with healthcare professionals (10).

Test with

• Ethics scenario questions

• Stakeholder mapping of clinical and procurement influence

Logistics and transportation sales

Look for

• Strong relationship management

• Operational empathy and service recovery skills

• Negotiation without overpromising

Test with

• Service recovery role-play

• Account growth plan

• Media, advertising, and marketing services sales

Look for

• Discovery and brief translation

• Strong writing and proposal clarity

• Ability to manage stakeholders and timelines

Test with

• Brief-to-proposal mini exercise

• Email follow-up and objection handling

Step 8: Use online assessments to scale sales hiring consistently

Once you’re hiring in volume, consistency becomes the hard part: the same standards across teams, regions, and hiring managers.

Where TestInvite can support a sales hiring workflow

You can use TestInvite to deliver structured, job-relevant assessments such as writing tasks, scenario questions, and even video response prompts.

TestInvite supports many question formats, including multiple choice, short text responses, video interview responses, coding questions, file uploads, and speaking questions, among others (11); while also including exam integrity tools like lockdown browser, multiple proctoring and security options (12) (13).

A simple, candidate-friendly approach:

• Stage 1: 20–30 minute assessment focused on writing plus judgment scenarios

• Stage 2: finalist role-play with a structured scoring rubric

This keeps the process fair and efficient without turning hiring into a multi-week obstacle course.

References

(1) Cespedes, F. V., and Weinfurter, D. The Best Ways to Hire Salespeople. Harvard Business Review. (Harvard Business Review)

(2) CIPD. Selection methods fact sheet. (CIPD)

(3) SHRM. Eliminating Biases in Hiring Structured Interviewing and AI solutions. (SHRM)

(4) U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Work Samples and Simulations. (U.S. Office of Personnel Management)

(5) U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Structured Interviews. (U.S. Office of Personnel Management)

(6) SIOP. Is Cognitive Ability the Best Predictor of Job Performance New research says it is time to think again. (siop.org)

(7) FINRA. Series 7 General Securities Representative Exam. (FINRA)

(8) U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Series 7 Examination. (SEC)

(9) PhRMA. Code on Interactions with Health Care Professionals. (PhRMA)

(10) AdvaMed. AdvaMed Code of Ethics. (AdvaMed®)

(11) TestInvite. Types of Exam Questions You Can Create and Their Features. (TestInvite)

(12) TestInvite. 18 Anti-Cheating Measures to Secure Online Exams. (TestInvite)

(13) TestInvite. Secure Online Exam Software - Improve Test Security. (TestInvite)

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)