What You'll Have After This
You'll have a repeatable sales working interview protocol that takes 3-4 hours to run and tells you whether a candidate can actually sell in your environment. You'll know if they can handle discovery without a script, manage objections without folding, and think on their feet when a prospect goes sideways. You'll eliminate the 60% of hires who look great on paper and sound polished in interviews but can't close when it matters. And you'll have scoring criteria so clean that two evaluators watching the same session land within 10 points of each other.
Step 1: Define Your Core Selling Scenarios
Pull the three or four situations your reps encounter every week. Not edge cases. Not the deal that closed itself. The repeating patterns that separate quota from missed.
What to do: Interview your top two performers and your sales leader. Ask: "What are the three calls that happen every week where execution determines the outcome?" Common answers: cold outreach that turns into discovery, mid-cycle objection call, pricing negotiation, technical deep-dive with a skeptical buyer.
Why it matters: If your working interview tests skills your team never uses, you're hiring for a different job. A SaaS closer needs different scenarios than an enterprise hunter. Your working interview should feel like a Tuesday.
What success looks like: You have three scenarios written in two sentences each. Example: "Prospect agreed to a demo but now says budget is frozen. They're still on the call. Get them to the next step." Or: "You're 20 minutes into discovery. The prospect just said they tried a competitor and it didn't work. Diagnose why without sounding like you're selling."
Common failure mode: Choosing scenarios that showcase your product knowledge instead of selling skill. The goal is not "can they memorize our pitch deck." The goal is "can they think, adapt, and move a deal forward."
Step 2: Build Stimulus Materials
Give candidates enough context to perform but not so much they can prepare a script.
What to do: For each scenario, create a one-page brief. Include: the prospect's name and title, their company size and industry, what happened on the previous call (if applicable), and the current situation. Add any relevant emails or Slack messages the candidate would see in real life. Do not include your pitch deck. Do not include a script. If you use a sales methodology—SPINEflow, DISARM, Mirror Method—mention it in the brief so they know your framework, but don't hand them the answers.
Why it matters: Real selling happens with incomplete information. If you give candidates a full dossier and talking points, you're testing their ability to read, not their ability to sell. They have a you problem if they need a script to handle a pricing objection.
What success looks like: A candidate can read the brief in 5 minutes and understand the situation well enough to jump into role-play. The brief feels like something your team would see in their CRM notes before a call.
Common failure mode: Over-explaining. If your brief is three pages, you're writing a case study, not a working interview. Keep it tight.
Step 3: Design the Session Flow
Structure the session so candidates move through scenarios in a logical sequence, with time to reset between exercises.
What to do: Block 3-4 hours. Start with 15 minutes of context—who you are, what the company does, what they're about to experience. Then run scenario one (20-30 minutes). Give them 5 minutes to decompress and take notes. Run scenario two. Repeat. End with a 20-minute debrief where you ask them to self-assess: "What did you do well? What would you do differently?" Pay them for their time. $200-500 depending on the role level. This is not a favor. This is work.
Why it matters: Candidates who can't self-assess can't coach themselves. If they think they nailed a call that went off the rails, they won't course-correct in your pipeline. The debrief is part of the evaluation, not a courtesy.
What success looks like: The session feels like a real workday, not a performance review. Candidates leave tired but clear on what the job demands. You leave with enough data to make a hiring decision.
Common failure mode: Running scenarios back-to-back with no break. Fatigue clouds judgment. If a candidate bombs scenario three because they're fried, you don't know if they can't handle objections or if they just hit a wall.
Step 4: Set Evaluation Criteria Before the Interview
Decide what good looks like before the candidate walks in. Scripts push toward a close. Leadership guides toward a decision.
What to do: Build a scorecard with 5-7 criteria. Examples: Asks second-level questions (not just surface discovery). Handles resistance without folding (acknowledges objection, reframes, moves forward). Adapts when the scenario shifts (doesn't stick to a script when the prospect goes off-road). Closes on next steps (doesn't end the call without a concrete commitment). Self-awareness in debrief (can articulate what worked and what didn't). Score each criterion 1-5. Define what a 3 looks like, what a 5 looks like. Write it down.
Why it matters: Without a scorecard, you default to "did I like them." Likability is not quota attainment. Two decades scaling sales teams taught me this: the reps who feel smooth in interviews often lack the edge to push a deal through resistance. The scorecard forces you to evaluate execution, not charm.
What success looks like: Two evaluators score the same candidate within 10% of each other. If one evaluator gives a candidate a 22/35 and another gives a 34/35, your criteria are too subjective. Tighten them.
Common failure mode: Scoring "energy" or "culture fit." These are proxies for bias. If you can't point to a specific behavior the candidate demonstrated, you're not evaluating selling skill.
Step 5: Run the Session
Execute the working interview like you'd run a real sales call: present, engaged, taking notes, but not coaching.
What to do: Have two evaluators in the room (or on Zoom). One plays the prospect. One observes and scores. Switch roles between scenarios so both evaluators get to watch and participate. Do not interrupt the candidate mid-scenario to give feedback. Do not help them when they're stuck. Let them work through it. If they ask a clarifying question ("Can I assume we've already sent pricing?"), answer it quickly and move on. Record the session if the candidate consents—it's useful for calibration later.
Why it matters: If you coach during the session, you're testing their ability to take direction, not their ability to sell autonomously. Your team won't have you whispering answers in their ear on a live call. Neither should the candidate.
What success looks like: The candidate treats the role-play like a real call. They ask questions. They handle objections. They close on next steps. They don't break character to ask "Is this what you wanted?" If they do, that's a data point: they're performing for you, not solving for the prospect.
Common failure mode: Evaluators jumping in to "make it easier" when a candidate struggles. Let them struggle. Struggle reveals whether they can think under pressure or whether they need their hand held.
Step 6: Score and Debrief Immediately
Evaluate while the session is fresh. Waiting 24 hours lets recency bias and likability creep in.
What to do: Both evaluators fill out the scorecard within 10 minutes of the session ending. Compare scores. Discuss any criteria where you're more than one point apart. Decide: is this a hire, a no, or a "we need one more conversation." If it's a hire, extend the offer within 48 hours. If it's a no, send a clear rejection with one piece of specific feedback ("You handled discovery well, but when the prospect pushed back on pricing, you didn't reframe—you just repeated the number"). If you're on the fence, run a second working interview with different scenarios.
Why it matters: Speed signals conviction. If you take two weeks to decide after a working interview, the candidate assumes you're not serious or you're waiting for someone better. Top performers have options. Move fast or lose them.
What success looks like: You have a filled-out scorecard, a hire/no-hire decision, and a written summary of why. If you hire them, you can point to specific behaviors in the working interview that predict success. If you don't, you can articulate exactly what was missing.
Common failure mode: Deferring the decision because "we want to see a few more candidates." If someone clears your scorecard, hire them. Waiting for a unicorn is how you lose A-players to competitors who move faster. Building a sales team is a speed game.
The Complete Checklist
- Define 3-4 core selling scenarios your team encounters weekly
- Build one-page stimulus briefs for each scenario (context, situation, no scripts)
- Design a 3-4 hour session flow with breaks between scenarios
- Create a 5-7 criteria scorecard with defined 1-5 ratings for each
- Run the session with two evaluators (one role-plays, one observes)
- Do not coach or interrupt during scenarios
- Score immediately after the session ends
- Decide hire/no-hire within 10 minutes of scoring
- Extend offer within 48 hours if it's a yes
- Send specific feedback if it's a no
