Free template for small business owners and sales managers
Ten questions with what to listen for in each answer, a role-play, a scorecard that treats every candidate the same, and the red flags. Copy it, print it or download it for Word or Excel, where the scorecard adds itself up. Free, no sign-up.
Most salespeople interview well. It's the job. The questions that tell them apart ask what they did, not what they would do: the calls they made last week, the deal they lost and what happened next, the routine they keep when nobody's checking. This template asks those, tells you what a strong answer sounds like, and scores every candidate on the same ten areas so you're not hiring on the best conversation.
Role: ______ Date: ______ Interviewer: [you]
One thing on their CV to ask about: ____________
What the job needs each week, in numbers: ____________ (calls, meetings, deals)
1. Walk me through last week at work. How many calls, meetings and deals?
Listen for: numbers they know without guessing.
2. Tell me about a deal you lost. What happened after?
Listen for: what they did next, and no blame.
3. How do you find new customers when nobody hands you leads?
Listen for: a routine, with names of places and people.
4. Sell me the last thing you bought that you'd recommend.
Listen for: questions about what I need before the pitch.
5. What do you do in the first ten minutes of a working day?
Listen for: selling before admin.
6. Tell me about a month when you missed your number. What did you change?
Listen for: more activity, or a different approach, in the same month.
7. A customer says the price is too high. What do you say?
Listen for: a question back, before any discount.
8. How do you keep track of who to follow up with?
Listen for: a system they use every day, not memory.
9. What would your last manager say you need to work on?
Listen for: something real, and what they're doing about it.
10. What do you want to ask me?
Listen for: questions about the customers, the targets and how the team sells.
Ten minutes: they call you as a customer who said "not now" last month. Score how they open, what they ask and whether they ask for a next step.
| Area | Score (1 to 5) | What they said |
|---|---|---|
| Knows their numbers | ||
| Handles a loss | ||
| Finds their own customers | ||
| Asks before pitching | ||
| Starts with selling | ||
| Changes course | ||
| Handles price | ||
| Follows up | ||
| Takes feedback | ||
| Their questions |
Can't give a number for their own last week
Every lost deal was someone else's fault
Talks for five minutes before asking you anything
Asks only about the pay and the commission
Total score (out of 50): __
Role-play (1 to 5): __
Next step: second interview / a day with the team / no Date: ______
Why: ____________
Write their pay with the free sales commission plan template
Same questions, same order, same scorecard for every candidate.
Specific, recent, and in their own numbers.
Ask again when you hear one of these, and treat two as a pattern.
5 + 4 + 4 + 3 + 5 + 4 + 3 + 5 + 4 + 4 = 41 out of 50.
The template is free. ActivityTracker, the app we make, is paid. It doesn't screen candidates. It shows you the new hire's week from their first Monday.
The template is free to use. The app is paid and shows each rep's week from their first Monday.