How to hire a salesperson: what to test before the offer

The candidate who interviews best is not always the one who sells best. They talk easily, quote last year's numbers, and leave you impressed. Three months later the orders have not come. Before you make an offer, test what the interview cannot show: how the candidate sells your product, what a former manager and a former customer say, and how they behave for a day beside a real buyer. Compare candidates on the same sheet, not on how the last conversation felt.

Take the number apart

A candidate says they sold ₹4 crore last year. That figure came from their territory, the brand behind them, the price list, the leads they were given and a manager who rescued the big deals. None of that shows in the number.

So pull it apart. How many of those customers existed before they joined? How many orders were repeats? Where did the largest three come from? What did they do the week after losing a deal they thought they had won? A person who built the result gives names, details and an honest loss. A person who inherited it turns vague quickly.

The number does tell you one thing: whether the candidate has handled the size and type of sale you need. Someone whose biggest deal was ₹50,000 is a risk for orders measured in lakhs, however well they speak.

A role-play of twenty minutes, set up in advance

Give the candidate your product sheet the day before. You will see preparation as well as talent. In the Jalgaon case below, the owner plays a canteen manager who is polite, slightly distracted, and quietly worried about the gas connection for a new four-burner range. The candidate gets ten minutes to open and find that worry. Then the owner raises the usual objection, that a Pune supplier is cheaper by ₹3,000. Finally, the candidate is asked to close for a next step, not the order.

Score four things on a four-line sheet. Did they ask before pitching? Did they find the worry? Did they handle price without dropping it at once? Did they ask for a specific next step with a date? The role-play shows one scene only, so a candidate who freezes when watched may still be good in the field. If everything else is strong, give a second go with a different buyer.

Reference calls that produce an uncomfortable answer

Candidates choose their references, so "was the person good?" gets a friendly answer. Ask what has an awkward reply. What would you have to do differently to manage them well? Which customer would not take their call? How did they behave the month they missed the number? Whom else should I call who has seen them work?

Listen for what is missing as well. A manager who praises attitude and says nothing about results has told you something. If you can, ring a former customer separately and ask whether the seller came back after the order and kept promises on delivery.

A field day, and what it showed one dealer

Take the candidate on a real customer visit, or a day of telephone follow-ups, with the customer's permission. Pay a modest amount if it takes a full day, and say so in advance. You are watching what a room cannot show: punctuality, how the candidate treats the receptionist, how they listen to a buyer who is not interested, and what they write down afterwards.

This is an invented example, names included, not a real client. A commercial kitchen equipment dealer in Jalgaon is choosing a seller to call on hotels and canteens. Both finalists interviewed well. This is how the sheet looked after the field day.

                      Ravi                         Meena
Interview             Fluent, big numbers          Quieter, specific
Role-play             Pitched first, found no worry   Found the worry in 4 minutes
Field day             Late; spoke discounts first;  On time; asked what sells slowly;
                      no notes                      phoned owner next morning with a list
Former manager        "Great with people"          "Closes smaller deals steadily;
                                                    needs help on pricing"
Worry                 Hard to coach out of pitching  Will need support on large quotes

The owner's first instinct was Ravi. The mistake would have been to trust the interview alone. Meena's worry was easy to coach, since the owner can sit beside her on large quotes. Ravi's habit of pitching before listening was not. Meena got the offer, though the owner expects her first quarter to be slower on big orders, and Ravi took a rival dealer's offer within the week. The field day cost the owner a day and ₹1,500 for each finalist.

Tell the customer in advance who is coming, and do not let the candidate quote prices on your behalf. In the Jalgaon case, the owner also asks the canteen manager afterwards one question: would you take this person's call again? A yes or a no from the buyer is worth more than the owner's own impression.

A written test or a personality profile

Skip both unless the job is built around writing, such as tender replies or detailed quotations. A profile tells you how a person describes themselves, which you heard in the interview. If you use a written task, make it real: give an enquiry you actually received, with the buyer's name changed, and read the reply as the buyer would.

Hire later if these are true

If you cannot say what a good month looks like, or have no accounts or enquiries to give a new person, a hire will fail and you will blame the hire. Fix that first. Be wary of hiring a seller to cover for a product that is not selling. A new seller will not cure it, though they will report it more loudly.

If you have not decided whether pay is fixed or variable, read how to hire when your company is not a known name and settle it before you advertise.

Fill the sheet for your next finalists

Write one line per test for each finalist on the same day: what I saw, what worries me, and which pay band fits. Look at the sheets only when all finalists are done, so the vivid last interview does not win. If two tie, choose the one whose worry is easier to coach. Hiring is one part of how you build a sales team, and sales recruitment and candidate assessment is the service line it belongs to. To talk through your own role, tell us what you need.