Sales management · Recruitment and selection
Score every finalist on the same weighted sheet before anyone says a name.
A weighted candidate scorecard is a sheet that rates each finalist on the qualifications the job needs, each carrying a weight, and totals the marks. It stops the loudest interviewer winning. This page covers choosing the weights, adding a risk screen for leaving early, and ending with one decision sheet.
Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.
In one paragraph
A weighted candidate scorecard is a sheet that rates each finalist on the qualifications the job needs, each carrying a weight, and totals the marks. It stops the loudest interviewer winning. This page covers choosing the weights, adding a risk screen for leaving early, and ending with one decision sheet.
Two finalists sat for the territory sales job at a Coimbatore pump distributor. One had a polished interview and a degree; the other had cleared Class 12, had sold to farmers for six years and knew every dealer between Pollachi and Udumalpet. The owner leaned towards the first, the sales manager the second, and the argument lasted a week.
A scorecard settles that argument in an hour, because the weights are agreed before the names are known. The owner and the hiring manager fill it in separately, then compare. It replaces the memory of whoever interviewed last.
It comes after the tests and the reference calls, and it is the page where their results become marks. Relatives and referrals go through the same sheet. The temptation is to skip it for them, and that is where a scorecard earns its keep.
Where this sits
Topic 4 of 14 in sales management: recruitment and selection. Hiring salespeople through a repeatable process.
- The topic before
- Sales force design
- The topic after
- Sales training and development
If you want this done for you
The last three hires interviewed well and could not sell.
The work
What this is actually like.
“Weights are a decision about the job”
If the job is mostly calling existing dealers, field knowledge outweighs presentation. If it is opening a new town, drive and self-starting outweigh both. Set the weights from the work this territory needs, not from a template, and write them down before the first score.
“Degrees are not the same as selling”
Plenty of good field candidates are 12th-pass and have years of real selling behind them. Give education a small weight and let the sales history, the test and the references carry the rest. Raise the education weight only when the role truly needs a qualification, like technical selling to engineers.
“Scoring a relative is still scoring”
A cousin or a staff member's referral gets the same sheet and the same independent referee. If they score well, you have proof for the family. If they do not, you have a reason that is not personal.
“A tie is information”
When two finalists land within a few marks, the sheet is telling you the gap is in something not yet measured. Add one more task, such as a day with a rep in the territory, instead of choosing by feel.
What we do
What you end up with.
The documents this topic produces, what each one is for, and how you know it is finished.
The criteria and weights sheet
Five to seven rows, each a quality the job needs, with a weight out of 100 that sums exactly. Examples: field selling record, numeracy, local language and area knowledge, follow-up discipline, honesty on references. Signed by the owner and the hiring manager.
Result: Finished when the weights add to 100 and were signed before any finalist was named.
The finalist scoring grid
One column per finalist, one row per criterion, a mark from 1 to 5 and a one-line reason. Each scorer fills a separate copy and the two are laid side by side.
Result: Finished when every mark has a reason someone else can read.
The early-exit risk screen
A short list of things seen in the history: several jobs under a year, a notice period that is unclear, a commute that will not last the monsoon, a family move expected. Each is ticked yes or no for each finalist.
Result: Finished when the owner can say which finalist is likeliest to leave within a year and why.
The decision sheet
One page with the totals, the risk ticks, the chosen candidate, the offer terms and the second choice. The owner signs it and files it.
Result: Finished when the reason for the hire could be read out to the rejected finalists without embarrassment.
Why us
Why owners pick GullySales over an agency.
Marketing and sales, as one job
Most agencies stop at the enquiry. We also fix what happens after it: the reply, the follow-up, the quote and the CRM.
The person on the first call does the work
No account managers in between. You are never handed to someone you have not met.
A baseline before anything starts
Your numbers are written down on day one, so every later report compares against something honest.
The fee in writing, split three ways
Our time, your media spend and production on separate lines. You always see what goes to us.
No guarantees we cannot keep
The term is agreed in writing and never a default twelve months. We never promise a ranking or a lead count, because nobody controls those.
One office, and we say so
Nagarbhavi, Bengaluru. We work across India by call and WhatsApp and travel when a session needs to be in person.
#257, 3rd floor, Sri Nanjundeshwara Complex, Nagarbhavi 8th Block, Outer Ring Road. How we work.
Your brief
Tell us what you need, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps about your business, what you want and who decides. Most questions are a tap, and you can skip any you would rather answer on the call.
FAQ
Questions owners ask before they call.
Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.
How many criteria are too many?
Should the owner score at all?
What if no finalist reaches a good total?
Does this work for a team of three?
How much does it cost?
How long is the contract?
How soon will we see results?
Who will actually do the work?
What do you need from us?
What if we are not happy with the work?
Where to go next
The work that carries this topic further.
The rest of recruitment and selection
Or read all of sales management.
Your next practical step
Tell us what you are trying to grow, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps, mostly taps. Skip anything you would rather answer on the call.