Supercharging your hiring process: Your complete guide to structuring sales interviews

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Hiring the right salesperson isn’t easy. You get limited time with a candidate, and yet you’re expected to walk away knowing if they’ll drive results and fit into your culture. That’s a big request.

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Sales roles rely heavily on soft skills like communication, adaptability, and resilience — traits that can be hard to spot from a CV or cover letter alone. For this reason, if your interview process isn’t sharp, there’s a real risk of bringing in someone who doesn’t quite click with your team or deliver on targets.

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That’s where structuring sales interviews can go a long way. With a clear plan, the proper focus areas, and questions that get to the heart of behaviour and performance, your interviews can move from guesswork to confidence.

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Structuring sales interviews for better results

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A casual chat won’t cut it when hiring someone to represent your business and drive revenue. You need a structured interview process that helps you dig deeper and compare candidates fairly.

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However, what does that structure look like? It starts before you even speak to a candidate.

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• Know the role inside out: Define the role clearly, no matter if it’s a Sales Assistant or a BDR. Understand the day-to-day expectations, the kind of clients they'll deal with, and the sales cycle they'll be part of.
• Pin down key traits and behaviours: Successful salespeople often share traits like resilience, empathy, and a strong drive. Work out which behaviours matter most in your context and how you’ll spot them.
• Use a consistent format: Ask every candidate the same core questions and rate their responses against a clear scale. After that, make time for follow-up questions that reveal how they think on their feet.

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What traits and skills should you focus on?

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Sales is more than just charm. The best performers bring a mix of mindset, habits, and emotional intelligence that help them adapt to different customers, bounce back from rejection, and stay motivated.

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Here are some traits that signal a strong sales candidate:

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• Resilience – Can they handle setbacks without losing momentum?
• Empathy – Do they understand others' perspectives and adjust their approach?
• Goal orientation – Are they motivated by results and driven to succeed?
• Adaptability – Can they adjust quickly to changing priorities or objections?
• Active listening – Do they hear what a customer says, or just wait for their turn to talk?

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Alongside these, check for sales-specific knowledge like understanding the sales funnel, objection-handling techniques, and experience with CRM tools if the role requires it.

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Questions to ask during the interview

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You need open-ended questions that encourage storytelling and reflection to get under the surface. Behavioural questions work best because they help you understand how someone has acted in real situations.

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Try these questions:

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• “Tell me about a time you lost a sale. What happened, and what did you learn from it?”
• “Describe a client that was hard to win over. How did you approach it?”
• “What’s your strategy for staying motivated during a slow month?”
• “When have you adjusted your style to work better with a colleague or client?”
• “How do you stay on top of your pipeline and avoid letting leads slip through the cracks?”

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Pair these with role-specific scenarios to test decision-making on the spot. Check out our blog on assessing sales candidates for more ideas on how to answer questions.

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Getting culture fit right

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Skills matter, but so does how well someone fits into your team. Sales environments vary widely. Some are collaborative and consultative, while others are fast-paced and target-driven. According to research from McKinsey, employees who feel a sense of belonging are more likely to contribute to their fullest potential.

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Use part of your interview to explore how the candidate works best, what kind of support they value, and how they’ve contributed to team dynamics.

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For example:

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• “What kind of feedback helps you grow?”
• “How do you prefer to celebrate success — alone or as a team?”
• “Tell me about a time you helped a teammate hit a target or solve a challenge.”

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These questions can give you a clearer view of whether they’ll thrive in your team or struggle to find their place.

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Build better interviews with Thrive’s support

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Thrive has put everything into a straightforward guide to help you build better interviews and hire with confidence. From identifying key traits to asking the right questions, our guide walks you through every step.

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We help businesses like yours ease hiring and development with expert-led psychometric assessments and performance tools. Our platform enables you to identify the behaviours and skills that matter most in 12 minutes. We also offer fully customisable assessments and psychologist-led insights to support onboarding and development.

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Explore our Hiring Assessments or learn more about our Employee Performance and Development Tool to strengthen your team from the start.

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If you’re ready to take the guesswork out of sales hiring, download our guide today and see how structured interviews can make all the difference — no sales pitch needed.

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