Interview guide for sales development reps: a loop that tests coachability, not just confidence

Sales development reps are usually early in their careers, measured on activity and meetings, and the role is often a step toward a closing job. The interview mistake is to hire the most confident talker. Confidence helps on the first call, but what predicts a good SDR over a year is narrower: they prepare quickly, they write a short relevant message, they recover after rejection, and they get better each week because they act on coaching. This guide gives SDR managers a loop for outbound and inbound sales development reps selling to businesses, with a research sprint, a cold call run twice, a written outreach task and the pay rules to settle before the offer.

For account executives and the full closing loop, use the interview guide for sales roles; its SDR row is the short version of this page. The recruiter's first call is in sales development representative screening questions.

The loop at a glance

Stages 3 to 5 run back to back, about an hour in one session, because the call and the email use the account the candidate researched. That linkage is deliberate: it shows whether preparation turns into a better call.

Stage 2: manager interview (30 minutes)

1. "Tell me about a goal you kept working toward after most people would have stopped. What kept you going and what did you change along the way?" Listen for: adjusting the approach, not just effort.
2. "Tell me about feedback you got that was hard to hear. What did you do the following week?" Listen for: a concrete change and a result.
3. "Walk me through how you would organize a day with 60 calls and 40 emails to get done." Listen for: time blocks, batching research, protecting call hours.
4. "Why this job, and where do you want to be in 18 months?" Listen for: realistic interest in prospecting as a stage, not as a role to escape on day one.

If the candidate has been an SDR before, ask about meetings held, not only booked, and how many became qualified opportunities. A rep with high bookings and low show rates may be booking meetings buyers do not want.

Stage 3: the research sprint (15 minutes)

Give the candidate a real but public company that fits your customer profile, a one-page description of your product, and 15 minutes with a browser. Ask for three things: who they would contact first and why, one specific reason the company might care now, and the first sentence they would say on the call.

Score relevance over volume. A good answer connects something public, such as a new location, a job posting or a product launch, to a problem your product solves. A weak answer lists facts about the company without a reason to call.

Stage 4: the cold call, twice (25 minutes)

The senior SDR plays the prospect from a short brief: busy, mildly annoyed, with one real problem the candidate can uncover and two standard objections ("send me an email" and "we already use someone").

1. Call one (5 minutes): the candidate uses their research.
2. Feedback (3 minutes): the manager gives one specific, actionable point, for example "you pitched before asking anything; ask one question in the first 20 seconds."
3. Call two (5 minutes): same prospect, same objections.
4. Debrief (5 minutes): "What did you change, and what would you do on a third call?"

What to score

• Opening: a clear reason for the call in the first 30 seconds.
• Questions: at least one open question that uncovers the prospect's situation.
• Objection handling: acknowledges, asks, and tries once more without arguing.
• Ask: a specific next step with a time.
• Coachability: how much call two changes in the direction of the feedback. Weight this most.

If you record role-plays for calibration, get the candidate's consent first; the interview recording consent script has wording, and two-party consent states lists where all parties must agree.

Stage 5: the written outreach task (20 minutes)

Using the same account, the candidate writes a first email of no more than 120 words and a follow-up for a week later. Score relevance to the research, clarity of the ask, length discipline and whether a busy reader would understand it on a phone screen. Do not score templates you would never send.

Scorecard competencies and weights

Example weights for an outbound SDR. Lock yours before the first candidate.

The sales scorecard layout in interview scorecard for sales roles works here with these rows swapped in.

References for early-career candidates

Many SDR candidates have no sales manager to call. Ask for a supervisor from a service, hospitality or campus job instead, and ask the same three questions of each: how the candidate responded to correction, how they handled a stretch of repetitive or discouraging work, and whether they showed up prepared. The candidate reference call script has a structure that keeps these calls short and comparable.

Pay and classification points to check

Checked against the linked primary sources as of October 2026. Not legal advice.

• Overtime. The federal outside sales exemption does not fit most SDR jobs. The Department of Labor's rule at 29 CFR 541.502 says outside sales does not include sales made by mail, telephone or the internet unless that contact is used merely as an adjunct to personal calls, and that a fixed site used for phone solicitation, even a home, is treated as one of the employer's places of business. Decide classification with counsel before you post the role, because it shapes the pay plan you describe in interviews.
• Commission plans in writing. In California, Labor Code section 2751 requires a written contract that sets out how commissions are computed and paid for employees working in the state, with a signed copy given to the employee and a signed receipt obtained. Have the plan ready to share at the offer stage wherever the rep works.
• Pay ranges. Many states and cities require a pay range in the posting, and some count variable pay; see pay transparency laws by state.

The decision rule

1. Floor: call two must improve on call one in the direction of the feedback. A candidate who ignores the coaching in the interview is unlikely to take it on the floor.
2. Weighted total: in this example, 2.7 or higher on a 1–4 scale is an offer.
3. Tie-breaker: prefer higher coachability over a stronger first call.
4. Start plan: share the first-quarter ramp with the offer; the 30-60-90 day plan for sales development reps is a starting point.

Adjusting the loop

Mistakes that weaken SDR loops

• One call, no coaching. You learn how they sound, not how fast they improve.
• Scoring closing skills. SDRs book meetings; test that.
• Vague pay plans. Candidates compare on-target earnings; explain how the variable part is earned.
• Hiring for polish only. Smooth first calls with no change after feedback is a warning, not a strength.