Interview Signal for sales hiring: deal walk-throughs and numbers you can quote
On this page
- How do I set up a sales role?
- How does Interview Signal help with a deal walk-through?
- How are a candidate's numbers handled?
- What does the Sales submittal contain?
- How do I shortlist sales candidates?
- What does Interview Signal not do for sales hiring?
- Which plan fits sales hiring?
- Questions people ask
Interview Signal helps agency sales recruiters and sales leaders interview account executives, SDRs and sales managers on evidence rather than on how well a candidate talks. The kit asks for specific past deals, follow-ups go after the vague parts of an answer (the "we", the "it went well", the number with no context), and every score carries the candidate's own words, checked against the transcript. The built-in "Sales" template writes "Track record" and "Segment, deal size and cycle" with figures kept as the candidate said them. As of October 2026 it does not verify quota attainment or connect to an ATS or CRM. This describes version 0.9.10.
How do I set up a sales role?
- Paste the job description under "New role", and put the real requirements in "What the client actually wants": segment, typical deal size and cycle, inbound or outbound, quota, and what the hiring manager has already rejected people over (an example list). This box outranks the job description and decides which capability questions become must-asks.
- Choose the interview type. "Behavioural" ("Specific past situations and what they personally did.") gives a kit of "tell me about a time" questions, with "What a strong answer contains" describing what separates a real recollection from a rehearsed story: named specifics, the candidate's own part rather than the team's, and what changed afterwards. It leaves out logistics, so for an agency screen that becomes a submittal, choose "Balanced", which keeps notice period, compensation expectation and right to work as must-asks.
- Choose "Sales" as the "Submittal template" before pressing "Generate the kit", so the scorecard covers what that document needs.
- Make the scorecard yours. Rename areas to the competencies you hire on, set each "Weight" from 1 to 3, and fill the "1-3 looks like…", "5-6 looks like…" and "9-10 looks like…" lines. The sales interview scorecard has anchored competencies to borrow.
- Press "Save role". Every candidate for the role then gets the same questions and rubric, which is what makes Compare meaningful later.
The kit generator and the follow-ups are told not to ask about salary history where it is restricted, and to ask about expectation instead; salary expectation questions covers the wording.
How does Interview Signal help with a deal walk-through?
- Pin the deal question. Click it in the guide and press "Pin": follow-ups and scoring focus on it, and a clock shows how long it has been open against its planned time.
- Follow-ups on what was just said. Three suggestions at a time, each tagged probe, clarify or evidence, and each quoting or naming something the candidate actually said. They are told to go after the places candidates are vague: scope ("we"), outcome ("it went well") and their own part. "Ask this" moves one onto the guide, pinned.
- The CV against the story. Attach the CV on the pre-interview screen and a follow-up can go after the gap between what it claims and what the candidate just said, while still quoting only what was said.
- The answer check. A private card when an answer reads as AI-written or read out, such as a polished framework with no deal, name or number in it, with a question to try. It never changes a score and never goes in the submittal.
- "+ Add". Pick a category and a topic and press "Suggest 3" for one more question, or "Add as written" for your own.
How are a candidate's numbers handled?
- Quotes are checked. Each score's quotes must appear word for word in the transcript, at least four words long; a quote that is not there is removed.
- No evidence, no high score. An area left with no verified quote is capped at 5 and marked "Probe further", however confident the answer sounded. See the scorecard with verified quotes.
- Figures keep their units. The submittal is told that every number keeps the units it was spoken with, and never to add a currency, unit or order of magnitude the candidate did not say. If a currency symbol lands on a figure the candidate never gave a currency for, the app removes it and warns you.
- The gaps travel. "Copy next round" lists the questions not asked and, under "Answered, but without evidence to stand on:", the areas where the candidate talked around it, so the next interviewer presses for a specific deal.
What does the Sales submittal contain?
| Part | What appears |
|---|---|
| Top line | "Recommendation", "Fit" out of 10, "Available" |
| Track record | Why they fit, from the transcript |
| Segment, deal size and cycle | The environment they sold in, as they described it |
| Strengths; Risks | With the candidate's own words; a risk line where the CV claims something the call did not establish |
| Compensation expectation | As stated, or "Not discussed." |
| Evidence from the interview | Word-for-word quotes |
One quirk: the Bullhorn and JobAdder notes, the CSV row and the "Email to client" covering note take compensation from a bold "Compensation" label near the top, and the Sales template keeps it in a section instead, so those may leave pay blank; it is in the submittal under "Compensation expectation". Availability is picked up from "Available". Formats are in submittal templates and exports.
How do I shortlist sales candidates?
On the home screen, click the role to see its candidates ranked by fit, then press "Compare" to put two to six scored candidates side by side, with the first quote under each score; "Copy as text" gives a scores-only table for an email. "Copy for Slack" gives one short paragraph for a sales leader: the recommendation and fit, two strengths, two things to watch and availability. See Compare.
What does Interview Signal not do for sales hiring?
- No verification of attainment, rankings or awards; it records and checks what was said in the interview.
- No ATS or CRM integration. Notes are shaped for Bullhorn, JobAdder, Greenhouse and Lever and pasted by hand.
- No video. A mock call or presentation is judged from its audio alone.
- In person, the scorecard needs you: quotes cannot be verified, so areas come back "Probe further" and scores above 5 are capped until you add your own with "+". See in-person interviews.
- Desktop only, on Windows 10 or 11 or macOS 13 or newer, and phone screens must run through the computer.
- A newer product with few public reviews.
Which plan fits sales hiring?
As of October 2026: a sales leader hiring a few reps can start on the 20 free minutes and buy Pay as you go hours ($9 for 1, $29 for 5, $69 for 15, never expiring); a recruiter on a sales desk who interviews most weeks fits Solo at $49 a month ($468 a year), with unlimited interviews; a desk or sales team of three or more interviewers fits Team at $59 per seat per month, or $49 billed yearly, which shares roles and adds panels and a weekly coaching report. See pricing, the walkthrough on the Try it page, and for questions, account executive screening questions and the interview guide for sales roles.
Questions people ask
Can Interview Signal verify a sales candidate's quota attainment?
No. Interview Signal records what the candidate said, checks every scorecard quote against the transcript and keeps numbers in the units they were spoken in, but it checks nothing against commission statements, a CRM or a previous employer. Verifying attainment remains a separate step in your own process.
Which Interview Signal interview type works best for sales deal walk-throughs?
Behavioural. The kit generator is told to ask about specific past situations rather than hypotheticals, and to say under each question what separates a real recollection from a rehearsed story: named specifics, the candidate's own part rather than the team's, and what changed afterwards. Behavioural kits leave out logistics, so an agency screen that needs notice period and compensation expectation fits Balanced instead.
Does Interview Signal have a submittal template for sales candidates?
Yes. The built-in Sales template has the recommendation, fit and availability in its top line, then Track record; Segment, deal size and cycle; Strengths; Risks; Compensation expectation; and Evidence from the interview. Sections the call did not cover are written as Not discussed, and an admin can copy the template in the web account to make the agency's own.
Will Interview Signal ask sales candidates about their past earnings?
Its kit generator and follow-up suggestions are told not to ask about salary history where it is restricted and to ask about salary expectation instead. The recruiter can still type any question into the kit, so checking the law where the candidate is remains the interviewer's job. This is not legal advice.