What does a Sales Representative do?

A Sales Representative identifies prospects, qualifies leads, presents products or services, handles objections, and closes deals — usually against a quota or pipeline target. The role blends persuasion with genuine problem-solving: understanding a prospect’s needs well enough to position a real solution, not just push a pitch.

Day-to-day work includes prospecting and outreach, running discovery and demo calls, negotiating terms, managing a CRM pipeline, and following up through a multi-touch sales cycle that can run from days to months depending on deal size.

Key skills to assess when hiring a Sales Representative

• Sales Aptitude — core selling instincts: persuasion, objection handling, and closing orientation.
• Sales Skills — practical execution: prospecting, pitch delivery, and pipeline discipline.
• Communication Skills — clarity and adaptability across written and verbal outreach.
• Negotiation — value framing and concession strategy once a deal is on the table.
• Stress Tolerance — composure through rejection, quota pressure, and a long sales cycle.

Recommended assessment combination

For most Sales Representative hires, we’d suggest starting with Sales Aptitude and Communication Skills as a baseline pre-interview screen. Add Negotiation for roles with larger or more complex deals, and Stress Tolerance for high-volume outbound or high-rejection environments.

Two to three assessments is usually enough signal before an interview — stacking more than that adds candidate drop-off without proportionally better signal.

Interview questions for hiring a Sales Representative

• Tell me about a deal you lost. What would you do differently now?
• Walk me through how you qualify a lead before investing serious time in it.
• Describe a time a prospect raised an objection you weren’t prepared for. How did you handle it?
• How do you keep a pipeline organized when you’re juggling 30+ active opportunities?
• What’s your process for following up with a prospect who’s gone quiet?

Common hiring mistakes

Hiring managers often over-index on interview charisma, which correlates weakly with actual close rates. A strong interviewer isn’t always a strong closer — that’s exactly the gap a Sales Aptitude assessment is designed to catch.

It’s also common to under-weight resilience. Sales has a high rejection rate by nature, and a candidate who folds after a few no’s will churn quickly regardless of how well they interview.

Frequently asked questions

Which assessments matter most for a Sales Representative?

Sales Aptitude and Communication Skills give the strongest baseline signal; Negotiation and Stress Tolerance add depth for complex or high-volume roles.

Should I test before or after the first interview?

Most teams send assessments right after an initial screening call, so results are ready to guide the first full interview rather than added after the fact.

Can assessment results alone determine who I hire?

No — results should inform interviews and reference checks, not replace them. Use them to focus interview time on the areas that matter most.

How long does the full assessment battery take candidates?

Each individual assessment runs about 10-15 minutes, so a 2-3 assessment combination typically takes a candidate 25-40 minutes total.

Do these assessments work for both SDR and closing roles?

Yes, though for outbound-heavy SDR roles you may want to weight Stress Tolerance and Communication Skills higher, and for closing-heavy roles weight Negotiation and Sales Aptitude higher.