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How we assess

Five stages. No reformatted CVs.

Most sales hiring processes test whether somebody interviews well and whether they can name the software. We take every candidate through the same five stages instead, and tell you in writing how those five things combine.

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The short version

Technology can research, sequence, summarise and organise. It cannot understand a person, earn their trust or close them. We assess both, and we are specific about which one a candidate is stronger at.

The process

The Adroit five-stage screening process

Every candidate goes through all five, so you compare people rather than compare documents.

  1. Stage 1: Experience and evidence

    What has this person actually done?

    We get specific about the numbers and the environment behind them, in the same format for every candidate, so you can compare people rather than compare CVs.

    Past performance is evidence, not a forecast. A strong number in a business with exceptional inbound tells you very little about a cold market, and we say so.

    What we look at

    • Quota, attainment and how it moved across the last three periods
    • Average deal value and sales cycle length
    • Market, customer type and the ICP they actually sold into
    • New business versus account growth, outbound versus inbound
    • Territory, patch quality and where their pipeline really came from
    • Complexity of the sale and who else was in the room
    • Previous responsibilities, and what they inherited versus built

  2. Stage 2: How they sell

    What happens when this person has to actually sell?

    We take them through real situations rather than competency questions, because selling is a behaviour and you can hear it.

    What we look at

    • Discovery: the questions they ask and the order they ask them in
    • Listening ratio, and whether they follow the thread or return to a script
    • Prospecting method and how they choose who to approach
    • Building rapport without performing
    • Objection handling and how they respond to a genuine no
    • Negotiation, and whether discount is their first instinct
    • Commercial judgement about which deals deserve time
    • How they build a case a buyer can defend internally
    • Why they win, and an honest account of why they lose

  3. Stage 3: Modern GTM capability

    Can this person operate inside a modern revenue team?

    Technology should give a seller more time in front of buyers. We check they understand that, and that they use it with judgement rather than for volume.

    Nobody needs experience of every platform, and we do not screen on a tool list. The principle is simpler: a strong modern seller can explain how technology makes them more effective, and where it makes them worse.

    What we look at

    • CRM discipline in Salesforce or HubSpot: clean pipeline, honest stages, useful notes
    • Conversation intelligence such as Gong, and what they changed after listening back
    • Sequencing and engagement platforms such as Outreach or Salesloft
    • Data and intelligence tools: Apollo, Lusha, Cognism, Clay, LinkedIn Sales Navigator
    • ChatGPT and AI assistants for research, preparation and first drafts
    • Automation and CRM workflow: what they removed from their day and what they kept human

  4. Stage 4: Mindset and motivation

    Why does this person sell, and what happens when it gets hard?

    This is the stage most processes skip and the one that most often explains a failed hire. It is a proper conversation, not a personality questionnaire.

    The goal is meaningful human understanding, not a psychometric score. We report what we heard and where we are unsure.

    What we look at

    • Why they chose sales, and whether they actually enjoy selling
    • What motivates them beyond the commission plan
    • Ambition: what they want to be doing in three years, and how realistic it is
    • Resilience and how they describe a bad quarter
    • Accountability, and whether the story always features someone else's fault
    • Curiosity about customers, products and their own performance
    • Coachability: what feedback changed their behaviour, and how quickly
    • Competitive drive, and whether it is healthy in a team
    • Self-awareness about what they are not good at
    • What gives them energy, and what drains it

  5. Stage 5: Human and cultural fit

    Where is this person most likely to thrive?

    We are not looking for people who all sound the same. We are working out which environment brings the best out of this particular person, and whether that is yours.

    Cultural fit is not a code word for people who resemble the existing team. Used properly it is the difference between a good hire and a good hire in the wrong place.

    What we look at

    • Communication style, and how it lands with your buyer
    • Personality and values, described honestly rather than flatteringly
    • The working environment they perform best in
    • The management style that gets the most out of them
    • Team dynamics: how they behave when they are not the top performer
    • Pace, structure and how much autonomy they need
    • Cultural expectations, including the ones they will not say out loud
    • How they build relationships with colleagues as well as customers

Understanding you

You cannot assess fit properly until you understand both sides.

Assessing candidates is only half the job. Before we decide what good looks like, we need to understand the business they would be joining, in enough detail to argue with you about it.

The business and the plan

  • What the company does, and how it explains that to a buyer
  • Ambitions, growth plan and the number this hire is attached to
  • Funding stage, runway and how much time a new hire realistically gets
  • The product, its maturity and how much of the sale it carries

The sale itself

  • Who buys, who blocks and who signs
  • Deal size, cycle length and the shape of a typical process
  • Where pipeline comes from today, and where it is supposed to come from
  • What competitors say about you when you are not in the room

The people and the culture

  • Leadership, management style and how performance conversations happen
  • The personality of the existing team and who currently sets the tone
  • What has worked previously in this seat, and what has failed
  • The type of person likely to thrive here, and the type who will not

What success actually means

  • What must be true at month three, month six and month twelve
  • Onboarding, enablement and how much support really exists
  • The compensation story, and whether it stands up against the market
  • Which two things you will not compromise on, decided before interviews start

What you receive

A written view, including the risks

Every submission covers all five stages in plain language. Where we are unsure, we say we are unsure — a vague answer from a candidate is reported to you as a vague answer.

Evidence, not adjectives

Quota, attainment, deal size, cycle and where the pipeline came from, in the same format for every person on the shortlist.

A view on fit

Which environment and management style brings the best out of this person, and whether that matches what you described to us.

The concerns

The reason we hesitated, if we hesitated. You should never learn about a risk for the first time in a second interview.

Common questions

Assessment, answered

How do you assess whether a salesperson is coachable?
We ask for a specific piece of feedback they received, what they did about it, and how long it took to change their behaviour. Coachable people answer immediately and in detail, usually with something slightly unflattering. People who are not coachable describe feedback as something that happened to them.
How do you assess sales candidates beyond their CV?
Stages two, four and five of our screening exist for exactly this. We take candidates through real selling situations, explore motivation properly, and form a view on the environment they will perform in. The CV only tells us where somebody has been.
Do candidates need to know AI tools?
They need to understand how modern technology makes a seller more effective, and to have opinions about where it helps and where it makes outreach worse. We do not screen on a platform checklist, and we will not reject a strong seller because they have not used a particular tool.
How can you tell whether somebody actually wants to sell?
By asking why they chose it, what part of the job they enjoy, and what they would do next if money were equal. People who genuinely want to sell talk about customers and problems. People who ended up in sales talk about the package.
Do you use psychometric testing?
Not as a substitute for a proper conversation. Where a client uses their own assessment tools we work alongside them, but our view on mindset and fit comes from structured human interviews and is reported in writing, including our uncertainty.
What do we actually receive for each candidate?
A written submission covering all five stages: the evidence, how they sell, their modern GTM capability, what motivates them, and where we think they will thrive. It includes the risks. If we have a concern, you will read it before you interview.

Hiring someone who has to sell?

Send us the brief and we will tell you what good looks like for it, and whether we can find it.

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