Effective Work Samples for Hiring Top Outbound Sales Representatives

Outbound sales representatives are the frontline revenue generators for many organizations, responsible for proactively identifying and engaging potential customers. The success of your sales team directly impacts your company's growth trajectory, making the hiring process for these roles particularly critical. Traditional interviews often fail to reveal a candidate's true sales capabilities, as interview skills don't necessarily translate to sales performance.

Work samples and role plays provide a window into how candidates will actually perform on the job. By simulating real sales scenarios, you can observe candidates' natural instincts, communication style, ability to think on their feet, and how they handle rejection or difficult situations. These practical exercises reveal far more about a candidate's potential success than hypothetical questions or discussions about past experiences alone.

For outbound sales roles specifically, role plays allow you to assess critical skills like prospecting techniques, discovery abilities, objection handling, and closing strategies. You can evaluate how candidates prepare, their research methods, how they build rapport, and their ability to communicate value propositions clearly and persuasively.

Additionally, incorporating feedback into these exercises provides insight into a candidate's coachability—a crucial trait for sales professionals who must continuously adapt their approach based on market conditions, customer feedback, and sales leadership guidance. The best sales representatives are those who can take direction, implement feedback quickly, and improve their performance accordingly.

The following four activities are designed to comprehensively evaluate outbound sales candidates across the full sales cycle, from initial prospecting to closing deals. By implementing these exercises in your hiring process, you'll be able to identify candidates who not only talk a good game but can actually deliver results when it matters.

Activity #1: Cold Call Role Play

This exercise simulates one of the most challenging aspects of outbound sales: making cold calls to potential customers who aren't expecting to hear from you. Cold calling requires confidence, resilience, and the ability to quickly establish credibility and interest. This role play will reveal how candidates handle rejection, think on their feet, and create opportunities from scratch.

Directions for the Company:

• Provide the candidate with basic information about your company, products/services, and target customer profile 24 hours before the interview.
• Assign an interviewer to play the role of a potential customer who is initially busy and somewhat disinterested.
• The interviewer should have a prepared persona with specific pain points that align with your solution, but shouldn't make it too easy for the candidate.
• Record the role play (with permission) for later review and to share with other decision-makers.
• Limit the exercise to 5-7 minutes to focus on the critical opening moments of a cold call.

Directions for the Candidate:

• Review the company and product information provided.
• Prepare an opening script or approach for cold calling a potential customer.
• During the role play, focus on quickly establishing rapport, generating interest, and securing either a next step or gathering valuable information.
• Be prepared to handle initial resistance or objections from the "customer."
• Your goal is to move from complete stranger to someone the prospect is willing to continue a conversation with.

Feedback Mechanism:

• After the role play, the interviewer should provide specific feedback on one thing the candidate did well (e.g., effective opening, good questioning, persistence) and one area for improvement (e.g., listening more, better value proposition, handling a specific objection).
• Give the candidate 2-3 minutes to consider the feedback, then allow them to redo the opening 60 seconds of the call implementing the suggested improvement.
• Observe how receptive they are to feedback and how effectively they can incorporate it immediately.

Activity #2: Discovery Call Role Play

The discovery call is where sales representatives uncover customer needs, pain points, and buying motivations. This exercise tests a candidate's questioning techniques, active listening skills, and ability to guide a conversation toward qualifying a prospect and identifying sales opportunities.

Directions for the Company:

• Create a detailed customer persona including their role, company size, industry, challenges, and potential objections.
• Provide this information to the interviewer who will play the customer role.
• Share basic information about your product/service with the candidate 24 hours before the interview, but don't reveal the specific customer details.
• The interviewer should answer questions realistically but not volunteer information unless properly asked.
• Allow 10-15 minutes for this exercise.

Directions for the Candidate:

• Prepare a strategy for conducting an effective discovery call with a prospect who has agreed to speak with you but isn't yet committed to purchasing.
• During the role play, focus on asking thoughtful questions to uncover the prospect's situation, pain points, impact of those challenges, and decision-making process.
• Practice active listening and follow-up questions rather than rushing to pitch solutions.
• By the end of the call, aim to qualify the prospect and establish clear next steps if appropriate.
• Take notes during the call as you would in a real situation.

Feedback Mechanism:

• The interviewer should provide feedback on the candidate's questioning strategy, listening skills, and ability to uncover relevant information.
• Highlight one strength demonstrated during the exercise and one specific area where the approach could be improved.
• Ask the candidate to formulate 2-3 additional questions they would ask based on the feedback received.
• Evaluate how well they incorporate the feedback into these new questions.

Activity #3: Objection Handling Exercise

Handling objections effectively is a critical skill for outbound sales representatives. This exercise tests a candidate's ability to address concerns without becoming defensive, maintain a positive relationship with prospects, and move the sales process forward despite resistance.

Directions for the Company:

• Prepare a list of 3-5 common objections your sales team encounters (e.g., "Your solution is too expensive," "We're happy with our current provider," "Now isn't a good time," "I need to discuss this with my team").
• Create a brief scenario that provides context for these objections (e.g., a follow-up call after sending a proposal).
• The interviewer should present these objections naturally during a conversation, not just read them off a list.
• Allow 10 minutes for this exercise.

Directions for the Candidate:

• Review the company's products/services and value proposition prior to the interview.
• During the role play, listen carefully to each objection before responding.
• Focus on acknowledging the concern, asking clarifying questions, and providing relevant information that addresses the specific objection.
• Avoid being pushy or argumentative while still maintaining confidence in your solution.
• Your goal is to overcome objections in a way that builds trust rather than creating resistance.

Feedback Mechanism:

• The interviewer should identify which objection the candidate handled most effectively and which one needs improvement.
• Provide specific feedback on what made their response effective or ineffective.
• Ask the candidate to rethink and restate their response to the objection that needs improvement.
• Evaluate their ability to incorporate feedback and improve their approach.

Activity #4: Email Outreach Assessment

While phone skills are crucial, modern outbound sales requires excellent written communication. This exercise evaluates a candidate's ability to craft compelling, personalized emails that cut through inbox clutter and generate responses from prospects.

Directions for the Company:

• Create a realistic prospect scenario including the prospect's role, company, industry, and any publicly available information that might be found through research.
• Provide the candidate with information about your company's product/service and value proposition.
• Give the candidate access to a computer to draft their email during the interview, or alternatively, have them bring a prepared email based on information sent 24 hours in advance.
• Allow 15-20 minutes if drafting during the interview, or 5-10 minutes for review if prepared in advance.

Directions for the Candidate:

• Research the prospect's company using available information (or simulate this research if time is limited).
• Draft a cold outreach email that would be sent to this prospect with the goal of securing a meeting or call.
• Focus on personalization, brevity, clear value proposition, and a specific call to action.
• Be prepared to explain your strategy, including subject line choice, personalization elements, and why you believe this approach would be effective.
• If preparing in advance, bring 2-3 variations to discuss different approaches.

Feedback Mechanism:

• The interviewer should review the email and provide feedback on its strengths and one specific area for improvement (e.g., more personalization, clearer value proposition, stronger call to action).
• Ask the candidate to revise the specific section that needs improvement based on the feedback.
• Evaluate both the quality of the original email and how effectively they incorporate feedback into their revision.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long should these exercises take in total during the interview process?

These four exercises would typically take 60-90 minutes total if conducted thoroughly. You don't need to use all four in a single interview. Consider spreading them across different interview stages or selecting the 2-3 most relevant to your specific sales role.

Should we tell candidates about these exercises in advance?

Yes, inform candidates that they'll participate in role plays or work samples. Provide basic information about your company and products 24 hours in advance. This preparation reflects real-world sales scenarios where representatives research before calls and allows you to assess how thoroughly candidates prepare.

What if our product is highly technical and candidates can't learn it quickly?

For technical products, simplify the scenario to focus on sales fundamentals rather than product specifics. You're evaluating sales skills, not product knowledge. Alternatively, create a simplified version of your product or a fictional product with similar selling points for the exercise.

How do we ensure consistency when evaluating different candidates?

Create a structured scorecard for each exercise with specific criteria (e.g., opening effectiveness, questioning quality, objection handling, etc.). Have the same interviewers conduct the same exercises with all candidates whenever possible, and calibrate scoring across interviewers before beginning the process.

What if a candidate is extremely nervous during role plays?

Acknowledge that role plays can be stressful and give candidates a few minutes to settle in. Consider starting with a brief warm-up conversation. Remember that some initial nervousness is normal, but sales roles require thinking on one's feet under pressure, so candidates should be able to adapt relatively quickly.

Should we expect perfect performance in these exercises?

No, even experienced sales professionals won't execute perfectly in every scenario. Focus on core competencies, adaptability, and especially how candidates respond to feedback. The ability to quickly incorporate coaching is often more valuable than perfect initial performance.

The hiring process for outbound sales representatives should reflect the actual work they'll be doing. By incorporating these practical exercises, you'll gain deeper insights into candidates' abilities than traditional interviews alone can provide. Remember that the best predictor of future performance is current performance in similar situations.

For more resources to improve your hiring process, check out Yardstick's AI Job Descriptions, AI Interview Question Generator, and AI Interview Guide Generator. You can also find more information about outbound sales representatives at Yardstick's Outbound Sales Representative Job Description.

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