*Interview* Is a roleplay part of your company's interview process?

Just curious about other companies-


Our last step in the interview process is a roleplay with senior leadership and a few reps. Basically a onsite sales call.


Curious how common this is with other companies.



Does your company make reps do a roleplay?

Attached poll
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😎 Sales Skills
7
Smithy
Politicker
4
Director of Sales
I think it should be, but you need to be careful in what you look for. 

Product knowledge is not important at all, but structure and discovery questions should be
ARRisLife
Politicker
1
Account Executive
100% agree
MonthEndSpecial
Valued Contributor
0
Enterprise Account Executive
100%

Worst interview I had:

Sales Manager: What is the most important quality of a sales rep?
Me: The ability to identify and understand a customer's challenges.
Sales Manager: No. You need to know the in's and out's of the product.
Me: I don't agree.
SM: We will get back to you.
CadenceCombat
Tycoon
1
Account Executive
I feel you might see roleplays in interviews for more entry level sales roles. That’s when I’ve encountered them in my career.
CuriousFox
WR Officer
2
🦊
I agree with this Cadence. It would just piss me off at this point in my old timerness 😆
MonthEndSpecial
Valued Contributor
1
Enterprise Account Executive
I have had this a couple times before. I think it is better to have them discuss their experience managing the sales steps. What info they try to gather on the phone, etc. It is nothing like an actual call when you know you are being judged on the quality of your call, and not on your quality to ask the right questions and move the process forward. Some of the best sales people I know, would do horribly in this situation. They are actually all-around awkward, but they know how to ask the right questions at the right time.

Works Well: Have the topic of role play, or presentation on something that the applicant is familiar with. 

Doesn't work well: Having them try to sell you your products. They don't know your products yet, and just makes them more uncomfortable.
LordBusiness
Politicker
0
Chief Revenue Officer
We kind of use a little bit of both. We don’t do a full on role play, but we ask our candidates to submit some mock prospecting emails, as we’ve found this is one spot candidates either “get it” or they don’t. 
SaaSsy
Politicker
0
AE
Definitely depends on position, but I’ve worked for several that actually did client cold calls in the interview. They’re looking for confidence, active listening, and good questions.
sellingsellssold
Politicker
0
SDR
Yes, I think that it is a really important part of the interview process to fully understand if the person could be a good fit. They should be confident in there tone and be able to take and apply feedback. 
MR.StretchISR
Politicker
0
ISR
Everyone gets paid the exact same and I'm here for it.
Selichimorpha
Celebrated Contributor
-3
Growth Executive
I think it's an essential part of weeding out those that don't have the grit. If you aren't able to do a mock cold call in front of your would-be team, then you probably shouldn't be cold calling the VP at one of your leads. 
MonthEndSpecial
Valued Contributor
0
Enterprise Account Executive
Disagree. I know great salespeople that have trouble talking in front of their peers. A VP can say no, and you can move on. The team will always remember their first impression of you.
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