Hiring someone who can sell can be quite the task.
Anyone who’s good at selling is confident, personable, and persuasive. They know how to quickly build rapport, understand what the person before them wants, and most of all, they know how to communicate their value.
Unfortunately, what makes a great salesperson also makes for a very good interview. Which leads many to ask…
How do you tell the difference between a person who interviews like a great salesperson, and someone who will actually deliver once they’ve joined your business?
Finding a salesperson who can deliver is a challenge that goes beyond sales recruitment. According to the CIPD’s 2026 Resourcing and Talent Planning report, 58% of employers have seen an increase in unsuitable candidates applying for vacancies over the past year, compared with just 33% seeing an increase in suitable applicants.
If you’re recruiting a Sales Executive, finding the right candidate starts long before they can persuade you in the interview.
Start with understanding the type of person you need
Firstly, think about what you really need your Sales Executive to do. They can do many things, depending on the type of business.
It could mean spending most of the day prospecting and generating new business for one company, but then in another involve managing warm leads or developing long-term relationships with a relatively small client pool.
Get clear on the job itself before you start advertising. Understand whether they’ll need to generate their own leads, or whether they’re focused on maintaining existing accounts. And whether they’ll need to focus on quick, transactional sales or a longer, consultative process.
Think about the practicalities, too. Consider whether they need experience in your sector, experience using CRMs, and what they should be expected to achieve after 3, 6 or 12 months.
B&B’s Take: Problems often begin from recruiting against a job title rather than what your business truly needs.
What should you look for in a good Sales Executive?
Evidence.
It’s easy for someone to put down “confidence”, “good communication skills” and “resilience” on their CV’s skills list. That’s why instead, you should look for ways they’ve proven their abilities.
If relationship building is a key skill, ask about a time they’ve turned a prospect who was hesitant into a customer. If you’re looking for someone commercially minded, find out how they decide which opportunities deserve their time and attention.
Pay attention to the questions they ask you, too. Are they curious about your customers, product, competitors and sales process… or are they simply waiting for their next opportunity to speak?
Technology is also an ever-growing part of the picture. LinkedIn’s 2026 Skills on the Rise research for UK sales professionals highlights client relationship management, lead generation, data-driven decision making and AI literacy among the fastest-growing skills in the profession.
B&B’s Take: The best salesperson in the interview isn’t always the person doing the most talking.
Write the job advert for the salesperson you actually need
Once you know what success looks like, make sure your job advert reflects it.
“We’re looking for a motivated, target-driven Sales Executive with excellent communication skills” could describe a myriad jobs, which means it doesn’t really tell a good candidate much about yours.
Be specific about what they’ll be selling, who they’ll be selling to, and where their opportunities come from. Explain whether they’ll inherit existing accounts or build a pipeline from scratch, what the typical sales cycle looks like, and what targets they’ll be working towards.
Salary is important to know, but so is clarity around commission or OTE, territory, working arrangements, progression and the technology they’ll be using.
Remember that experienced salespeople are assessing the opportunity commercially too.
They’ll be assessing whether the target is achievable, the commission structure is clear, and if there’s an established market for the product or service. They’ll also be thinking about what support and onboarding they’ll receive.
B&B’s Take: Recruitment is a two-way sales process. You’re assessing them, but they’re assessing your proposition too.
Where do you find good Sales Executives?
Advertising on the major job boards can give you access to a large pool of active candidates, but a greater number of submissions doesn’t always mean a greater number of suitable applicants. The latest CIPD figures make that particularly clear.
LinkedIn and direct search can help you reach people who aren’t actively applying for jobs, while referrals and existing networks can uncover candidates with a proven track record.
A sales recruitment agency, like Bucks and Berks, can broaden that search further, especially when you need someone with a specific background or want to reach people who aren’t actively job hunting.
The strongest salespeople aren’t likely to be spending their evenings filling in job applications. They may already be performing well somewhere else.
And that’s where knowledge of the local candidate market becomes especially useful. Knowing who is available is one thing; knowing who might be open to the right opportunity is another.
B&B’s Take: Some of the best salespeople aren’t actively applying for jobs. Knowing who’s in the market (and who might be open to a conversation) can give you a competitive edge.
Don’t let the interview become a sales pitch
A salesperson’s job is to be persuasive, so if your interview only measures how confidently somebody answers your questions, you’re testing something they’ve spent their career learning to do.
Instead, get down to the specifics.
Ask what their target was last year and what percentage they achieved. Find out how much of their pipeline they generated themselves. Ask about a deal they lost and why they think they lost it.
You could also ask:
- How do you decide which prospects aren’t worth pursuing?
- Talk me through how you use your CRM during a normal week
- Tell me about a month when you missed target. What did you change afterwards?
- What was your average deal size and sales cycle?
- How did you build your pipeline in your previous role?
Then probe their answers.
A candidate telling you they’re “highly target driven” doesn’t give you a lot to work with, but a candidate who can explain their target, how they performed against it, what got in the way, and what they changed as a result gives you something tangible to assess.
B&B’s take: A polished interview shows someone can sell themselves. Specific evidence shows whether they can sell for you.
Look past their previous job title
The right person isn’t always the one who’s already held exactly the same title in exactly the same industry.
Instead, look at how comparable their previous sales environment is to yours.
If your business has a long, consultative sales cycle, someone who has successfully managed complex customer relationships in an adjacent sector may be a better fit than a candidate with five years of “Sales Executive” experience in a very different environment.
Look at the complexity and value of what they sold, the customers they dealt with, the length of the sales cycle, how much prospecting they were responsible for, and whether they managed ongoing accounts.
B&B’s Take: Job titles can be useful shorthand, but the experience behind them tells you far more.
Getting the offer right
Finding the right Sales Executive is only half the job. You also need an offer that will persuade them to join you.
There isn’t one salary that fits every sales role. Recent vacancies handled by Bucks & Berks show just how much the package can vary. A Junior Sales Executive role in Maidenhead, for example, could offer £25,000–£30,000 plus commission, while an experienced B2B Sales Consultant role in Newbury could look like a £35,000 basic salary with an OTE of £45,000–£50,000.
The right package should reflect the level of experience you need, the complexity of the sale and how much responsibility the person will have for generating new business.
Be clear about commission and OTE, too. Candidates should understand what they can realistically earn, as well as how targets work and what they need to achieve to get there.
B&B’s take: Benchmark the role you’re recruiting for, not sales jobs in general. Experience, location, targets and earning potential all influence what candidates expect.
Finding your next Sales Executive
Recruiting a good Sales Executive matters less about the smoothest interview.
You need to know:
- What you’re asking them to sell
- How they’ll be expected to sell it
- What evidence shows they’ve succeeded in a comparable environment before
In other words, don’t just recruit the person who is best at selling themselves, but the person who can prove they know how to sell for you.
At Bucks and Berks, we’ve been helping businesses across the Thames Valley find the right people for over 100 years. We understand the local candidate market and can help you find Sales Executives with the skills and experience your business actually needs.
Looking for your next Sales Executive? Get in touch with our team.
