How to vet a sales closer before you let them touch your pipeline

A résumé tells you where someone worked, not whether they can close. For commission-only sales the only signal that matters is how they run a real conversation. Here's how to evaluate that without wasting weeks.

Score the call, not the CV

Give every candidate the same task: a recorded discovery or mock close on your offer. Then score three things.

1. Discovery. Do they ask open questions, surface the real pain, and qualify budget, authority and timeline — or do they pitch over the prospect?
2. Objection handling. When pushed, do they listen, isolate the objection, and reframe — or do they cave, or steamroll? This is the highest-signal axis. A closer who folds on "it's too expensive" will fold on your deals.
3. Closing. Do they recap value and ask for a dated next step, or let the call trail off?

A 0–100 score across those three, with the actual verbatims that justify it, tells you more than three interviews.

Red flags that disqualify

• Misleading or invented claims about your product.
• Pressure tactics that would burn your brand.
• A scripted monologue with no listening.
• Disrespect toward the prospect when challenged.

Any one of these is a no, regardless of the score.

Why we automate the first pass

On Bounty-Flow every closer uploads a real sales call before they can apply to an offer. It's transcribed and scored 0–100 against the rubric above, with sub-scores and red flags surfaced to the founder — so you only ever review people who already cleared the bar. See the closing-languages and motions model for why the bar differs by deal type, and the full lifecycle in the docs.

Hire on demonstrated behaviour under pressure, not on a list of past logos.