Dover recommends tailoring your interview plan to each specific role. For Sales roles, you can tailor your Interview Plan in Dover using the suggested interview plan, interview questions, scheduling templates, and feedback forms.

📆 Interview Plan

First Interview ⏰ 30 mins

Dover Interviewer or Recruiter Screen

Second Interview - Hiring Manager Interview ⏰ 30 mins

Deep dive on requisite skills

Take Home Assignment ⏰ 3-4 hrs

Please see take home assignment examples below. Typically take home assignments are completed in less than 7 days.

Onsite ⏰ 2 hrs 30 mins

Intro/Prep - ⏰ 15mins
1. Overview of what the day will look like
2. Interviewer: Recruiter / Head of Talent
Behavioral 1 - ⏰ 30mins
1. Review cultural fit questions
2. Design challenge with a designer
3. Interviewer: Hiring Manager / Leadership in Business Area
Role Play - ⏰ 30mins
1. Role play of a sales call
2. Interviewer: Full time Employee from Business Area
Social Interview - ⏰ 30mins
1. Casual non-evaluative opportunity for candidate to meet people from other Business Areas
2. Interviewers: 2 Full time Employees from different Business Areas
Behavioral 2 - ⏰ 30mins
1. Review cultural fit questions
2. Interviewers: Other Hiring Manager / Leadership in Business Area
Wrap-Up - ⏰ 15mins
1. Close out the day with the candidate, sell company
2. Interviewers: Chief of Staff / C-Suite / Founder / Executive

👩‍💻 Take home assignment

Take home assignment

Provide the candidate with a fictional customer scenario or case study. Ask them to create a sales proposal or pitch deck tailored to that specific customer. Specify the key information they should include, such as the customer's pain points, proposed solution, benefits, pricing, and next steps.

Preparation Instructions for Candidate:

Research the Company: Familiarize yourself with the company's products, target market, competitors, and recent news or updates. Understand the value proposition and unique selling points of the company's product.
Know the Customer: Identify the typical customer profile for the company's product. Understand their pain points, challenges, and how the product can address their needs. Consider different industry verticals that the company targets and research specific examples or case studies.
Develop a Sales Pitch: Create a compelling sales pitch highlighting the software's benefits and features. Structure your presentation to address the customer's pain points, provide a clear solution, and demonstrate how the software can improve their business outcomes.
Anticipate Objections: Identify potential objections or concerns that customers may have and prepare persuasive responses. Consider common objections like pricing, competition, implementation challenges, or security concerns.
Practice and Time Yourself: Practice your sales presentation multiple times to ensure you can effectively deliver it within the allotted time. Pay attention to your tone, body language, and clarity of communication. Aim for a confident and engaging delivery.

✉️ Scheduling Email Templates

The following are examples of scheduling emails for each interview round.

First Interview

Scheduling Email A (Interview with person sending outreach)

Hi {{first_name}},

Great to hear from you! We’d love to schedule a call with a member of our recruiting team to learn further about your experience and share further information on this opportunity.

To make scheduling easier, could you please find a time here: {{scheduling link}}

Thanks,

Scheduling Email B (Interview with person who did not send outreach)

Hi {{first_name}},

Great to hear from you! We’d love to schedule a call with a member of our recruiting team to learn further about your experience and share further information on this opportunity.

To make scheduling easier, could you please find a time here: {{scheduling_link}}

Thanks,

Rejection

Hi {{first_name}},

Thanks for taking the time to talk with us about the {{job_title}} position. Your background is impressive, and we really enjoyed speaking with you. Unfortunately, at this time we feel it's not the right fit.

We appreciate the time you took to learn more about {{client_name}} and hope you don't mind if we reach back out in the future.

Best,

Second Interview

Scheduling

Hi {{first_name}},

We enjoyed speaking with you about the {{job_title}} role and would love to move forward! The next step in our process involves meeting {{interviewer_first_name}}, {{interviewer_role_title_with_article}}, the hiring manager for this position. In this interview, {{interviewer_first_name}} will provide you with further insights into the role and the company and delve deeper into your skills, experience, and how they align with our requirements.

Here's {{interviewer_first_name}}'s calendar to find a time: {{scheduling_link}}.

Hope the two of you find a chance to connect soon.

Looking forward to hearing how it goes!

Rejection

Hi {{first_name}},

Thanks for taking the time to learn about the {{job_title}} role at {{client_name}}. Our team enjoyed speaking with you, but ultimately we felt that it wasn't a fit at this time.

I hope you don't mind if we keep your information on file and reach out to you in the future! Best of luck in your search.

Thanks,

Take home assessment

Scheduling

Hi {{first_name}},

We enjoyed speaking with you about the {{job_title}} role and would love to move forward!

The next step in our interview process is a short take home project. It should take about a 3-4 hours to complete, and we'd appreciate if you could submit it within 7 business days of receiving this email. Please submit your assignment by converting Google Sheets / Powerpoint presentation into a PDF format. Prompt below:

We will review your response and get back to you as soon as possible. Upon passing this stage, you will be progressed to a virtual onsite, the final round in our interview process.

Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or clarifications. We're looking forward to reading your response!

Thanks,

Rejection

Hi {{first_name}},

Thanks for taking the time to learn about the {{job_title}} role at {{client_name}}. Our team enjoyed speaking with you, but ultimately we felt that it wasn't a fit at this time.

I hope you don't mind if we keep your information on file and reach out to you in the future! Best of luck in your search.

Thanks,

Onsite

Scheduling

Hi {{first_name}},

We're thrilled to share that you've successfully moved on to the final stage of our hiring process.

As part of this stage, we'd like to invite you for an onsite interview, where you'll have a chance to engage in a role-play exercise to showcase your abilities and to meet with team members from across the company. It's an excellent opportunity for you to demonstrate your sales expertise and assess the cultural fit. Could you please share some time slots in the coming days that work for you?

Here’s what you can expect:

Prep Session with < Interviewer Name> (Recruiter/HoT) - 15mins
Behavioral Interview with < Interviewer Name> (Hiring Manager)- 30mins
Role Play with <Interviewer Name> - 30mins
Casual Chat with < Interviewer Name> and <Interviewer Name> -30mins - Casual non-evaluative opportunity to learn more about the company’s culture - 2 FTE from other BAs
Behavioral Interview with <Interviewer Name> (Other HM/Leadership in BA) - 30mins
Close out the day with < Interview Name> ( CoS/C-Suite)

Preparation Instructions:

Research our target customer base, industry, competitors, and the unique challenges customers face in this industry. [insert link]
Review case studies [insert link] and success stories from the company's existing customers. Analyze how the company's products or services have helped customers achieve their goals and overcome challenges.
Prepare to discuss your past experiences in sales, highlighting specific examples where you successfully hit quota, worked cross-functionally, and learned.

Role Play: You will be presented with an MQL case study during the onsite interview. You will have a designated amount of time to review the case study and formulate your approach.

The exercise will involve:

Analyzing the MQL's current situation, goals, and challenges based on the provided case study.
Developing a sales strategy and action plan to address the identified needs and maximize the customer's success.
Identifying potential risks or obstacles that may impact the opportunity and devising contingency plans.
Presenting your strategy and action plan to the interviewers, explaining your thought process and rationale.
Answering questions from the interviewers about your approach and demonstrating your expertise in sales.

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or need further information.

Thanks,

Rejection

Hi {{first_name}},

Thank you for meeting the team for our {{job_title}} role. We really appreciate you taking the time to be part of our interview process over the last few weeks.

At this point, we will not be able to move forward with your candidacy. We'll keep your information on file and hope we can reconnect in the future.

Regards,

📓 Feedback Forms / Evaluation criteria

Interview rubrics / feedback form criteria can be an effective tool to assess candidates consistently and objectively during the interview process across various interviewers. Here's an example of a rubric for evaluating candidates for a sales role.

Evaluation

Initial Call

Communication Skills: Clear and effective communication, active listening, and ability to articulate ideas.
Customer Orientation: Understanding of customer needs and ability to empathize with their challenges.
Experience and Knowledge: Relevant experience in sales, familiarity with best practices, and understanding of the industry.
Problem-Solving Skills: Ability to analyze situations, identify potential solutions, and think critically.

Second Interview with Hiring Manager

Leadership Skills: Ability to take ownership, demonstrate initiative, and drive outcomes.
Relationship Building: Skills in building and maintaining strong relationships with customers.
Strategic Thinking: Ability to develop and execute sales strategies.
Accountability: Demonstrating responsibility for customer outcomes and meeting quotas.
Adaptability: Agility in responding to changing customer needs and evolving business priorities.

Onsite Interview with Role Play

Rapport Building: Establishing a positive connection with the "customer" through effective communication and relationship-building skills.
Needs Identification: Demonstrating understanding and identifying the customer's goals, challenges, and pain points.
Solution Presentation: Clearly articulating the value proposition of the company's products or services and addressing customer objections or concerns.
Active Listening: Actively listening to the "customer," asking relevant questions, and providing thoughtful responses.
Overall Performance: Assessing the candidate's performance across the exercise, including their ability to handle the scenario and deliver a customer-centric experience.

Culture Fit (part of Onsite)

Informal cross-functional discussions

Cultural Fit: Alignment with the company's values, mission, and customer-centric approach.
Relationship Building: Skills in building and maintaining strong relationships

Please note that this is just a sample rubric, and you can modify it to align with your specific company's needs and requirements. The rubric should reflect the key skills, competencies, and qualities you are looking for in a customer success candidate at each interview stage.

Guide to interviewing Engineers

Guide to interviewing Product Managers

Guide to Interviewing Designers

Guide to interviewing Marketers

Guide to interviewing Customer Success Managers