Sales rep phone screen questions: quota, attainment, pipeline and comp
On this page
- SDR, AE and account manager: what to verify for each
- Quota and attainment verification
- Deal size, cycle and pipeline math
- Territory, motion and who sourced the pipeline
- Comp plan fit, asked as expectations
- Coachability and how they sell
- How sales candidates overstate results
- Must-ask list and scorecard
- Questions people ask
A sales rep phone screen should verify the numbers before it judges the personality. Ask for quota, attainment and rank for each of the last two or three years, average deal size, sales cycle, and where the pipeline came from, then check that those numbers are consistent with each other. Reps with real results answer quickly and in the same units every time. Then test fit with the comp plan, territory and motion, and how they respond to coaching.
The questions below work for SDR, account executive and account manager roles, with strong answers, red flags and a scorecard. For the general call structure see phone screen questions for recruiters.
SDR, AE and account manager: what to verify for each
The first mistake on a sales screen is asking an SDR about closed revenue or an account manager about new logos. Ask each role about what it was actually measured on.
| Role | Usually measured on | Numbers to ask for | Common overstatement |
|---|---|---|---|
| SDR / BDR | Meetings booked, meetings held, pipeline created, sometimes pipeline that closed | Monthly meeting target and results; inbound versus outbound split; conversion to opportunity | Meetings booked counted, when the target was meetings held or qualified |
| Account executive | New bookings or new annual recurring revenue against quota | Annual or quarterly quota, attainment by year, average deal size, cycle length, win rate | Attainment percentage without the quota behind it, or a best quarter presented as a year |
| Account manager | Renewals, retention, expansion revenue within existing accounts | Book size, gross and net retention, expansion quota and attainment | Renewals that happened automatically counted as expansion wins |
| Enterprise AE | Fewer, larger deals, often multi-year | Number of deals closed per year, largest deal, how many people were involved on the buyer's side | A team-sold deal presented as individually closed |
Quota and attainment verification
| Question | What a strong answer sounds like | Red flags |
|---|---|---|
| What was your quota last year, and what did you close against it? | Two numbers in the same unit: "Quota was 900K new ARR, I closed 1.02 million." | Only a percentage. "Always over quota" with no figure. |
| And the year before? | Numbers for that year too, with a reason if it was a miss. | Can only remember the good year. |
| How many reps were on your team, and where did you rank? | "Twelve reps, I was third." Knows the stack ranking. | Does not know, in a company that published it every month. |
| How many reps on your team hit quota that year? | A number. It puts their attainment in context. | "Most of us". Often means quotas were easy, or that they do not want to say. |
| Did your quota change during the year? | Honest: "They cut it mid-year when the market slowed," or "No." | Reports attainment against a reduced quota as if it were the original. |
| What share of your number came from one deal? | A realistic split, and they name the big deal if there was one. | A single inherited or inbound windfall carried the year, and it only comes out when asked. |
| You mention President's Club. What were the criteria that year? | Knows the bar: "Top 10 percent of AEs on attainment." | Cannot say what it took, or it was a team award. |
Deal size, cycle and pipeline math
Numbers that are true fit together. Numbers that are rounded up in isolation often do not. You do not need to know what a good win rate is for the industry; you need to see whether the candidate's own figures agree with each other.
Worked example (invented numbers)
The candidate says: quota $800K a year, average deal $40K, win rate about 25 percent, cycle around 60 days.
- Deals needed to hit quota: $800K ÷ $40K = 20 closed deals a year, about 5 a quarter.
- Opportunities needed at a 25 percent win rate: 20 ÷ 0.25 = 80 opportunities a year, about 20 a quarter.
- Now ask: "So roughly 20 new opportunities a quarter. How many of those did you source yourself?"
If the candidate says they closed 120 percent of quota but ran only about 30 opportunities that year, one of the numbers is wrong. Ask about it neutrally.
| Question | What a strong answer sounds like | Red flags |
|---|---|---|
| What was your average deal size, and what was your largest deal? | Both, with the product and buyer: "Average around 40K; the largest was 310K, a three-year deal with a hospital group." | Only the largest deal, used as if it were typical. |
| How long from first meeting to signature, typically? | A range and what makes it longer: security review, procurement, legal. | "It depends" with no range, from someone claiming to own a forecast. |
| What was your win rate on qualified opportunities? | A number and how they defined qualified. | A very high win rate with no definition; often means late-stage deals only. |
| Walk me through how you forecast a quarter. What did you call commit? | A method: stages, criteria, how close their forecast usually landed. | No forecasting responsibility, for a senior AE role. |
| How much pipeline coverage did you try to carry going into a quarter? | A multiple of quota they aimed for and why. | Has never thought about coverage. |
Territory, motion and who sourced the pipeline
The same attainment means different things in a territory full of inbound leads and a cold named account list. Match the candidate's motion to the one your client runs.
| Question | What a strong answer sounds like | Red flags |
|---|---|---|
| How was your territory defined: geography, industry, company size, named accounts? | Specific: "Mid-market healthcare in the Southeast, about 400 named accounts." | Cannot describe the territory they carried for two years. |
| What share of your pipeline was inbound, SDR-sourced, partner-sourced, and self-sourced? | Rough percentages that add up to about 100. | All inbound, applying for a role that is mostly outbound. |
| Who did you sell to, by title, and who signed? | Names the buyer, the champion and the economic buyer. | Sold only to end users, for a role selling to executives. |
| Was it transactional or a multi-stakeholder sale? | Describes the steps: demo, pilot, security, procurement. | Describes a one-call close for a role with a six-month cycle. |
| How much prospecting did you do each week, and how? | Specific channels and time: calls, email sequences, events, LinkedIn. | "Whatever it takes," with no routine. |
Comp plan fit, asked as expectations
Quota and attainment are performance, and asking about them is standard. Past earnings are pay history, and many states and cities restrict asking for them. Ask what the candidate needs from the new plan, and verify performance through references rather than W-2s or commission statements. See salary expectation questions for the wording and the state rules.
| Question | What a strong answer sounds like | Red flags |
|---|---|---|
| What on-target earnings do you need for this role, and what base? | Both numbers: "OTE 200, and I need at least 100 base." | Only a base number, for a heavily variable role. |
| The plan here is a 50/50 split with accelerators above 100 percent and no cap. How does that compare to what you want? | A clear view on split, accelerators and caps. | Wants a guaranteed draw with no mention of ramp or quota. |
| How long do you expect to ramp here before carrying full quota? | A realistic view based on the sales cycle. | Expects to hit full quota in month one on a long cycle, or wants a year of ramp on a short one. |
| Have you worked under clawbacks or payment on cash collected? | Understands them and says what they would accept. | Surprised such terms exist. |
Coachability and how they sell
| Question | What a strong answer sounds like | Red flags |
|---|---|---|
| Tell me about a deal you lost that you thought you would win. What happened? | Takes ownership of something they could have done differently: "I never met the CFO." | Blames price, the product or the prospect entirely. |
| What is a piece of feedback from a manager that changed how you sell? | Specific feedback and a before-and-after. | "I'm always open to feedback" with no example. |
| Pitch your current product to me in 60 seconds. I'm a VP of operations. | Starts with a problem that buyer has, uses one proof point, asks a question. | A feature list. No question at the end. |
| Why are you leaving, and why sales at this company? | A specific push and pull: territory changes, product-market fit, a larger deal size. | "Uncapped earning potential" as the only reason, or a string of short stays blamed on comp plan changes. |
How sales candidates overstate results
- Percent without the base. "140 percent of plan" against a quota cut in half mid-year.
- Best period as a year. One strong quarter written as annual attainment.
- Team results as personal ones. "Grew the region 60 percent" as one of eight reps.
- Bookings versus revenue. Multi-year total contract value presented as annual.
- Renewals as new business. Account managers counting renewals they did not have to win.
- Short tenures explained by comp plans. Sometimes true; three times in a row is a pattern worth asking a reference about.
Must-ask list and scorecard
Must-ask on every sales screen
- Quota, attainment and rank for each of the last two years.
- Average deal size, sales cycle, win rate, and a check that they fit together.
- Pipeline sources and territory type, compared to the role's motion.
- OTE and base needed, and fit with the plan structure (not past earnings).
- A lost deal and what they changed.
- Notice period, start date, and other processes.
| Area | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verified performance | Percentages only | Numbers for one year | Numbers and rank for two years | Consistent numbers, rank and context for three years |
| Motion match | Different motion and buyer | Same buyer, different motion | Same motion, different buyer | Same motion, buyer and deal size |
| Pipeline discipline | No forecasting or sourcing | Some sourcing, informal forecast | Self-sourced share and a forecast method | Numbers fit, coverage and forecast accuracy explained |
| Coachability | Blames others | General openness | One specific example | Specific change with measurable effect |
| Comp fit | Structure incompatible | Gap on base or OTE | Small gap | Aligned |
Record the quota, attainment and rank exactly as the candidate said them. A submittal that reads "Quota 900K, closed 1.02M, ranked 3 of 12" gets a sales leader's attention in a way "consistent over-achiever" never will. Interview Signal pulls those figures into the scorecard with the quote they came from, so you are not reconstructing them from memory after the call.
One legal note: sales screens often slide into "Do you have kids? The travel is heavy" or "How old are you? Our team skews young." Describe the travel and ask whether they can commit to it instead. The EEOC notes that pre-employment inquiries that point at age, sex or other protected characteristics can be used as evidence of discrimination, and questions about children are a common route to a sex discrimination claim.
Questions people ask
How do I verify a sales rep's quota attainment?
On the screen, get the quota, the attainment and the team context for each year, and check the numbers add up. After the screen, verify through references with former managers who can confirm rank and attainment. Avoid asking for W-2s or pay documents, which can conflict with salary history bans.
What is a good quota attainment percentage?
It depends on how the company set quotas and how the rest of the team did. 90 percent on a team where most reps missed can be stronger than 110 percent on a team where everyone beat plan. Ask where the candidate ranked, not just the percentage.
Is asking about a candidate's previous commission earnings allowed?
In jurisdictions with salary history bans, asking what they earned, including commissions, is generally restricted. Ask about quota and attainment as performance, and ask what on-target earnings they need for the new role.
Should I role-play on a sales phone screen?
A short one works well: ask the candidate to pitch their current product to you in 60 seconds as a specific buyer. You are listening for whether they lead with the buyer's problem or with features, and whether they ask you a question.