See How Candidates Actually Sell
Résumés say "strong closer." Interviews say "I'm coachable." CloseCombat shows you what happens when they pick up the phone — scored, transcribed, and broken down by every objection they raised.
100%
Objective scoring
Async
No scheduling needed
Same
Scenario per cohort
The interview doesn't tell you if they can sell
Sales hiring is notoriously hard to do well. Candidates who are polished in interviews often struggle on the phone. Candidates who seem nervous in a panel often perform brilliantly under the quieter pressure of a one-on-one call. Without a standardized, objective evaluation — one that every candidate runs under the same conditions — you're making expensive hiring decisions based on how well they presented in a room.
The old way
- Panel interview — tests presentation skill, not sales skill
- Manager does a mock roleplay — inconsistent, hard to compare
- Reference calls — lagging indicator, often polished
- Gut feel on "culture fit" and energy
CloseCombat
- Every candidate runs the same standardized scenario
- Five-dimension objective score for direct comparison
- Full transcript and objection breakdown per candidate
- Second session tests coachability directly
Why it works
Standardized Across Every Candidate
Every candidate in a cohort runs the exact same scenario — same pipeline stage, same product, same difficulty, same AI prospect. The scores are directly comparable because the inputs are identical. One candidate handles the pricing objection confidently. Another deflects. A third gives a strong frame then collapses on the follow-up. You see all three responses in the transcript, scored on the same rubric, side-by-side.
Objective Five-Dimension Scoring
The evaluation doesn't depend on who conducted the assessment, how the candidate's energy read in person, or whether they reminded the interviewer of a strong past hire. Rapport, discovery quality, objection handling, closing technique, and pacing — all scored out of 100 on the same scale for every candidate. You compare numbers, not impressions.
Coachability Signal on the Second Session
After the first session, share the debrief with the candidate and give them one specific piece of feedback. Ask them to run a second session. Candidates who improve meaningfully — who take the feedback and actually change their behavior — are showing you the most important signal in sales hiring: the ability to learn quickly under pressure. Candidates who don't adapt on the second rep are showing you something equally valuable.
Role-Specific, Not Generic
Configure the assessment for the exact role you're filling. SDR candidates run cold call scenarios at Rookie or Closer difficulty. AE candidates run discovery and proposal review scenarios. CSM candidates run renewal and upsell scenarios. You're testing the specific competencies for the specific job — not generic "sales energy" that looks great in an interview and doesn't show up on the phone.
How it works
Configure your assessment scenario once
Set the stage, product, and difficulty to match the role you're hiring for. Save it and reuse it across your entire candidate pipeline — every candidate in the cohort gets the same scenario.
Send candidates the link
They run the session on their own time, from wherever they are. No scheduling. No coordinator. Results and scores appear in your dashboard automatically.
Compare scores, test coachability
Review the score breakdown and transcript for each candidate. Share the debrief, give one piece of feedback, and ask for a second session. The improvement delta tells you who can learn fast.
How to run a CloseCombat hiring assessment
The specifics that make it work in practice.
Configure the scenario once per role — stage, product, difficulty — and reuse it across every candidate in the cohort
Send candidates a link to run the session async — no scheduling, no coordinator, no travel required
Review the full transcript, five-dimension score, and objection breakdown before the debrief call
Use the score as a structured conversation starter in debrief: "Your discovery score was 42 — walk me through what you were thinking here"
Run a second session post-feedback to measure coachability directly — the delta between session 1 and session 2 is itself a data point
Archive all candidate sessions for future reference or to compare new cohorts against past ones
Eliminate interviewer bias by anchoring hiring conversations in shared objective data rather than individual impressions
CloseCombat assessment vs. traditional hiring evaluation
How it stacks up.
Capability
CloseCombat
Traditional hiring
Same scenario for every candidate
Varies by interviewer
Objective multi-dimension score
Subjective impression
Full call transcript available
Notes if lucky
Coachability tested directly
Asked about it
Role-specific pipeline stage
Generic interview
Async — no scheduling required
Coordination required
Comparable across cohorts
Not possible
Who this is for
Sales leaders hiring SDRs, AEs, or CSMs who want to go beyond the interview. Recruiting teams building a structured, repeatable hiring process for revenue roles. Hiring managers who've been burned by great interviewers who couldn't sell.
Common questions
Can candidates prepare or game the assessment?
They can practice general sales skills, but they can't know the specific persona or objections in advance because those are generated uniquely for each session. The best thing a strong candidate can do to prepare is be genuinely good at sales — which is exactly what you want the assessment to measure.
How do I share the assessment with candidates?
You send them a link to the session setup page with a pre-configured scenario. They complete it on their own and their score appears in your team dashboard automatically.
What scores should I use as a hiring bar?
That depends on the role and difficulty you configure. As a rough starting point: above 65 overall at Closer difficulty for an experienced AE hire, above 55 at Rookie for an entry-level SDR. The objection handling and discovery sub-scores are often more predictive than overall score alone.
Can I compare candidates against each other directly?
Yes. If every candidate runs the same scenario at the same difficulty, the scores are directly comparable. You can view all candidate scores in the team dashboard and sort by any dimension.