A sales discovery role-play should reveal how a candidate learns about a buyer's situation. Give the candidate enough product context to prepare, then assess questions, listening, diagnosis, and the proposed next step.
Do not turn the exercise into a test of whether the candidate can guess your hidden preferred answer.
Prepare a short fictional brief
Describe the product, what it can and cannot do, the target user, and the purpose of the meeting. Provide the same information to each candidate.
Illustrative scenario: A fictional operations lead wants fewer delays in an internal approval process. They have asked for a demo, but the cause of the delays is not yet clear.
The interviewer plays the buyer using a consistent set of facts. Reveal additional context when the candidate asks relevant questions. Do not change the buyer's personality or difficulty based on first impressions.
Evaluate discovery before persuasion
Salesforce's introduction to discovery calls frames discovery around understanding a prospect's situation and needs. For hiring, make that understanding observable.
| Dimension | What to listen for |
|---|---|
| Current situation | Clarifies how work happens today |
| Problem | Explores consequences rather than accepting a vague complaint |
| Listening | Uses the buyer's answers to choose follow-up questions |
| Fit | Recognizes product limitations and unsuitable use cases |
| Next step | Proposes a specific action that follows from the discussion |
Do not score the number of questions asked. A shorter, responsive conversation can be more informative than a memorized checklist.
Include a reason to pause
Introduce a constraint that may reduce fit. For example, the fictional buyer needs a capability the product does not currently support.
Assess whether the candidate clarifies its importance, explains the limitation accurately, and explores a sensible next step. Promising an unavailable feature should not receive credit as “strong closing.”
Debrief the candidate
Ask what they learned, what they missed, and what they would do differently. Give them one piece of feedback and discuss how they would adjust.
Keep the role-play and reflection scores distinct. Being able to critique an answer is useful, but it does not erase what occurred during the conversation.
Use the evidence with real experience
A role-play shows behavior under interview conditions. Combine it with an opportunity deep dive that establishes the candidate's own responsibilities and context.
Write the result as observed behavior: “Clarified the operational consequence and checked product fit before proposing a demo.” Use the enterprise buyer fluency guide when the role requires navigating several stakeholders.