Hire Smarter: How to Interview for Heart, Hustle, and Long-Term Success

When it comes to building a high-performing sales team—especially in new home sales—it’s not just about finding someone with the right resume. It’s about uncovering people who can connect, adapt, lead, and close with confidence. And that starts with one of the most powerful tools in your hiring toolbox:

The Interview.

A well-run interview is more than a formality. It's your opportunity to go beyond surface-level responses and get to the real person behind the sales persona. It’s where you uncover the instincts, values, and habits that will show up in front of your buyers and throughout your culture.

Why Most Interviews Fall Flat

Most hiring managers rely on familiar, generic interview questions that lead to rehearsed or vague answers. Questions like "What are your strengths?" or "Where do you see yourself in five years?" rarely give you meaningful insight into how a person will perform under pressure, handle buyer objections, or respond to changing market dynamics.

What the Best Sales Interviews Uncover

To truly assess a candidate’s fit, you need to look deeper:

• Heart: Do they care about the buyer experience?

• Hustle: Will they show initiative, handle objections, and follow through?

• Long-Term Potential: Can they grow with your team and adapt as the market shifts?

The interview is your window into these traits—if you ask the right questions.

A Smarter Framework for Interview Questions

We created the Impact Eighty-Eight New Hire Interview Guide to help you do just that. This free tool equips you with a curated set of intentional, scenario-based questions categorized by key competencies.

Here are the core categories and a sneak peek into each:

Problem-Solving & Decision-Making

Questions that reveal how candidates think on their feet and recover sales that are off-track.

• “Describe a situation where a sale was falling apart at the last minute. What did you do to salvage it?”

Why? Reveals creative thinking, poise under pressure, and ability to course-correct in high-stakes moments.

Handling Change & Adaptability

Uncover their agility in fast-moving market conditions.

• Describe a time when you had to quickly adapt to pricing or inventory changes. How did you communicate those shifts to buyers?

 Why? Strong insight into flexibility, messaging under stress, and responsiveness to shifting priorities.

Coachability & Willingness to Improve

See how they respond to feedback and seek growth.

• Tell me about a time you received constructive feedback from a manager. How did you apply it?

 Why? This is a proven indicator of growth mindset and humility.

Initiative & Innovation

Assess whether they take ownership and find creative solutions.

• Tell me about a time you proactively created a new way to generate leads.

 Why? Highlights self-starting behavior, creativity, and ownership over outcomes.

Collaboration & Teamwork

Gauge how well they work across functions.

• Can you share a time when you worked with construction or design to resolve a buyer issue?

Why? Brings out cross-functional collaboration and problem-solving in real-world, relevant settings.

Customer & Client Focus

Look for a service-first mindset that builds trust and loyalty.

• Tell me about a situation where you went above and beyond to create a memorable experience.

 Why? Highlights buyer-first thinking, personal initiative, and service values.

Resilience & Handling Pressure

See how they manage multiple priorities and tough situations.

• How do you manage your time when juggling several buyers at once?

Why? Practical and performance-focused; reveals self-management and prioritization skills.

Leadership & Influence (for Sales Managers)

Understand their ability to uplift and lead others.

• Give an example of how you coached a struggling team member back to success.

Why? Demonstrates leadership through coaching, empathy, and the ability to elevate team performance.

Pro Tips for Using the Interview Guide

Be Curious: If a candidate shares a compelling story, go deeper. Ask, "What would you do differently next time?"

Listen for Values: Pay attention to not just what they did, but why they chose that approach. Does it align with your company culture?

Pair with Assessments: Use these questions to explore or clarify results from personality profiles, motivation-based assessments, or performance tasks. (Our favorite is the PRINT® model).

Don’t Guess Your Way Through Hiring

Whether you're a hiring manager, recruiter, or sales leader, the right interview questions help you:

• Make confident, informed hiring decisions

• Spot red flags early

• Build a high-performance culture from day one

Ready to level up your hiring? Download the full FREE Interview Guide and start building a sales team with heart, hustle, and long-term impact.

Quick FAQs

What makes this interview guide different? It’s built specifically for the unique demands of new home sales, with real-world-tested questions grouped by critical competencies.

Can I tailor the questions? Yes! The guide is flexible, allowing you to select questions that fit the role and the candidate.

Is it suitable for entry-level hires? Absolutely. The questions can be scaled for any experience level by adjusting depth and follow-up.

Can it be used in group or panel interviews? Definitely. Assign different categories to each interviewer for a comprehensive evaluation.

How does this guide align with our buyer experience goals? Many questions are designed to reveal how candidates think about client service, empathy, and problem-solving.

Want to take your hiring strategy to the next level? Start with the right questions, and you’ll build not just a team—but a culture of impact.