Introducing the Sova Sales Assessment: Confident sales hiring, backed by evidence

‍Why now?

Sales hiring has long relied on CVs, unstructured interviews, and gut feel. But in a world of rising attrition, longer ramp times, and increasing pressure on revenue teams, those approaches are no longer enough.

High-performing salespeople don’t succeed because of one standout trait. They succeed because they consistently execute — building relationships, uncovering needs, tailoring solutions, and delivering results, even in high pressure conditions.

The Sova Sales Pre-Built Assessment was designed to bring clarity to sales hiring by helping organisations move beyond assumptions and assess what really drives sales success, fairly and objectively.

Meet the Sova Sales Pre-Built Assessment

A scientifically grounded, ready-to-deploy sales assessment built for modern commercial roles.

The Sales Pre-Built Assessment measures eight core sales capabilities, proven to predict success across industries, products, and markets. It reflects the entire sales journey — from first connection through to delivery and results — giving hiring teams a holistic, decision-ready view of each candidate.

Designed for efficiency, the assessment takes just 15–20 minutes to complete, balancing rigour with an engaging candidate experience.

The 8 Sales Capabilities (end-to-end, role-relevant)

The Sova Sales Model captures the behaviours that differentiate effective sales professionals across the full cycle:

• Networking & Building Connections – Proactively builds relationships that create opportunity

• Creating Impactful Messages – Influences, persuades, and adapts communication to overcome objections

• Uncovering Needs & Expectations – Gathers and analyses information to truly understand the customer

• Tailoring Solutions – Customises approaches to meet unique client needs

• Building Collective Success – Collaborates across teams to deliver the best outcome

• Providing Service Excellence – Maintains trust, composure, and customer satisfaction

• Delivering on Commitments – Follows through reliably on promises made

• Driving for Results – Demonstrates resilience, ownership, and sustained performance

Together, these capabilities reflect how top sales performers create value — not just close deals.

How the Sales Assessment works

The Sales Pre-Built Assessment combines multiple evidence-based question formats into a single, seamless experience,giving hiring teams a richer, more authentic picture of each candidate.

Image-based behavioural questions
Candidates respond to contrasting visual scenarios, revealing natural behavioural preferences across the eight sales capabilities.

Situational judgement questions
Candidates evaluate realistic sales scenarios, selecting the most and least effective responses to common workplace challenges.

Decision-ready insights for hiring teams

The Sales Pre-Built Assessment delivers outputs designed to support confident, fair decision-making:

Hiring Manager Report

• Clear scores across all eight sales capabilities

• A consolidated Role Fit Score

• Practical narrative insights

• Structured interview questions tailored to each candidate

Candidate Feedback Report

• Personalised strengths-based feedback

• Clear development insight

• A positive, employer-brand-enhancing experience — regardless of outcome

Results are available directly within the Sova platform, enabling consistent shortlisting, comparison, and progression decisions.