A behaviour-based evaluation framework used to assess salespeople during hiring and ongoing performance management. Distinct from a skills matrix in that it focuses on observable working behaviours rather than claimed competencies.
Also known as:
Behaviour matrix, hiring rubric, sales behaviour framework
A skills matrix tells you what a salesperson has done. A rubric tells you how they work. The distinction matters because skills are easy to claim and difficult to verify in an interview, while behaviours are observable — in how a candidate describes a deal they are proud of, how they respond when a pipeline goes quiet, or whether they do the preparation required to have a real business conversation before a first meeting.
A rubric is built around the specific behaviours that predict success in your selling environment: the questions your best rep asks in discovery, how they handle procurement, what they do in the first week of a deal stalling. Templates exist and are useful as a starting point, but the most reliable source is your own best seller — examine what they do, how they work, and what makes them different from the people who did not perform.
The rubric does two things in practice. In hiring, it gives you a consistent basis for comparing candidates on observable criteria rather than who was most impressive in the room. In management, it gives you the framework for having hard conversations early — rather than convincing yourself for twelve months that someone will turn it around.
Bring one pipeline, forecast or GTM problem. 60 minutes, operator-grade diagnosis, no pitch.