- A rubric is a behaviour matrix, not a skills list.
- The test: not best of the five, but I would buy from her, any day.
- No starting point? Build it backwards from your one great hire.
If you are not a sales expert, hiring sellers feels like a guess. A simple rubric turns the guess into a decision.
A rubric is a behaviour matrix, not a skills list
Douglas Mancini's test for a good hire is blunt. After the interview you should not be saying she was the best of the five. You should be saying I would buy from her, any day. A rubric names the handful of behaviours that matter to you and lets you score candidates against them, so hiring stops being a gut call. If you do not know where to start, build it backwards: take your one great hire, look at the behaviours and skills that made them work, and map those.
It works for managing too. With a rubric you can self-score, compare, and have a fair development conversation at two or three months instead of hoping for the best.
Get the sales skills rubric (free in Resources), and see how it fits Strategic Sales Enablement.
