Why we hire for coachability.
The behaviour that compounds. How a rep takes feedback, applies it, and gets sharper week-on-week. Coachability shows up in how openly someone takes a tough piece of feedback, and whether the next call looks different.
What we listen for.
Three signals a sales expert reads for on every candidate, with the quote that proves it.
Updates approach within the next call.
Agrees in the moment, defaults back next time.
Defends the original approach.
Strong rep, weak rep.
What coachability sounds like out loud. The assessment listens for exactly this.
"Last week you flagged my discovery felt scripted. Here's the call from yesterday, I tried framing it as a story instead. What landed?"
"Yeah totally, I hear you. Going to keep doing what I'm doing because it's worked so far."
From a real fit report.
What coachability looks like in the fit report you get with every candidate on a shortlist.
Takes feedback in the room, applies it visibly in the next exercise. Returns to specific feedback unprompted. Slight defensiveness on quota framing.
- Restructured pitch between rounds 2 and 3 after a single piece of feedback on opener length
- Asked "what would you have done differently?" three times across the session
- Defaulted to "we always did it this way" once when challenged on a deal-review approach
The signal that scales. A coachable rep on Q1 ramp will outperform a less-coachable rep with three more years on paper, every time.
The other behaviours.
All four together are what predict. Every candidate we send is read against each one.
Coachability, asked and answered.
What is coachability in sales?
Coachability is how a rep takes feedback, applies it, and gets sharper week on week. It shows in how openly someone takes a tough piece of feedback and whether the next call actually looks different. meritt reads it as one of the four behaviours that predict who can sell.
How do you assess coachability in an interview?
Give feedback mid-interview and watch what happens next. The strong signal is a candidate who updates their approach within the next answer or exercise. The watch-out is someone who agrees in the moment then defaults back next time. Defending the original approach outright is the weak signal.
Why is coachability important when hiring salespeople?
Because it compounds. A coachable rep in their first quarter of ramp will outperform a less coachable rep with three more years on paper. Skills can be taught quickly; the willingness to take feedback and change is much harder to add later, so it pays to hire for it up front.
What does low coachability look like?
Agreeing in the room and changing nothing afterwards. A rep low on coachability defends the original approach when challenged, or says they hear you and keeps doing what they were doing. In a meritt assessment the tell is an approach that looks identical before and after feedback.
More on coachability.
Reading that goes deeper on coachability and how to hire for it.
Hire on coachability.
Every candidate on the shortlist read against this behaviour, with the evidence behind each call. Thirty minutes with a sales person to start.