Why we hire for curiosity.
The behaviour that finds the deal. Depth of discovery. Domain learning. The willingness to sit in the unknown and ask the second question. Curiosity shows up in how a rep researches a prospect, how they sit in silence, and how often they ask "why" instead of "how".
What we listen for.
Three signals a sales expert reads for on every candidate, with the quote that proves it.
Asks the second and third question without prompting.
Surface-level discovery, ticks the box and moves on.
Pitches before understanding the problem.
Strong rep, weak rep.
What curiosity sounds like out loud. The assessment listens for exactly this.
"Walk me through what made you pick your current vendor over the alternatives. What changed in your stack that opened that door?"
"So you're looking at our platform for a reason. Let me show you how we compare to vendor X."
From a real fit report.
What curiosity looks like in the fit report you get with every candidate on a shortlist.
Strong second-question habit. Sits comfortably in silence, returns to motivations before features. Drops only on technical depth questions.
- Asked "what changed for you in the last 90 days?" three times across the role-play, unprompted
- Paused 4-7 seconds after answers; followed with "tell me more about that"
- Reframed two pricing objections as discovery questions rather than concessions
Curiosity is the most underrated predictor we measure. Reps high on curiosity multi-thread faster, lose less on price, and learn new verticals in weeks not quarters.
The other behaviours.
All four together are what predict. Every candidate we send is read against each one.
Curiosity, asked and answered.
What is curiosity in sales?
Curiosity in sales is depth of discovery: the willingness to sit in the unknown and ask the second question. It shows in how a rep researches a prospect, how comfortably they sit in silence, and how often they ask why instead of how. meritt reads it as one of four core behaviours.
How do you measure curiosity in a sales interview?
Listen for the second and third question asked without prompting - that is the strong signal. Surface-level discovery that ticks the box and moves on is a watch-out, and pitching before understanding the problem is a weak signal. meritt reads these signals in a spoken assessment, with a quote behind each call.
Why does curiosity predict sales performance?
Curiosity is the most underrated predictor meritt measures. Reps high on curiosity multi-thread faster, lose less on price, and learn new verticals in weeks rather than quarters. It is the behaviour that finds the deal, because discovery quality decides what a rep has to close later.
What does weak curiosity look like in a salesperson?
Pitching before understanding the problem. A rep low on curiosity jumps to the demo, compares vendors before hearing the pain, and runs discovery as a box-ticking exercise. In an assessment it sounds like "let me show you how we compare" before a single real question has been asked.
More on curiosity.
Reading that goes deeper on curiosity and how to hire for it.
Hire on curiosity.
Every candidate on the shortlist read against this behaviour, with the evidence behind each call. Thirty minutes with a sales person to start.