How to Evaluate Filipino Sales Reps: 3 Role-Play Scenarios

A resume does not tell you if someone can make a cold call. In the Philippines, many candidates list "cold calling" or "sales" on their profiles. But a B2C telemarketer who read a fixed script is very different from a B2B caller who can get past a gatekeeper, handle a brush-off and book a real meeting.

The only way to know is to test them live.

This guide gives you a simple hiring process, seven interview questions and three role-play scenarios. It also gives you a scoring sheet you can fill in by ear, while the call is happening. These are the same role-plays we run at Switchstack before a client meets one of our callers.

Table of Contents

• Why Resumes Fail in Remote Sales Hiring
• A 3-Step Process to Evaluate Filipino Sales Reps
• 7 Interview Questions for SDRs
• The Role-Play Playbook
• How to Score the Role-Play by Ear
• How Switchstack Vets Callers

Why Resumes Fail in Remote Sales Hiring

A good resume shows that someone can write a good resume. It does not show how they react when a busy owner cuts them off on a Tuesday morning.

B2B cold calling needs a specific set of skills:

• Clear, easy-to-follow English.
• Real listening, not waiting for a turn to talk.
• The ability to stay calm after a "no".
• Quick thinking when the call leaves the script.

Job titles can also mislead you. A "Senior Account Manager" at a call center may have read a fixed script for a cable company all day. That is useful experience, but it is not B2B outbound. If you don't test candidates live, you find this out after they have already burned through your lead list.

A 3-Step Process to Evaluate Filipino Sales Reps

If you are hiring on your own through job boards like OnlineJobs.ph or Upwork, run every candidate through the same three steps. Using the same steps for everyone makes candidates easy to compare.

1. The 60-Second Audio Screen

Before you book any live interviews, ask each candidate to send a 60-second voice recording. Give them a short prompt, such as: "Pitch a bookkeeping service to the owner of a small business."

What to listen for:

• Clarity: Would a US buyer understand every word on the first try?
• Pace and tone: Do they sound rushed and nervous, or calm and confident?
• Following instructions: Did they keep it to about 60 seconds and answer the prompt you gave?

Red flags: Recordings far over the time limit. A flat, read-aloud delivery. Heavy background noise. If they can't find a quiet room for a 60-second test, ask how they will handle a full shift.

2. The 15-Minute Behavioral Interview

Move the best recordings to a 15-minute video call. Don't role-play yet. Ask about their past work and how they think about a call. You want to know if they understand why they were calling, not just how to make the calls.

Also check their work setup. Ask where they will work, what their internet is like and what happens when the power goes out. A remote caller who drops off calls is a problem no matter how good they sound.

3. The Live Role-Play

This is the step that matters most. Send a short brief 10 minutes before the call. Then play a prospect who pushes back. The scenarios and scoring sheet are below.

7 Interview Questions for SDRs

Skip questions like "What are your weaknesses?" Ask questions that show what they actually did day to day:

1. "Walk me through a normal day at your last calling job. How many calls did you make, and how many real conversations did you have?" (Shows whether they did real outbound and know their own numbers.)
2. "What was your weekly meeting target, and how often did you hit it?" (Good callers know this. A vague answer is a warning sign.)
3. "Tell me about the hardest gatekeeper you have dealt with. What exactly did you say to get through?"
4. "When a prospect says 'just send me an email,' what is the very next sentence you say?"
5. "Tell me about a time a manager gave you hard feedback after listening to one of your calls. What did you do differently the next day?"
6. "In your own words, what makes a meeting worth booking? When should you not book one?" (Shows whether they chase numbers or chase good meetings.)
7. "Role-play aside, what do you think makes a cold call work?"

The Role-Play Playbook

Never hire a cold caller without hearing them handle pushback live. You are not testing product knowledge, because you haven't taught them your product yet. You are testing tone, listening and how they recover after a "no".

How to set it up

• Use a short brief. One paragraph is enough. For example: "You call owners of companies with 20 to 200 staff. You offer an outsourced bookkeeping service. Your only goal is to book a 15-minute call with a specialist."
• Use the same lines for every candidate. Read the prospect lines below word for word so you can compare candidates fairly.
• Keep each scenario to 2 or 3 minutes. Long enough to hear them recover. Short enough to keep your focus.
• Be tough, but realistic. Real prospects are busy and short. They are rarely cartoon villains.
• Test coachability. After Scenario 1, give one piece of feedback, such as "slow down" or "ask before you pitch". Then listen for it in Scenario 2.
• Score right after each scenario. Don't wait until the end. You will mostly remember the last thing you heard.

Scenario 1: The "Brush-Off" Objection

You (as the prospect): "Listen, I'm stepping into a meeting right now. Just email me whatever you have."

What a weak caller does: "Okay, sorry to bother you. What's your email? I'll send it now. Have a great day." (They give up and take the easy way out.)

What a strong caller does: "No problem, John, I'll send it. So I don't send you something useless, who handles your books today, someone in-house or an outside firm?" (They agree first, then ask one short, useful question before letting you go.)

What to listen for:

• Do they agree before they push? Arguing with "I'm busy" never works.
• Do they ask one question, not five?
• If you still say no, do they confirm the email and a time to follow up, then leave politely?

Red flags: Pushing on after a clear second "no". Talking over you. Apologizing again and again.

Scenario 2: The "No Budget" Objection

You (as the prospect): "We don't have budget for anything new right now. We're on a spending freeze."

What a weak caller does: "We can give you 20% off the first month if you sign up today." (A discount right away makes the offer look cheap and the caller look desperate. A caller should never make up prices or deals either.)

What a strong caller does: "That's fair, John. Can I ask one thing? Is the freeze on all new spending, or just on things that don't save you money? If 15 minutes could show you whether this costs less than what you do today, would that be worth a look next week?" (They accept the objection, ask a question to understand it, and offer a small next step. They don't invent numbers.)

What to listen for:

• Do they ask about the objection before they answer it?
• Do they avoid promising savings or results they can't back up?
• Is the ask small and specific, with a length and a rough day?

Red flags: Offering discounts. Making up savings figures. Telling the prospect they are wrong.

Scenario 3: The "We Already Use Someone" Objection

You (as the prospect): "We already use [Competitor] and we're locked into a contract for another six months."

What a weak caller does: "Oh, okay. When does it end? Should I call you back in six months?" (They give up the call and accept a brush-off that may not even be true.)

What a strong caller does: "Makes sense, John, and I'm not asking you to break a contract. Out of curiosity, if you could change one thing about how it works today, what would it be?" Then, after you answer: "That's helpful. Would a 15-minute call before your renewal be useful, so you have something to compare against?" (They respect the competitor, get you talking about what isn't working, and turn "six months" into a reason to meet.)

What to listen for:

• Do they stay positive about the competitor? Trashing them makes the caller look bad.
• Do they ask what isn't working, then use your answer in the next sentence?
• Do they end with a meeting or a dated follow-up, not a vague "I'll call you later"?

Red flags: Badmouthing the competitor. Accepting "call back in six months" with no date. Claiming features or results they can't know about.

How to Score the Role-Play by Ear

Score each scenario from 1 to 3 in five areas. You can do this on paper while you listen.

Each scenario is out of 15, so the full role-play is out of 45. Add a simple yes or no for coachability: did they use your feedback in Scenario 2?

Set your own bar. A practical starting point is no 1s in Listening or Handling the objection, plus a yes on coachability. A caller can learn your product. Listening and taking feedback are much harder to teach.

Red flags that should end the process, whatever the score:

• They make up facts, prices or results to win the call.
• They get defensive when you give feedback.
• They talk for a long time before asking a single question.
• They fall apart as soon as you go off the script.

How Switchstack Vets Callers

Testing callers properly takes time. That is the part we do for you. Before you meet any caller, we run the audio screen, the interview and these role-plays. Once they start, every call is recorded, so you can listen to the work yourself.

There are two ways to work with us:

• We Call for You: $2,499/month per caller. We supply, train and manage a dedicated Filipino caller who books meetings for you.
• Hire a Caller: $1,799/month per caller. A vetted, full-time caller joins your team, works US hours and reports to you.

Both come with no setup fee and run month-to-month with 30 days' notice. If a caller isn't a fit in the first 30 days, we replace them for free. A caller can start in about 2 weeks.

See the full details on our pricing page, or contact us to talk about what you need.

Before You Start Hiring

If you plan to hire on your own, these guides will help:

• What Filipino SDRs earn in 2026, so your offer is fair.
• How to hire SDRs in the Philippines, from job post to first week.
• Cold calling scripts that work, to use as your role-play brief.
• A B2B cold calling script template, if you need a full script for the role-play.
• Questions to ask a cold calling agency, if you'd rather not hire on your own.