How Cumberland Stopped Rolling the Dice on Sales Hiring

Cumberland Pharmaceuticals did not come to xPotential because its interviews were careless. The company already involved the hiring manager, sales leadership, HR, and sometimes another manager. A top candidate might even spend a day in the field with a salesperson. Still, when two or three finalists all interviewed well, the team knew there were things it could not see.

Since 2016, Cumberland has used xPotential's pre-hire assessment and a live review with Barrett Riddleberger to get a clearer read before making an offer. The assessment does not replace the interview. It shows the team where to dig deeper.

Every new hire is a crapshoot… The assessment helps fill in the blanks.

Better questions before the final decision

The 15-20 minute assessment looks at personality, motivation, and cognition. Barrett then walks the hiring team through the results before the final interview. Instead of asking every finalist the same general questions, the team can follow up on a specific concern, test an assumption, or look more closely at whether someone is suited to finding new business.

The interpretation results are remarkably accurate.

Your feedback helps target really good questions to get at what's beneath the surface.

The assessment fits into Cumberland's existing process rather than adding another round of interviews:

1. Source and screen candidates
2. Conduct the panel interviews
3. Ask finalists to complete the assessment
4. Review the results with Barrett
5. Use the final conversation to test what the assessment surfaced

You give me exactly what you see in the results - honest and professional.

The warning the team did not take

One early hiring decision made the value of that extra step hard to ignore. A candidate's results suggested that something significant was happening personally or professionally, and the recommendation was not to hire him. Cumberland was under pressure to fill the role and moved ahead anyway.

Within a few months, the concerns began to show. The new rep appeared anxious in meetings and inconsistent in how he presented himself. After a manager noticed him arriving in different cars for ride-alongs, HR learned that he was still working for his previous employer while collecting a bonus. Both companies let him go on the same day.

For Todd Anthony, the lesson was not that an assessment should make the decision on its own. It was that a clear warning deserves to be investigated before the company commits to a hire.

That was the kick in the pants I needed - to listen to Barrett.

We've made some significantly better hiring decisions - and avoided some bad ones.

A useful check for sales hunters

Cumberland often hires field salespeople whose job is to win new business. Those candidates need more than polish. They need the motivation to prospect, tolerate rejection, and keep looking for the next opportunity. The assessment gives the team another way to check whether a candidate who says the right things in an interview is actually suited to that work.

We're looking for people who want to find new business. The assessment helps spot when that's not true.

Why the relationship has lasted

Todd describes Barrett's advice as direct, professional, and free of sugarcoating. Cumberland can schedule a review when it needs one, bring the findings back to the interview panel, and make the final call with more information. After more than eight years, that has made xPotential feel less like an outside vendor and more like part of the hiring team.

I look at you as much of a partner as anyone on my team involved in hiring.

If you're considering this, do it. It's a small investment to avoid an expensive mistake.