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AI Interviewer: Utsushimi for Sales

Turn your top sellers’ instincts into team knowledge.

An AI interviewer talks with each salesperson and keeps asking why they did what they did with a customer. From offhand answers, it captures the judgment behind them, and we deliver it in a form you can use directly in training and manuals.

Talk to usSee how it works
  • About 60 min per person (can be split up)
  • Nothing to install
  • Chat or voice
Example: in-store salesperson, making a proposal18 / 60 min

Was there a recent sale where you felt things really went well?

A couple came in. I’d planned to show them three options, but I narrowed it to one.

What did you see that made you decide that?

The wife closed the catalog and looked at her husband. I took it as a sign they were starting to feel unsure.

When did you start noticing signs like that?

Captured judgmentAssociate #07

Scene
Proposal, couple shopping together
Noticed
Closes the catalog, looks at partner
Decision
Cut the options from three to one
Reason
When they hesitate, make choosing easier

Demo video

In 40 seconds: how an interview becomes decision criteria, and how the gap between experienced staff and other staff becomes visible.

A demo video. From a conversation between a salesperson and the AI, it captures the decision to narrow a proposal to one option and the reason for it, then compares answers from experienced staff and other staff.

Why is it so hard to pass on how your best people sell?

  • The only way to learn from top performers is to watch them.

  • Manuals only cover what to say.

  • Ask the top performers, and they say, “I just know.”

E-commerce accounts for 9.8% of goods sales, so most sales still happen in stores¹. At the same time, 80.1% of workplaces say they have problems developing staff, and the most common reason is a shortage of people who can teach (59.5%)².

1 Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), FY2024 Survey on E-Commerce Market (Aug 2025)　2 Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW), FY2025 Basic Survey on Human Resources Development (Jul 2026)

From interview to team knowledge

  1. 01 Ask

    The AI interviews each salesperson individually

    The Recorder checks which points have been covered. If there is a decision it hasn't heard about yet, the Strategist picks the next question.

    Was there a recent sale where you felt things really went well?

    A couple came in. I’d planned to show them three options, but I narrowed it to one.

    Recorder: tracks which topics are covered

    • Building rapport● Covered
    • Needs discovery● Covered
    • Proposal▲ Not yet

    Still missing: what made them narrow it down to one

    Strategist: looks ahead to pick the next question

    • Why did you go with just one?
    • Do you do the same with other customers?

    What did you notice that made you decide that?Chosen

  2. 02 Capture

    From an offhand answer, it captures the judgment behind it

    From a remark that seems obvious to the person, it pulls out the scene, what they noticed, the decision and the reason.

    The wife closed the catalog and looked at her husband. I took it as a sign they were starting to hesitate.

    Captured judgmentAssociate #07

    Scene
    Proposal, couple shopping together
    Noticed
    Closes the catalog, looks at partner
    Decision
    Cut the options from three to one
    Reason
    When they hesitate, make choosing easier

  3. 03 Share

    Each person’s words, sorted by stage of the sales process

    Everyone is interviewed to the same depth, so the difference between experienced staff and other staff shows up in their own words. We turn the decision criteria into training material such as talk scripts and checklists.

    Building rapportNeeds discoveryProposalClosing

    Service know-howTechniques they know they use

    Opening a first conversationAsking about budget and companionsNarrowing options and the order to show themWords that help them decide

    Judgment never put into wordsUtsushimi’s focus

    Using eye contact and responsesSensing the need behind a questionKnowing when to offer lessWhen to step back and stay quiet

    In the same situation (proposal stage, customer hesitating)

    Experienced staff

    “Offer one, so choosing is easier.”

    Other staff

    “Explain every option carefully.”

    INSIGHT

    Experienced staff read the signs of hesitation and deliberately cut the options.

Getting started

We write the questions and organize what the interviews capture. Salespeople only answer the interview. It works in any business that sells face to face: travel counters, housing and real estate, cars, department stores, cosmetics and apparel, bridal and jewelry, insurance and financial services, and more.

  1. 01Scoping

    We ask

    We learn which situations you want to understand and who to interview. You can interview only experienced staff, or compare them with other staff.

  2. 02Question design

    We write, head office reviews

    We write the questions, and you review one draft.

  3. 03Interviews

    Salespeople answer

    Head office sends invitation links to the salespeople (we write the invitation message). Salespeople can split the roughly 60 minutes between shifts.

  4. 04Debrief

    We organize

    We put the decision criteria into a report and walk you through it in a debrief.

FAQ

How is this different from giving ChatGPT a list of questions to ask?

Given a list of questions, it moves on to the next item each time it gets an answer. When an answer hints at what triggered a decision, Utsushimi keeps asking about it. For example, if the answer is "I didn't want the couple to feel torn," it asks what the couple did that made them seem torn.

Will it really get people to talk in depth?

It is designed to walk through real situations and keep asking for the reasons.

Isn't 60 minutes too long?

It gets the same depth as a one-hour interview with a person, without scheduling. Staff can answer in several sittings between shifts, and a format of about 30 minutes is also available.

Will the answers be used to evaluate salespeople?

No. Answers are anonymized, and reports are written so that no individual can be identified.

How many people do we need to interview?

We decide the number together. To compare experienced staff with other staff, it's best to interview both groups.

How much does it cost?

We provide a quote based on the number of people and the deliverables.

UtsushimiUtsushimi for Sales by Simulacra

Utsushimi means "a reflected self" in Japanese. Through conversation, it captures the judgment and values a person has built up over the years, and keeps them in a form others can use.

Simulacra is an AI startup that researches digital twins of people and society, working with the Izumi Laboratory (Kiyoshi Izumi; artificial intelligence and agent-based simulation) at The University of Tokyo. This AI interviewer grew out of research on drawing out a person's values and decision criteria through conversation and building an AI that thinks like that person.

  • At a major Japanese travel agency, we are analyzing how about 20 in-store sales staff make decisions with customers (since August 2026).
  • Shogakukan's DIME magazine, April 2026 issue, featured our work with the interview system.

Talk to us

Just tell us which situations you want to understand.

We will get back to you within 2 business days.

Other uses