In my opinion in person for a sales person is crucial. But I wouldn't rule out someone immediately just because they were remote to me. Phone conversations, Skype calls etc all can work wonders and also let you see how their phone communication skills are. But in the end I always want to meet sales people in person as they are the face of your company to clients and impressions are hard to do over.

Sales in the end is all about people, so it has everything to do with communication, empathy, inquisitiveness and humility. The best sales people I have met are not the slick assholes we all hate, instead they are the people that can show humility, empathize with clients and communicate effectively across different groups of people.