I’ve read many sales technique articles recently that discuss how to approach a prospect. Salespeople are expected to have a cursory knowledge of the company itself, it’s market and, to some extent, whether or not they have a solution that may be a fit for this prospective customer. Gone are the days of cold calling a prospect and asking what it is their company does.
I think everyone can agree with that paragraph. So why do companies still expect hiring managers to go through the added discovery of sorting out communication styles, motivations and skill sets? Granted, most managers want to verify these items, but assessments provide a starting point that not only speeds up the process, they enhance it.
We assess candidates before the initial interview. The first benefit here is that we actually screen out candidates that are not a strong fit for the position. There is no need to interview them if they are completely misaligned to the position’s requirements.
Second, the assessment results provide a foundation to start the interview process. Now that the hiring manager has some measurement of the unknown candidate to provide context immediately in the interview. The discovery phase is shortened drastically and a focused interview can occur.
If we measure a candidate’s sales skills and find an underdeveloped area, we provide the hiring manager with specific questions to drill down during the interview. These areas can be explored in the initial interview which allows the hiring manager to reach their decision faster with more objective data to support the decision.