You could argue that this week’s aptitude – Handling Stress – is a key component in almost every job. In sales, it is critical because the typical sales position involves multiple levels of stress. Whether it be presentations in front of many Directors and VP’s or dealing with an irate customer, sales presents a wide variety of stresses. Handling Stress This is a person’s ability to balance and defuse inner tensions and stresses which, if allowed to build up, could interfere with a person’s ability to perform up to their potential. It is not the person’s ability to handle stressful situations, but rather their ability to appropriately separate themselves from… Read More
Continue ReadingWhy Assessing Works – Stopping the Fakers
CareerJournal.com again with this article – Pre-Hire Tests Aim To Stop ‘Fakers’. I like to riff on this topic often. My comment – if we could simply keep the fakers off your payroll, we would be worth our weight in gold. Along those lines, I think the most accurate pricing model for our assessments would be $500 for determining a strong candidate and $1,000 for identifying a weak candidate. I doubt that would fly, but the logic is sound. Some excerpts: Despite the tests’ flaws, Dr. Griffith says pre-employment tests are generally more reliable predictors of performance than an interview alone. Generally? An understatement in my opinion. Our primary focus… Read More
Continue ReadingWhy Assessing Works
From CareerJournal.com’s mailbag article (emphasis mine): Question: My son, a high-school student who has dyslexia and ADD, handles himself well in job interviews and on jobs bagging groceries or helping customers. But when he applies for part-time jobs at big store chains, he invariably flunks their online pre-employment tests. The tests take an hour or more and ask so many simple, repetitive questions that my son gets bored and just starts checking off answers randomly. Are these tests a legal way of discriminating? — F.J., Irvine, Calif. Answer: Such tests can be discriminatory, but proving it can be difficult. The Americans With Disabilities Act prohibits employers from using screening tests… Read More
Continue ReadingSales Traits Series – Results Orientation
Last week, we defined Project and Goal Focus which is important for successful selling in any market. Salespeople must stay on target over extended periods of time while overcoming many obstacles. The companion aptitude to Goal Focus is Results Orientation. It is one thing to stay on target, it is another thing to actually accomplish the tasks needed to reach that target. A salesperson with little aptitude for achieving results will be the proverbial “cloud of dust” salesperson. You will see a cloud of dust kicked up by all of their activity, but at the end of the day, the wagon hasn’t moved. Results Orientation The ability to identify actions… Read More
Continue ReadingSimply The Best
I had a good conversation today about a business owner whom we assessed as a salesperson and found some varied results. The owner was strong in some areas but weak in some important aptitudes. This led to the discussion that the owner was one of the best people at actually selling this service so how could they have lower scores in these areas. Some important points about this scenario: Hiring is a complex process with an almost limitless amount of variables. A successful process needs to incorporate objective data and then use it interactively with the candidate. Our approach is to pursue specific topics, in an indirect manner, once we… Read More
Continue ReadingObjective vs. Subjective Hiring
Most hiring managers believe they are accurate assessors of talent. Even when confronted with overwhelming evidence to the contrary, they still trust their hiring ability over someone else’s. Why is this disconnect so prevalent? I believe it comes down simply to gut-level hiring. If you rely on your gut to tell you if a candidate is strong, there is no appreciable way to outsource your decision to another. You can’t place your feelings into an HR person, an external recruiter or a different process. You simply have to meet candidates face-to-face and hope you aren’t being snowed over by a disingenuous salesperson. Sounds high risk, doesn’t it? Yet it permeates… Read More
Continue ReadingSales Traits Series – Project and Goal Focus
This week we turn our attention to another important aptitude for successful selling – Project and Goal Focus. Most sales managers can relate to the issues that surround this particular ability. Project and Goal Focus An individual’s ability to maintain their direction in spite of obstacles in their path. It includes their ability to stay on target regardless of circumstance. A salesperson with strength in this capacity is able to stay on track while involved in a project or opportunity – even if there are unforeseen obstacles that occur during the process. They will tend to ignore the problems and stay on the path even if some event causes the… Read More
Continue ReadingSales Traits Series – Persistence
Hopefully you can see a pattern to the Aptitudes we are defining. We have progressed from Self-Starting Ability to Personal Drive to today’s installment – Persistence. Successful selling requires persistence whether it be calling through a list of names for a transactional sale to tracking a prospect over many months for a complex sale. We can measure this aptitude in salespeople. Persistence This is a person’s capacity to stay the course in times of difficulty. It is the ability to remain motivated to accomplish goals in the face of adversity or obstacles. A salesperson with a strong aptitude in this capacity will be able to remain motivated to achieve success… Read More
Continue ReadingSales Traits Series – Personal Drive
Last week we covered Self-Starting Ability. This week we look at a complementary aptitude – Personal Drive. Most salespeople work within the framework of a company but their actual performance takes place on a one-to-one level…salesperson to prospect. To be successful, salespeople have to have the internal drive to succeed without excessive, external, surrogate motivation from their manager. Personal Drive A gauge of personal motivation to achieve, accomplish or complete tasks, goals or missions. This drive can take many forms (e.g., tasks, knowledge, career, physical, etc.), but it involves the level of personal motivation a person is capable of bringing to bear on any given task which they feel is… Read More
Continue ReadingSales Traits Series – Self-Starting Ability
There may be no more popular buzzword in employment articles today than “self starter.” The majority of ads list this trait as required for the position. We can objectively measure it. Self-Starting Ability A measure of a person’s ability to initiate tasks in order to fulfill responsibilities and commitments along with the degree to which a person will maintain that ability in the face of adversity. A salesperson with strength in this capacity is adept at synchronizing their internal drivers (e.g., level of initiative, persistence, goal focus, etc.) and directing these combined abilities toward a common goal or task. They are also capable of marshalling these strengths on their own… Read More
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