Uncommon Sense

I’ve been swamped of late with sales candidate assessments for different customers and have encountered an important trait – common sense.  This is a broad topic, but we use it in a fairly defined manner – using common sense.  We actually measure this aptitude in one of our assessments which often leads to rather pointed discussions…especially when a candidate has a low score in this area. But what of it?  Our definition utilizes speaks to common sense being more of a natural reflex as opposed to a logical thinking process.  I’m not talking about intuition but rather the practical thinking in regards to seeing the world.  Does that make sense? … Read More

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Of Objectivity

I preach this point from the mountaintop as often as possible so I’ll continue here – sales is the single most difficult position to hire in any company.  The reason is simple, accurately predicting sales success by discerning candidate capabilities is…well, often a crapshoot.  This fact is why it is imperative to use assessments to gain an understanding of what the candidate has “under their hood.” A prime example is emotional control.  Successful salespeople have this trait.  It is a broad term so let me put a finer point on it: This is the ability of a salesperson to maintain rational and objective actions when experiencing strong internal emotions. This… Read More

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Fundamental Attribution Error

Warning – psychology babble coming your way from Fast Company.  I encounter this effect often with clients: That judgment is what’s called, in psychology, the Fundamental Attribution Error. Meaning that we tend to attribute people’s behavior to their core character rather than to their situation. So when somebody cuts you off in traffic, you think, “What a jerk!” You don’t think, “I wonder situation he’s in that’s causing him to drive so crazy.” Even though in those times when YOU have driven crazily, it was almost certainly because of the situation you were in—you were late for a job interview or a date. May I make a suggestion?  The use… Read More

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Big Personalities In Selling

We’re an assessment company so you can imagine how adamant I am about assessing candidates (not just for sales positions either).  However, in sales it is crucial to use assessments to cut through the sales candidates’ well-developed social skills.  Unfortunately, many assessment tools focus on personality only which is not a reliable or repeatable predictor of sales success. My experience has been that most people focus on big personalities when it comes to selling.  If the person is a good talker, tells funny stories, lights up the room, etc., then they must be a good salesperson.  The bigger the personality, the more they will sell.  Ok, I grant you that… Read More

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Do Values Change In A Recession?

That is a tough question since I think values are primarily hardwired into each of us.  We assess this trait in sales candidates – call them motivations.  Each person tends to have two of these motivators that drives their behaviors (some people have 3 primary motivators). We have assessed salespeople who were in slumps, who were unemployed and who were candidates.  These are stressful situations that should impact their values.  When we had the opportunity to assess the same people at a later date (years later), we did not see an appreciable change in their values/motivations.  Granted, this was no scientific study, but rather a consistent observation. BusinessWeek.com provides this… Read More

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Spooky Accurate Assessments

From Inc.com’s article on how to screen sales candidates: It cost $400 a candidate, and the recruits took the tests online. Dolan and Kinaxis’s star salesperson took the test, too, and Opus analyzed their test scores and created a personality benchmark. Afterward, Opus discussed the results with each of the candidates to see if any of them disagreed with the assessments. None did. “They’re spooky accurate,” Dolan says. We use spooky accurate assessments for all of our sales candidates.  Assessing sales candidates is one of the best ways to cut through the veneer and see what they are truly made of.  This article places a priority on personality assessments which… Read More

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When To Test

Selling Power’s Hiring Newsletter takes a look at assessments used in the hiring process.  This is a topic near and dear to our hearts in that we assess sales candidates with online tests.  One paragraph jumped out (emphasis mine): According to Whittle, the average test runs around $200, but there were some tests that tacked on extra costs for interpretation up to $600 to $900 extra. Her company usually conducts the tests after at least two behavioral interviews to save time and costs. However, Whittle reminds us – the cost of testing is nothing compared to the cost of a bad hire. “We conduct the tests to validate what we’ve… Read More

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A Needed Trait – Resourcefulness

I’ve been dealing with many different sales candidates of late and one thing that is starting to stand out – a candidate’s resourcefulness.  This trait comes shining through on some candidates and is little more than a dull luster on others.  The less resourceful a salesperson, the more wary you should be in considering their candidacy. This trait has always been important in sales.  Resourcefulness feeds networking, prospecting, qualifying and competitive knowledge.  Recently I have encountered a couple of candidates who just plain lack this ability. The lack of resourcefulness shows up in not finding email addresses or cell phone numbers.  One salesperson wasn’t able to recall the position for… Read More

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Quality Of Hire Requires Objectivity

Ere.net offers up an excellent Kevin Wheeler article that explains how gut-level hiring occurs.  Here is the crux of the problem: Interviews are examples of how easy it is to abandon the tools of objectivity, the scientific method, logic, and the rules of evidence, for our “gut” or for “chemistry.” While there is considerable evidence showing that testing candidates is far more likely to predict successful performance, we still rely almost exclusively on interviews. Though numerous researchers have pointed out the need to gather a variety of data about a candidate, we generally settle for an application form and an interview. Why are we so resistant to testing and other… Read More

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Assessments Shorten Interviews

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… Read More

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