Central Test - the art of assessment © 2012 www.centraltest.com

White Paper

Recruiting Salespeople

Who Can Really Sell

Central Test - the art of assessment © 2012 www.centraltest.com

Tough competition and high stakes highlight today’s global world of business, making it all the more important to enhance productivity and performance. It is a widely acknowledged fact that one of the most important department in any company is the sales department. Therefore, the sales function, if paid careful attention to, can give one the advantage needed over other players in the market.

In light of this, it would be relevant to ask, what exactly defines a good salesperson?Ideally, it would be, a charismatic individual, who is clever and who knows how to clinch deals. But do all successful salespeople fit this picture? If not, then what are the various characteristics that would make someone able to propel a company’s sales? How can you ensure that you have hired the right candidate, who possess the required talents for the job? Tough questions perhaps. But in order to make the perfect choice, these questions have to be answered which is exactly what this white paper explains!

Central Test - the art of assessment © 2012 www.centraltest.com

Education and experience are crucial when hiring an individual. But one must also take into consideration other equally important factors like personality, soft skills and motivation. The recruitment process requires an investment in time, money, and energy. Hence hiring mistakes can be exhausting and expensive.

Administration procedures, interviews, and the training and familiarization of the new recruit with the company are all part of the hiring process and they require an immense amount of time. Therefore, if the hired individual is not a right fit for the job at hand, the time spent on hiring, training and welcoming this individual is wasted.

Moreover, if the hired candidate is unsuitable, additional time needs to be spent repeating this entire process in order to recruit a replacement.

Considering the situation in which the wrong individual is hired, the company’s expenditure increases critically. First, the most obvious outflow of money is the employee’s monthly salary. However, on thinking a little further, the salary expenses are minor compared to the possible long-term financial damages that the individual may cause. These include the cost of rehiring and retraining another person, as well as the cost of losing clients.

An incompetent salesperson may inadvertently upset current customers or miss out on several sales opportunities, resulting in financial loss for the company.

Why is it so important to hire the right salesperson from the start ?

RECRUITMENT MISTAKES COST TIME

RECRUITMENT MISTAKES COST MONEY

Recruitment cost 1,500 USD Recruitment cost 1,500 USD

Training cost 3,000 USD Training cost 3,000 USD

Annual salary 40,000 USD Annual salary 40,000 USD

Psychometric test 1,100 USDLost Sales 275,500 USD

Total Lost294,500 USD

Sales Reached500,000 USD

27,8

Central Test - the art of assessment © 2012 www.centraltest.com

“Key personality traits directly influence top performers’ selling style and ultimately their success.” Steve W. Martin, Harvard Business Review

Now that the importance of recruiting the most appropriate person for the sales position has been emphasized, it would be relevant to look at how to identify a person with a good sales profile. Given below are six very useful tips that would help ensure that you find right candidate.

6 TIPS TO HELP YOU HIRETHE RIGHT SALESPERSON

1Tip Clarify the requirements for the position

Before reviewing candidates for a sales job, one must identify particular characteristics that need to be dominant in potential recruits.

Paying attention to the following skills would prove useful: Client acquisition Business development Negotiation Selling (closing deals)

Identifying specific needs will help in detailing the required profile for the job.For example, the Sales Profile-R assessment from Central Test can predict a candidate’s performance in all these areas, by revealing a candidate’s strengths and weaknesses in reference to these aspects. However, the choice of a candidate depends upon the company’s needs concerning which sales’ aspect ought to be given more importance to.

2Tip Ask for Recommendations

It is usually more beneficial to interview someone who has been recommended or referred for the job. It would be useful to ask around one’s network, amongst contacts or existing staff members for potential candidates.

3Tip Use social media

The increase in Internet accessibility has made searching online for candidates online a more viable option. Social networks can help identify promising sales recruits.

LinkedIn or any professional social networking sites can help identify promising candidates.

Persuasiveness

Flexibility

Resistance to stress

Extroversion

Improvisation

Rationalism

Involvement at work

Desire to lead

Need for action

Ambition

Need for autonomy

Altruism 6.0

7.0

3.0

4.0

7.0

4.0

7.0

4.0

3.0

5.0

7.0

4.0

Central Test - the art of assessment © 2012 www.centraltest.com

4Tip Structure the interview

Several things can be said about an individual during an interview. Apart from a candidate’s accomplishments and education, one can observe the nuances of his/her personality which could reveal whether he/she would get along with co-workers and how he/she might interact with customers. It would also be a good opportunity to evaluate his/her self-management abilities and long-term career goals. A structured interview could prove to be more beneficial. For example, one could begin by discussing the candidate’s resume or ask a predetermined set of questions. After that, the candidate could be asked to demonstrate a sales pitch in a hypothetical situation.

5Tip Use Psychometric Tools

With the advent of using psychometric tools for recruitment, their popularity has increased tremendously. Such assessments offer an exhaustive understanding of the candidate’s personality, motivation, skills and aptitudes. In order to hire an efficient salesperson, test results must be interpreted judiciously in order to correctly identify the sales acumen of applicants. Broadly speaking, individuals who are extroverted, independent, and who demand action are more likely to display desirable sales skills.

It is important to note that the selected assessment tool should meet the established standards of scientific validation.

The Sales Profile-R Test is a psychometric assessment developed by Central Test, which reveals a person’s sales potential by highlighting his or her particular strengths. Those features are evaluated through the measurement of the candidate’s answers to eighty-three questions regarding how they would behave in different realistic sales-related situations. The results indicate a Sales Potential Score (on a scale from 0 to 100), as well as an indication of whether the candidate is a right fit for a particular sales position (out of eleven possible sales functions).

6Tip Analyze Psychometric Test Results

Administering a psychometric tool is only part of the process. The interpretation of the test results can be considered the most important part. Before coming to fixed conclusions based on the personality profile generated, it must be remembered that this kind of tools serve to guide decision-making. They are designed to give insight into the candidate’s capabilities in terms of prospecting, approaching clients, building relationships, networking, negotiating, and closing sales.

Prospecting

Combativeness

Approaching Clients

Networking

Strategic Selling

Customer Satisfaction

Understanding Needs

Pitching

Closing Deal

Sales-Acumen

Charisma

Self-Control6.0

7.0

6.0

8.0

6.0

9.0

9.0

7.0

8.0

7.0

7.0

7.0

The graph below compares the candidates results with the personality scores parametered by you for the Job position in question ( the blue line -------- )

Legend

Client Acquisition Skills

Business Development Skills

Negotiation Skills

Selling Skills

Central Test - the art of assessment © 2012 www.centraltest.com

Following these tips will better ensure the selection of the right candidate.

Patrick Leguide, founder of Central Test, an expert on psychometric assessment, has identified types of sales candidates that recruiters should be aware of :

The ‘all-talk-no-action’ candidates: These candidates may be great at marketing but have no talent for sales. Skilled in communications, they can have trouble making actual sales.

The ‘all-online’ candidates: Such candidates feel right at home on the Internet and are great at making online sales but are not comfortable with phone calls, meeting customers face-to-face or closing deals.

The ‘overly-nice’ candidates: These candidates are devoted to customers and provide great service. They are likeable and good at building relationships but they lack confidence when it comes to prospecting, negotiating, and closing deals.

The ‘big-leagues’ candidates: Being ambitious and aiming for high commissions, these candidates can close deals and make sales with high price tags. Unfortunately, they give less importance to the day-to-day tasks needed for business development.

Central Test is one of the leading publishers of online psychometric tests, serving more than 3500 clients, HR professionals and companies, worldwide.

The company provides scientifically validated assessments for recruitment, employee evaluation and talent management.

EXERCISING CAUTION

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