Different sales assessments and how to use them

If you wanted to, you could sit down for at least four weeks and complete hundreds of sales assessments and there would still be more on offer.

This over abundance of sales assessments can be confusing because they are not all the same. If you do not know what you want to measure it will make looking for an effective sales assessment tool that much harder. Here are some questions that may help you select your sales assessments with more precision.

• Why will this person sell? (Motives, Ambition, Goals).
• Will this person sell? (Attitudes, Mindset, Not Hesitant, Accountable, Energy, Drive).
• How does this person sell? (Style, Ethics, Behaviours).
• Can this person sell? (Skill, Knowledge, Mindset).
• How well can this person sell? (Job match, Values, Perceptive Reasoning, Self Belief, Mastery Mindset).

As stated before, there is no one sales tool that can answer all these questions. So at risk of offending some test providers and users, as I am bound to leave out some assessments that could have been included in this piece, I thought I would share with you the tools that we and many other businesses have found to be the most useful in helping us predict sales performance, especially when it comes to sales recruitment.

Measuring sales prospecting fitness

Research shows that only about 20% of sales people are fully effective when prospecting. In use for 30+ years, the SPQ*Gold (Sales Preferences Questionnaire) is a well regarded and widely used assessment designed to specifically detect and measure the emotional response to prospecting – Sales Call Reluctance®.  Call Reluctance® is the emotional hesitation to initiate contact with prospective buyers in sufficient numbers to support organisational goals.

Forty years of empirical research in prospecting shows the hesitation to initiate first contact with prospective buyers on a consistent daily basis is responsible for the failure of more competent, motivated and capable sales people than any other single factor. The fear of prospecting can cost an average of 15 new units of business per month per sales person. Prospecting is not the most important skill in selling but it is the first thing that has to happen before anything else.

Assess the fear of prospecting

The fear of prospecting, Sales Call Reluctance® and sales hesitation, an individual’s hesitance to prospect and self-promote for new business, can be objectively measured using the SPQ*Gold® questionnaire. The SPQ*Gold® is an attitude and activity based online assessment that identifies how much initiative, energy and drive an individual devotes to proactive sales prospecting and the amount of energy spent on coping with inhibitors such as fear. The SPQ*Gold® is the only tool that measures the prospecting fitness of people in sales, sales management and customer contact careers. It is best suited for anyone responsible for meeting sales and revenue targets whether you call yourself a sales person or not.

SPQ*Gold helps you answer these three business questions:

1.     How much will they produce?

2.     How soon will it happen?

3.     What will it cost you to get that performance out of them?

Applications

• Administered online via user name and password sourced via an accredited provider.
• The SPQ*GOLD® can be used for recruitment and development purposes to measure prospecting fitness. It produces individual selection reports, team summary reports, and development and coaching reports.
• SPQ*Gold will NOT measure personality, motivators and values, communication styles, emotional intelligence, leadership styles and derailers, or cognitive attributes and abilities (IQ).

Measuring sales performance characteristics and style

SPI-Q (Sales Performance Insight Questionnaire) is the latest and most comprehensive sales assessment tool in the marketplace. The Sales Performance Insights Questionnaire (SPI-Q) has been developed in Australia by Performance Insights and focuses on the attributes that are uniquely relevant to sales.  It is the only product in the market that predicts the multi-dimensional characteristics required by today’s sales professionals, and measures the subtle but critical characteristics that differentiate successful sales people.  The questionnaire measures 25 Sales Attributes, clustered into three broad domains:

1. Compelling Relationships – measures the preferences the individual has when working with clients and developing relationships, ie. Impact, Credibility, Insight, Attentiveness, Initiation, Influence, Social Leverage, Client Engagement and Negotiation.

2. Perceptive Reasoning – measures how the individual processes information and makes judgments relating to client issues and solutions, ie. Research, Exploration, Agility, Pursues Learning, Creativity, Structure, Quality Orientation, Rational, Specialist and Judgement.

3. Channelled Energy – measures the motivators and levers which drive the individual to succeed, ie. Authenticity, Resilience, Self Belief, Recovery, Motivation and Sales Drive.

The questionnaire has been designed to be highly pragmatic and user-friendly (requiring minimal training) with standard interpreted report outputs which are adapted based on the individual’s results.  The SPI-Q is a self-report questionnaire and the accuracy of this profile depends on how honest the individual has been when completing the questionnaire as well as their self-awareness. It reflects their preferred style rather than their ability. However, research shows that people’s responses to personality questionnaires can act as a good predictor of how they are likely to behave on the job. There is no one ‘perfect profile’.

Applications

• Administered online via user name and password sourced via an accredited provider.
• The SPI-Q can be used for recruitment and development purposes. It produces individual reports along with accompanying team summary reports, development and coaching reports.
• SPI-Q will NOT measure values, leadership styles and derailers, cognitive attributes and abilities or prospecting fitness.

These two tools would be my first choice when recruiting sales people.  If you want to measure Culture Fit, Motives and Values, Leadership Style and Derailers, Emotional Intelligence (EQ) or Cognitive Abilities (IQ) then we recommend the following tools, which while they are not sales specific, have been widely used in sales and sales leadership.

Measuring Culture Fit and Values: The Hogan Motives, Values and Preferences Inventory (MVPI) measures 10 core values found in most cultures throughout history, ie. Aesthetics, Affiliation, Altruistic, Commerce, Hedonism, Power, Recognition, Science, Security and Tradition. It is not sales specific, however, it provides vital information to managers about how to coach and manage their sales people in terms of motivators, values and drivers. The MVPI provides useful data about the kind of work environment the candidate prefers. Measuring organisational fit is critical to staff retention and cultural engagement.

Measuring Leadership Style and Derailing Behaviours: Most business leaders have coping behaviours they draw on when under pressure. The Hogan Development Survey (HDS) measures strategies and behaviours leaders have developed over time (even from childhood) to cope with increased levels of pressure whether due to change, high stress, multi-tasking, work saturation, an unhappy environment or being outside of their comfort zone. The HDS is not purpose built for sales leaders, however it has a wide body or research on sales leadership with relevant norm groups to refer to. Research shows that most leaders display at least one coping style. In measuring extremes of personality then, it is very important to remember that these can have highly positive implications. There is, however, always a potential downside to extremes because if they are not managed effectively or appropriately they can become problematic. When business leaders, especially sales leaders, are not managing their interpersonal façade well (perhaps because of stress, pressure, deadlines, etc) these extremes can emerge unchecked and upset the delicate balance of teamwork and interpersonal relationships.

Measuring Emotional Intelligence (EQ): Emotional Intelligence (EQ) involves a set of skills that define how effectively people perceive, understand, reason with and manage their own and others’ feelings. These skills are cornerstones to successful selling, as emotions are an inherent part of why people buy and why they do not. The Genos Model of workplace Emotional Intelligence comprises seven specific EI skills critical to successful selling, ie. Emotional Self-Awareness, Emotional Expression, Emotional Awareness of Others, Emotional Reasoning, Emotional Self-Management, Emotional Management of Others and Emotional Self-Control. Each skill can apply to successful selling.

Measuring Cognitive Attributes and Abilities (IQ): There are no sales specific attributes and abilities assessments that we know of, however, good quality Attributes and Abilities assessments have been around for over 50 years.  They are often referred to as IQ tests. They are widely available through accredited providers and most organisational psychologists. They are becoming more applicable because more sales and many leadership roles, especially sophisticated or more complex sales markets, require high level thinking abilities such as:

• Verbal – verbal fluency, vocabulary and ability to understand and reason using words.
• Numerical – ability to use and understand numerical concepts, reason using numbers and perceive logical relationships between them.
• Abstract – the ability to think clearly and make sense of complexity, which is known as educative ability and the ability to store and reproduce information, known as reproductive ability.
• Critical Thinking – the ability to clarify goals, examine assumptions, discern hidden values, evaluate evidence, accomplish actions and assess conclusions.

We do not use single assessments. Instead, we combine tools to give us a more complete picture.

Different sales roles in different industries require different attributes for success. Thus, profiles should be interpreted with reference to a specific role and its requirements. It is important that the data from any assessment be combined with other sources of information about the individual when making decisions, particularly in selection settings. Most assessments have a shelf life of 18–24 months and should be treated confidentially. If there are major changes in an individual’s life or work, this could change some of the attributes in some assessments. If you wish to use recruitment grade assessments for sales selection, I hope this helps you make a more informed decision.

Remember, everybody lives by selling something.

Sue Barrett practices as a coach, advisor, speaker, facilitator, consultant and writer and works across all market segments with her skilful team at BARRETT. Sue and her team take the guess work out of selling and help people from many different careers become aware of their sales capabilities and enable them to take the steps to becoming effective and productive when it comes to selling, sales coaching or sales leadership.To hone your sales skills or learn how to sell go to www.barrett.com.au.