Looking for Better Sales Results? Check for Your Salesperson’s Aptitude!

The idea that anyone can be trained to be a good salesperson is optimistic, but flawed when we examine real life.

In my many years of training and consulting, I have witnessed a great deal of hardship in sales departments which hired “nice” or “smooth-talking” people with the hopes that they might turn into good salespeople. I have also witnessed success in companies who hired people who might not have interviewed well, but who scored high on aptitude tests.

Aptitude testing assesses traits that are not apparent in an interview or resume. The one we use and recommend to all our clients, the CPQ (Craft Personality Questionnaire) specifically measures personality traits that are critical to succeed in sales and sales-related fields such as customer service, sales management, marketing, and public relations.

The following will discuss several benefits of incorporating the CPQ into your hiring and training procedures. Start evaluating your current and prospective employees to understand whether they possess the traits and skills needed for a successful career in sales.

Get an edge

 Measuring your staff and potential employees with an aptitude assessment can provide your company an edge during the hiring, recruiting, and training stages because you can identify the best prospects. In today’s economy, any job opening is likely to attract a large number of candidates; therefore, recruiters need a tool to separate the wheat from the chaff.

The CPQ has proven to not only be helpful with the hiring/recruitment process, but also may be used as a measuring tool for current employees to track their own personal growth and professionalism.

Lower training cost

 Training an entire sales force can be very costly. It is even more costly when training dollars are used on people who do not have what it takes to make it in the sales arena.

Checking for sales compatibility can drastically reduce money that is wasted training personnel that don’t have the right skill set, personality, or motivation for the job. Measuring a current or prospective employee’s aptitude determines which potential employees will make the most of the training they receive.

Reduce turnover

 Selecting new hires that are well matched to the job they are placed in is important in reducing turnover. The CPQ provides employers with the ability to accurately test how well matched a particular candidate is to the job in question, greatly increasing the odds of hiring the best candidate for the job – one who will become a reliable, long term employee.

Increase motivation

 People who are happy and successful in sales have learned to use their ability and keep rediscovering aspects of it. The CPQ is an empowering assessment that creates opportunity to keep rediscovering potential.

Aptitude assessments like the CPQ increase the motivation of employees and job candidates by pinpointing areas of strengths and weaknesses. Current employees and potential job candidates become eager to address weaknesses and exploit strengths. This increases the motivation of the test taker to improve and to track growth.

Personality conflicts amongst employees and/or management can destroy a sales force. Hire people who are all on the same page by using the CPQ salesperson aptitude assessment.