Predicting a Salesperson's Success

by Steve Chriest

Have you ever rated a candidate for a sales position a “10” on a scale of one to ten? Her interview skills were exceptional. She was articulate and graceful, had all the right answers, offered insights that showed the ability to think creatively about challenges, and seemed eager to get started in her new sales role.

Compared with all other candidates, this person was truly a dream come true. But after only a few months, it became painfully obvious that you made a big hiring mistake. What happened? The problem may with your interviewing process.

According to the International Personnel Management Association, typical hiring methods are ineffective. If you put on a blindfold, and simply pointed to one among a group of candidates lined up against a wall, and hired that person, your hiring method would depend on “chance” for success. If, on the other hand, you're hiring process includes a typical employment interview, your odds of improving over “chance” increase about 1%.

If your hiring process includes a standard personality test, you would again improve your odds over chance by another 1%. If, along with the interview and personality test, you require a candidate to have relevant job experience, your chances of a good hire increase to 5%. If you include a scoreable interview in your hiring process, your odds over chance for a good hire increase to about 7%.

If your company is among a growing number of firms that include validated and objectively administered selection “tests” in their hiring process, you can increase your chances of a good hire by up to 25%. An improvement of 25% over “chance” may not impress you, but the math shows that this is an improvement of 257% over even the best interview processes that lack selection tests!

So, exactly how would a validated and objectively administered selection test help you avoid hiring the candidate you rated a “10” based on your “gut” feeling? Without delving into the specifics, these tests reveal not only aptitude for performance, but a candidate's willingness to perform the duties of the particular sales position. The tests answer the questions: Can the candidate do the job, and is the candidate likely to do the job?

The candidate you rated a “10” may have told a great story, but when it came to performing, she obviously lacked the “will” to do the job. You can use your management and teaching talents to help salespeople improve skill problems, but there is little or nothing you can do to help someone with a “will” problem. Validated and objectively administered selection tests can help you identify skill and will problems, and increase your chances of good hires.

Copyright © 2006 Selling Up TM . All Rights Reserved.

About the author: Steve Chriest is the founder of Selling Up TM (www.selling-up.com), a sales consulting firm specializing in sales improvement for organizations of all types and sizes in a variety of industries. He is also the author of Selling Up , The Proven System for Reaching and Selling Senior Executives. You can reach Steve at schriest@selling-up.com.