Many businesses use resumes and interviews to gauge sales potential, but they’re more likely to find the right person when they give candidates sales aptitude tests.
Many managers feel it takes a certain type of person to succeed in sales. Others believe the right candidate has to be aggressive, persuasive, proactive, and extroverted. Are they right?
There are several reasons why a sales aptitude test makes your sales force stronger; here are three of them.
1. Accurate Personality Assessments
Most sales candidates talk about why they would make great salespeople, but sometimes ambition overshadows ability. Sales aptitude tests are a more accurate way to gauge a candidate’s potential on the job.
This is especially helpful when you’re interviewing new or relatively inexperienced salespeople. They don’t yet have a strong sales record, but they may very well have what it takes to grow and eventually succeed in a sales position. If you want candidates who already have the traits you’re looking for, a sales aptitude test will help you find them.
2. More Targeted Training
No one is perfect. Even the best salespeople in the world have weaknesses that can get in the way of sales. Aptitude tests help you – and the salesperson – identify those weaknesses and take steps to correct them.
Basic training programs work well as introductions or refreshers, but most salespeople fare better when they’re trained specifically where they need the most work. Sales aptitude tests show you exactly where salespeople are strong and where they need improvement. Now, instead of offering boilerplate training to everyone, you can train each salesperson to overcome their particular weaknesses.
3. Higher Sales
Salespeople are meant to sell, but not everyone is cut out to do it. You can teach or train people to sell, but if they don’t have the right sales skills and character, they’ll never sell as well as the people who already do.
Aptitude tests help you create a stronger sales staff that sells more products faster. Few people are sales superstars on day one, but people who have a natural talent for selling take less time to train and can spend more time in the field, generating even more revenue for your business.
Selling is a specialized skill, but it’s not always easy to see it in candidates. By requiring them to take sales aptitude tests, you’ll discover who’s right for the job, how they can improve, and who’ll help your business grow.