Sales are critical for a business and this makes the quality of the sales staff all the more important. Numerous businesses have suffered due to the recruitment of sales personnel who are unable to deliver the sales results they promised or display the talent they claim to possess.
From the business perspective good hiring decisions will determine its sales success. The right fit is important and a wrong decision can cost a lot of money, unpleasantness and cost the business some lost sales opportunities till a new candidate is recruited. The solution then lies in conducting a Pre-Hire Sales Assessment. This is similar to an interview but more like a test of performance before being hired. It is one of the best ways of gauging the capability of the potential employee in your business without casting doubts on his previous record. It entails putting the candidate through a trial sales exercise and track his success, his handling of customers and his capability in the field.
Benefits of pre-hire sales assessment
- Displays his working style- when a sales person is assigned a sales job before being hired, he is obviously at his best behavior but his working style will reveal a lot about him.
- Reveals his emotional characteristics and performance under stress- this is extremely helpful in assigning the right job to the right candidate if he qualifies.
- His motivation level- this is easily displayed in the manner in which he completes his sales assessment. Lack of motivation would disqualify and excess of it may prove beneficial.
- Interpersonal skills and team participation- the sales force works as a team and it is important for all those recruited to be able to function with each other as a team and display good interpersonal skills.
- Empathy and relationship building- The ability to understand the feelings of others is crucial and empathy in a sales person lays the foundation of a successful career. It will also help if the sales person has the knack of building relationships and may prove beneficial if the company uses CRM or customer relationship management as a marketing strategy.
- Reduces the risk of hiring a wrong person who is a misfit- This is always a risk borne if a person is recruited without a pre-hire sales assessment. Qualifications that may look good on paper may prove to be useless in the field.
- Helps to identify high performers- A good sales man reveals his high capability in a short duration and once identified he should be the first to be hired.
- Enables standardization of the selection process- Putting everyone through a pre hire sales assessment helps to use the same parameters for selection.
- Displays team conflict in the initial stages and this can be avoided- A potential employee if he cannot be a good team member will show his true colors very soon, and can be kept away instead of creating problems later.
- Helps recruiters make impartial decisions based on performance-this is the best way to make performance speak for itself.
- Helps in fair assessment of talent- Talent displayed in a pre-hire assessment can be fairly rewarded with impartiality.
Pre-hire sales assessment helps to put together an effective sales team without doubts about capabilities and ability to work in close coordination and is therefore highly recommended for businesses.
