Testing times when selecting ‘good’ salespeople

Sue, great article. You’ve put this whole “grey” area of testing into a clearer, simple perspective for me.

One question I have though is whether this type of testing can help an organisation understand whether the person is a cultural fit with their company? I’ve seen many examples where a salesperson is hired and is a great sales rep – but doesn’t fit the organisation.

These types are often so focussed on “just selling” that they create a wedge in the company as their “sell at all costs” attitude leads to processes being circumvented, false expectations set, and more often than not, bad deals being signed.

Or is this type of testing not suitable to identify or fit a person to the culture?

The other problem I see is an extension of the above problem, where a salesperson fails to share information, living under the misguided notion that sales and contact info is “their” information. By witholding information, a sales person has an immediate and long-term impact on the organisation.

Would you recommend using assessments or testing to identify these types of mindsets in candidates? Is there anyway you can identify these issues as direct questioning will lead to misleading responses?

Cheers, Mark