Sales representatives start and manage customer relationships. They are the primary point of contact between your company and customers. They lead the relationship from the initial contact through final purchase and often stay in touch to facilitate customers buying additional products or services.
Sales representatives are good communicators and problem solvers. They identify potential customers, reach out to them, then work to understand their needs and wants. They then effectively communicate the benefits your company's offer provides. Customers value a sales rep that provides consultative support and can answer questions and track down issues.
Good sales reps combine both people and business skills. They are empathetic, good listeners who are able to start and maintain positive customer relationships. They are also skilled at spotting business opportunities, helping and advising customers and negotiating deals. The best ones are also masters of important record-keeping and customer management tools. Most tend to be goal-focused people, clearly motivated by rewards.
Expanding your sales team is an exciting opportunity to grow your business. However, successful hiring requires identifying people with the right skills and personality for sales positions. By assessing candidates' skills and personality traits, you can avoid potential sales rep problems like:
It's best to assess your candidates' sales skills early in the recruiting and vetting process. You can use pre-employment tests to help identify candidates with the right skills and personality, then focus your interviewing process on them. The test results can also be used to develop more personalized and insightful interview questions.
The following Hire Success® pre-employment tests can be used to assess candidates' knowledge of the sales process and identify the character traits most vital to success in the role.
Identify candidates with the right personality traits for a sales rep position, such as effective communication skills and high emotional intelligence.
Assess your candidates' skills in several foundational subjects, including spelling, grammar, vocabulary, and basic math.
Create a custom test for your sales rep candidates that's specific to your industry, work environment, and company culture.
Highly effective sales reps are in high demand, so being able to speed up your initial assessment and put your energy into the best candidates improves your chances of hiring the right people. So much of your company's reputation and bottom line rests on your ability to hire an effective sales team. Testing for sales aptitude can uncover the high performers and reduce the risks of making a hiring mistake.