HR Chally is no stranger to evaluating employment candidates. The assessment and development firm has been testing prospective employees, with an emphasis on sales positions, for over 30 years. However, times have changed, and so has testing. According to CEO Howard Stevens, hiring evaluations should go beyond identifying personality traits; they should focus on predicting job performance. Testing needs to be more in-depth to root out the particularly good salespeople and the type of sales in which they’ll excel, says Stevens.

"Any position that is talent-based tends to be specialized," says Stevens. "Salespeople aren’t always interchangeable. It takes different skill sets to sell different products.

"Successful organizations are looking to get more refined information about candidates," says Stevens. "They’re not looking for shortcuts; they’re not relying on the down and dirty, quick tests because those tests don’t provide the detail they need to find the top talent."

Test result analysis is also becoming more sophisticated. Chally may give candidates the same tests, but the analysis will differ according to the sales position to be filled. Stevens points out that new-account hunters need different qualities than farmers of current accounts. Similarly, inside reps sell differently than outside ones, and that’s why Chally interprets test results differently for each type of assignment.

Before you look at results, Stevens suggests doing an in-depth job analysis, but instead of analyzing the characteristics of top superstars and why they succeed, analyze why people fail.

"Some superstar characteristics may be typical of people who like the job, not people who are good at it," he explains. "Look at the top golf pros. What do they have in common? It could be that they practice putting constantly, they hit over 100 balls a day, play in the rain, etc. Well, I do all those things, and I’m never going to be a professional golfer; however, I love golfing. It’s the same in sales. Someone who enjoys sales isn’t necessarily good at it.

"Studying the poor performers and finding out why they fail is just as important as finding out what the good guys are doing," says Stevens. "What we want to find out are the things that the bad guys can’t do that the good guys can do."

The last critical element in analyzing sales evaluations involves what Stevens calls "fake ability."

"If it’s obvious what the selection test is trying to measure, the smart candidates – not necessarily the best ones – will fake their answers so they look like good candidates," he says. "Some people think top salespeople necessarily exaggerate their strengths. But hundreds of validity studies show that applicants who fake answers seldom tend to be very good salespeople. I’d say that almost one-third of organizations are using instruments that are easy to fake."

Stevens recommends using evaluations that make it hard for candidates to figure out exactly what the hiring company is looking for in a salesperson. It must be scored by a system that isn’t obvious, such as the Chally test that contains validation checks to detect false answers.

Testing and sales recruiting go hand in hand, but in today’s tough market, it’s wise to go a step further. Look past personality traits and what makes a good salesperson – make the investment to find the right person for a particular position.

Recommended Reading

Great Salespeople Aren’t Born, They’re Hired: The Secrets To Hiring Top Sales Professionals, (Wbusiness Books, May, 2005) by Joseph Miller and Patrick Longo, is a resource for small business owners who want to hire and retain quality salespeople. The book guides readers through the recruitment process and helps them master it through real-life examples, step-by-step instructions, and role-playing. You can purchase this book at Barnes and Nobles Booksellers, Borders Bookstores, or online at www.amazon.com.

How To Hire & Develop Your Next Top Performer: The Five Qualities That Make Salespeople Great, (McGraw-Hill, 2003) by Herbert M. Greenberg, Harold Weinstein, and Patrick Sweeny, describes the five key qualities effective salespeople must have in today’s competitive marketplace: empathy, ego-drive, service motivation, conscientiousness, and ego-strength. The book offers guidance on job matching and team building as well as finding and keeping great salespeople. You can purchase this book at Borders Bookstores or online at www.amazon.com.