More than any other department, poor performance from the sales team can sink a small-to-medium sized business. Studies peg the average tenure of a salesperson at six months - the type of turnover that costs a company time and money, and weakens its ability to serve clients well. An important tool for evaluating potential sales people, according to ActionCOACH Marketing Director Jodie Shaw, are personality and behavioral assessments.
“While everyone is certainly unique and special in their own way,” Shaw said, “we are also all very similar and share many common characteristics. We recommend that clients perform DISC (Dominance – Influence – Stability – Conscientiousness)
Studies have shown that successful salespeople indicate very strongly in the Influence and Dominance quadrants of the DISC model. Inversely, they score lower in the Stability and Conscientiousness quadrants, which will require that the company provide organization, management, and support for their activity. Here are the descriptors within the Influence and Dominance quadrants that are important:
Influence
• Social and verbal aggressiveness
• Optimism
• Persuasiveness
• Macro-
• People-
• Team player
Dominance
• Problem solving
• Results driven
• Positive thinker
• Powerful and authoritative
These are critical characteristics for sales success; however, the sales personality also exhibits these limitations:
• impulsiveness
• unrealistic in appraising people
• lack of attention to detail
• disorganized
For sales managers, these indicators mean that successful sales reps will require assistance with follow-through and organization. Being team-oriented, they expect support staff to assume tasks they are not well prepared to execute. Personalities high in Influence and Dominance do not work well with excessive rules or regulations, or in companies that tend to limit their flexibility and mobility.
When interviewing sales candidates, use DISC analysis to select team-oriented people who show a genuine concern for others. They must be able to build and maintain client relationships. They must be ‘take charge’ types who can solve client problems, and they should be positive but authoritative. By doing so, small business owners will end up with a new hire that will relate well to customers and serve as the trusted liaison between the company and its clients. The result will be satisfied, long-term clients that ensure the company achieves its sales goals.
