September 6th, 2010
On the SPQ Gold Sales Call Reluctance assessment, there is a measurement that will reveal whether your sales candidate will fully commit to the answers they give or whether they will hedge. George Dudley and Shannon Goodson, world-renowned behavioral scientists found through their research of salespeople over the past 30+ years, that the top producers will give committed, definitive answers on assessments.
Further, in comparing the very top producers and the very low producers, the hedging score was #1 in the differences of the two.
Fear is tucked away in hedging. If a sales candidate is hedging, they are attempting to consciously or subconsciously hide some type of fear.
How valuable would a pre-hire assessment be to you if it revealed strengths as well as self-imposed limitations?
Connie Kadansky, Sales Call Reluctance coach, helps employers take the guesswork out of hiring salespeople. Call her today at 602-997-1101 or email her at connie@exceptionalsales.com
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September 3rd, 2010
Billy whispers “My daddy is so strong he can lift a horse.” Drew replies “Oh yeah, prove it.”
Excellent salespeople are persuaders. They love to influence people and to get prospects to say “yes.” When you are interviewing sales candidates, how do you know when someone is exaggerating and embellishing? Most salespeople are disciplined enough and honest enough not to stretch the truth too far. . . however, when it comes to asking them about their past performance and their prospecting, I encourage you to get objective proof of past performance.
The SPQ Gold assessment has a measurement for impression management. It lets you know whether your sales candidate is attempting to spin the assessment and look a little bit better on paper than they may do prospecting.
Connie Kadansky, Sales Call Reluctance Coach helps employers find out if their sales candidates are likely to prospect consistently. connie@exceptionalsales.com or 602-997-1101
Connie is conducting a free webinar on the Inner Game of Prospecting: How to Overcome Sales Call Reluctance on September 22, 2010 at 9:00 a.m. pacific time. Please email her for an invitation. She will be covering the SPQ Gold Assessment.
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August 31st, 2010
Bring to mind the last sales candidate you interviewed. Did he/she move the interviewing process along? How did they close the “sale”? What you experienced is likely how they would interact with your prospective customers if you hire them. Yielder Sales Call Reluctance is the #1 type of Call Reluctance and the most costly. The sales candidate who yields what is in their best interest, will likely yield to the assertive customer. Yielder type behavior shows up as being friendly, folksy and all about the relationship. Relationships are important, however, top salespeople discipline themselves to know that they don’t get a relationship bonus — they get paid when they make a sale.
How do you know the degree of yielder behavior when you are interviewing a candidate? Find out by giving them the SPQ Gold Assessment. You will find out if they will ask the tough qualifying questions, stay within their sales process and ask for the sale.
Connie Kadansky, Sales Call Reluctance coach helps employers take the guesswork out of hiring salespeople through the use of the SPQ Gold Assessment, the only assessment in the world that measures Sales Call Reluctance. connie@exceptionalsales.com 602-997-1101
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August 18th, 2010
Rick made a great first impression on his initial interview. He had the skills and experience to do the job. He said all the right things and answered the tough questions. Once he was hired, it became quite clear in the first week that he operated from chaos. He was not able to focus. He was constantly jumping from idea to idea in order to get moving. He fidgeted in meetings and was constantly on the phone to his family, friends, softball team, golf buddies, church group members, kid’s teachers, etc. etc.
The SPQ Gold has a goal diffusion measurement that will tell you how focused or scattered your sales candidate may be. This measurement may not make or break the “hire” if all other dynamics are in place, however, it is something you must know in order to coach and develop an individual to success.
Take the guesswork out of hiring salespeople and invest in the SPQ Gold assessment prior to hire.
Connie Kadansky helps employers hire salespeople who will prospect. connie@exceptionalsales.com, 602-997-1101
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July 3rd, 2010
A light bulb is nothing more than that unless it’s turned on! Every morning we all wake up with a certain amount of energy. Some salespeople have more than others. Some don’t have a full tank of gas. If they don’t have the physical and psychological energy to prospect — they won’t prospect. The SPQ Sales Call Reluctance assessment will also tell you whether the salesperson you are considering has enough energy to prospect consistently. It can be costly to hire someone who is “all talk and no action.”
Connie Kadansky, Sales Call Reluctance coach can help you hire salespeople who can and will prospect consistently. Call today 602-997-1101
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June 24th, 2010
Many years ago I read an article about Mr. Huntsman, a commercial building contractor from Utah. He disclosed that part of his interviewing process was to take a walk with anyone he was considering hiring. If the person sauntered along. . . he knew that person would not be a good fit for his organization. If they walked briskly and energetically, he was pleasantly impressed. Now obviously, he had other criteria. . . however, this was his final “test.”
Sales prospecting takes physical and psychological energy.
How do you know if the candidate you are interviewing has sufficient energy to sustain positive activities throughout the day?
Every day we all wake up with so much “gas in our gas tank.” Someone people just don’t come with a full tank of gas. The SPQ Gold will tell you about the “motivation” level — which is how much psychological and physical energy they have.
If salespeople experience Sales Call Reluctance, they are in fear and fear is physical. They leak energy that could be used for proactive sales prospecting into unproductive activities, like surfing the internet, building their prospect list . . . you know what I mean!
Can you afford to hire someone who does not come with a “full tank of gas?”
Connie Kadansky helps CEOs, sales VPs, sales managers from diverse industries hire salespeople who will prospect consistently.
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June 17th, 2010
Sales assessments are tools in the tool box. They are NOT the silver bullet the some assessment testing companies want you to believe.
With that said, the SPQ Gold assessment is extremely helpful to assist in your hiring decisions of salespeople, executive recruiters, financial advisors, any sales position that requires prospecting on a consistent basis. It can help you take some of the guesswork out of hiring salespeople.
Before you invest in any sales assessment, I recommend you request their scientific research on validity and reliability. The following is from Behavioral Sciences Research Press, the developers of the SPQ Gold Asssessment.
There are three areas of validity when it comes to sales assessments: 1) Content Validity: Are the questions reasonably related to a career in direct sales. Some assessments ask whether someone is afraid of fire and then makes a judgment on their fear of fire and whether they would be successful in sales. The content validity is questionable because it relies on making judgments. 2) Construct Validity is the ability of an assessment to reflect the underlying theoretical trait or characteristic of interest — research proves that during construction of the assessment there is a high degree of interpretative meaning, i.e. people who are have fear of speaking before groups score high on Stage Fright Call Reluctance. 3) Criterion Validity focuses on the relationship to test scores to one or more outcome measures criteria. Outcome criteria most often refers to job performance measures. In other words, “how accurate is the test in predicting job performance.” This is based on statistical results and socio-work culture context in which decisions are to be made.
If an assessment has past the rigors of psychometric testing, the developers will be happy to provide you with their technical and scientific material upon request.
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May 26th, 2010
SPQ Sample Report
An assessment is only one component of a thorough hiring process. I encourage my clients to assess their candidates after they have conducted a skill-based interview. Do they have the basic skills to do the job? Once the candidate has made it to second base — so to speak — then have them take the SPQ or the Sales Call Reluctance Assessment.
Many hiring authorities and sales managers use the SPQ as a coaching/training and development tool.
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May 20th, 2010
What exactly are you looking for in a salesperson? Someone who will consistently prospect? Or do you need a salesperson to work with your existing customers and keep them happy? If you truly are looking for an account developer — prospecting is paramount. You know that; right?
The fear of prospecting — or Sales Call Reluctance — is the fear of self-promotion. There are 12 ways that salespeople hesitate to prospect and self-promote. Some types are more costly than others. Yielder Call Reluctance is the most common and incredibly costly. Yielder call reluctance shows up in a salesperson who is not assertive in prospecting and/or moving the sale forward. They are the friendly folks who chit-chat and believe that the relationship is more important than the sale. Yielders do not control the process and they cave if a prospect pushes against them. How do you know if the candidate you are interviewing right now experiences Yielder Call Reluctance? Even if you are interviewing for an account manager — Yielder Call Reluctance can cost big bucks because they can also experience “Close Reluctance.” The SPQ test will shed light on the costly Yielder Sales Call Reluctance.
Notice if the candidate agrees with everything you say. . . that can be a small clue that they are approval seeking people pleasers.
Tags: assessing salespeople, fear of prospecting, sales call reluctance, yielder sales call reluctance
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April 29th, 2010
My favorite interview inquiry is: “Tell me about your first selling experience.” Go ahead ask someone who enjoys selling! They usually sit up and with great energy start talking about “selling rocks” or “selling newspaper subscriptions” or “selling girl scout cookies.” It is so much fun to hear the stories and their interpretation of early success.
When I was five-years old, my neighbor Irena who was a volunteer for Veterans of Foreign Wars, asked me to sell poppies on Veterans Day to “everyone” in the neighborhood. What a wonderful challenge. I remember knocking on doors and if no one was home, I would go back until they bought a poppy. When I gave Irena all the money plus tips, she was amazed and asked if I would sell more. Sure! I walked into the lobby of the car dealership in Coalville, Utah, and asked “who wants to buy a poppy?” I sold every poppy in one sales call. It was a thrill. Asking someone to buy and having them say “yes.”
On the other hand, ask someone who doesn’t particularly enjoy selling and usually their body language will say it all. Sometimes they take a deep breath or sigh and/or if not particularly disciplined — even groan.
Salespeople who enjoy the selling process are golden! They have what cannot be trained or coached into them — positive early memories that are wired into their brains.
Please start asking and share the comments! We want to hear from you!
Posted in Assessment Test, Coaching, Events, Performance, Results, SPQ Test, Sales Managers, Sales Team, Successes, Videos | 1 Comment »
Connie Kadansky, Sales Call Reluctance coach, helps employers take the guesswork out of hiring salespeople. Call her today at 602-997-1101 or email her at connie@exceptionalsales.com
