menuMENU

Category: Sales Managers

Sales Call Reluctance Testing

 

Sales Call Reluctance is a term used to describe a hesitation to make sales calls, either in person or over the phone. It can be a common challenge for sales professionals, as making sales calls can be intimidating or uncomfortable for some people.

Testing for Sales Call Reluctance can help identify any underlying issues or concerns contributing to an individual’s reluctance to make sales call. It can provide insight into how to overcome these challenges. For example, the Sales Call Reluctance test may help identify any specific fears or anxiety that an individual may have about making sales calls or may reveal any negative beliefs or thought patterns that may impact their performance.

Testing for Sales Call Reluctance can be helpful for individuals struggling to make sales calls effectively, as well as for organizations looking to improve their sales performance.

It is a BIG mistake to hire “seasoned” salespeople without running a SPQ assessment

Received a call from another very sad sales manager who hired a seasoned salesperson from a similar industry to sell his products and the salesperson is completely failing.

Just because someone has 30 years “selling” experience does not mean they will be successful in a new dynamic

Research shows that some top producing salespeople are simply good account managers.  They keep selling to their current customers, meeting their goals and everyone is happy.  It may have been years since they did any active prospecting for new customers.  They do not identify with being account developers.

What is the cost of onboarding a new sales person in time and money? For a nominal fee, what do you have to lose in assessing your seasoned sales candidate?

 

How do you know if your sales candidate is motivated and is "willing" to prospect?

In addition to measuring the 12 types of Sales Call Reluctance, the SPQ Gold sales test will tell you whether your candidate is willing to and wants to prospect. Willingness is directly related to your candidate’s buy-in and motivation. It is the “why” behind what is important to your candidate. There are salespeople who are not connected to “why” they want to sell and succeed. This usually means that they are short-term oriented. They are lacking the fire in the belly. With these type of salespeople we recommend that the manager check in daily and monitor activities if you choose to hire them.

Pre-employment sales tests measures whether your candidate is coachable.

Recently a client had a candidate take the SPQ Gold, the only assessment in the world that measures Sales Call Reluctance.  In reviewing the results, I asked her “how are you at managing someone who may have a chip on their shoulder?”   She replied, “Wow, this is so interesting.  I actually called him out during the interview about his ability to start at ground zero and learn our process.”  The more she thought about her interview and the SPQ Gold results, the clearer it became that this candidate would not be easy to manage.  She remembered awkward parts in the interview where he was actually chuckling inappropriately.

The SPQ Gold measures oppositional behavior.  Some managers are equipped and skilled to manage this type of behavior and others are not.  Oppositional behavior is one of the 12 types of call reluctance that keeps people from prospecting.  They get angry at the prospects or they hold it together while they are conversing with the prospect, but slam down the phone and go into a tirade, disrupting everyone around them. 

Connie Kadansky, 602-380-5431, helps employers hire salespeople who can and will prospect.  Call her today and request a sample of the SPQ Gold pre-employment sales test.

Pre-employment sales test: SPQ Gold measures Sales Call Reluctance

Recently an employer tested one of his sales candidates with the SPQ Gold Assessment.  The candidate was a veteran of 30 year in the industry.  However, the new position was a very different dynamic.  What came out of the assessment that the candidate was highly motivated!  However, she tested with high hyper pro call reluctance.  Here are some of the behaviors that can show up on the sales call with people who have hyper pro call reluctance:

May sound snobbish;

Shows/demonstrates he/she is the expert and not the prospect;

Poor listener;

Answers questions that are not being asked;

May have argumentative tone to voice; may sound defensive or sarcastic when questioned by prospect;

Uses lots of highly professional jargon and buzzwords;

Talks more than the prospect and don’t ask questions, always “tells.”

This type of behavior is important to consider because often the person isn’t aware of their behavior.  It’s a blindspot.  Will this behavior be a show stopper?  Maybe not.  However, in certain positions possibly yes, especially if the job requires empathetic listening in order to move the sale along.

Connie Kadansky helps employers ascertain whether their sales candidates will succeed in the position.  connie@exceptionalsales.com or 602-380-5431

Pre-employment sales test SPQ Gold will tell you whether your candidate is a self-promoter!

How can any salesperson create consistent sales if they are not willing to let people know about their product or service?  If nobody knows, nobody buys.

The SPQ Gold pre-employment sales test measures Sales Call Reluctance, which is the emotional hesitation to prospect and self-promote.  Effective self-promoters understand that visibility in the marketplace is vital to their success.  They position themselves to work their current network and they are always looking for ways to develop new prospects.  They have a style that is unique to them so that prospects remember them.  They understand that doing the right activities over and over again will put them in the top percentile of successful salespeople.

The SPQ Gold pre-employment sales test will tell you whether you candidate has the psychological and physical energy to prospect.  It will also tell you whether they have a strong emotional connection to their goals.

Call Connie Kadansky now at 602-380-5431 or email connie@exceptionalsales.com and request a sample copy of the SPQ Gold pre-employment sales test report or quickly review four case studies.  https://www.salesassessmenttesting.com/case-studies/

How much is too much? Assertive or Aggressive?

How do you know whether the candidate you are interviewing right now will be assertive enough to engage prospects and close the sale?  Assertive is defined as “confident and direct in claiming one’s rights or putting forward one’s views.  Given to making assertions or bold demands.”   To succeed in sales, assertiveness is required in most dynamics.

The #1 type of Sales Call Reluctance that is most costly is Yielder Call Reluctance.  The yielder is someone who wants to be friendly and folksy.  They don’t want to be pushy or intrusive.  They are good people who find it difficult to create the tension that moves their prospect from Current Reality to Desired Result.  They deviate from their process. They are sensitive to the tone of the prospect and yield to what is in their best interest.  They allow the prospect to take control of the sales call.  When selling, they say “okay” when the prospect says “I need to think it over.”

The SPQ Gold assessment will tell you whether your candidate will be assertive enough to engage prospects and close the sale.

Connie Kadansky, Sales Call Reluctance trainer and coach, provides the only assessment in the world that measures Sales Call Reluctance.  She personally interprets the results of the assessment and provides you with strategic follow through questions that shine the light in areas of costly concern.  How much does it cost to hire a salesperson who is not assertive in moving the sale forward?

What is the emotional capacity of your candidate to see through complexity?

The SPQ Assessment measures your candidate’s ability to see through frustration and complexity.  This can be a very important measurement.  If your position is transactional, they may not need to have a high degree of emotional capacity to see through complexity.  However, if you have a long, complicated sales cycle, how important is it to know that your candidate has the emotional ability to see the sale through from prospect to customer?  This measurement on the SPQ is “problem solving.”  It is not measuring IQ or ability to solve problems, it is as stated above.

Connie Kadansky, MA, PCC, helps employers take the guesswork out of hiring salespeople with the only assessment in the world that measures Sales Call Reluctance.  602-380-5431 or connie@exceptionalsales.com

Selling requires assertive behavior!

Yielder Call Reluctance is the #1 type of Call Reluctance and the most costly.  Yielders are friendly, sociable people who want to be liked and approved of.  They don’t like making people uncomfortable.  They don’t like conflict.  Let’s face it, moving prospects from Current Reality to Desire Result requires “tension” most of the time.  Rarely are there slam dunk sales stories.

Michael Goodman, Sales Trainer Extraordinare has a great blog that I recommend you check out.  https://speakingofsales.typepad.com/salessquawk/

Michael reminds us that no other profession in the world carriers with it the most regular opportunities for conflict with other humans on a daily basis under normal conditions.  Even our soldiers, who face conflict regularly, have long lulls between wars and battles.  If a salesperson is not comfortable with a conflict, they are not effective.

If you want to make sure that you do not hire salespeople who suffer from high levels of Yielder Sales Call Reluctance, recommend you assess them prior to hire by using the SPQ Gold assessment, the only assessment in the world that measures Sales Call Reluctance.

Connie Kadansky, MA, PCC, Sales Call Reluctance coach and trainer, will help you take the guesswork out of hiring salespeople who will not prospect consistently.  602-380-5431 or connie@exceptionalsales.com

Webinar for Hiring Authorities: Assess for Sales Call Reluctance PRIOR to hiring!

Click on the above link.  Windows Media Player is required.  This is a 15.09 minute webinar that gives an overview of the Sales Call Reluctance assessment, the only assessment in the world that measures Sales Call Reluctance.  (There is a slight 3-4 second delay with a blank screen before the powerpoint shows up.)

Agenda:

Basic Sales Model

Single Best Predictor of Sales Success

Two Ways to View Prospecting

Types of Sales Call Reluctance

How to Administer the SPQ Gold assessment

Importance of follow through questions

Any unanswered questions you may have are welcome!   Please contact me at 602-380-5431.

Connie Kadansky, M.A., PCC, Sales Call Reluctance Coach, helping hiring authorities hire salespeople who will prospect consistently and comfortably.  Please call with questions 602-380-5431 or connie@exceptionalsales.com