The concept of personality tests has been around for centuries, but it wasn’t until the 20th century that they became part of mainstream business testing. Some believe that it requires a certain type of person to be successful and the results of a sales personality test can provide a good indication that your candidate basically has what it takes to be good salesmen.
By using a Marston sales personality test often called a DISC test even those without any sales experience may show up as being a qualified candidate. The results of a quality test will reveal two distinct personality traits and the two styles they reveal:
- Natural style, which is their inner personality and what is natural for them;
- Adaptive style, which is how they adapt to fit their current situation
To better understand the traits it can be simplified by saying the person with a natural style is going to act how they would act and say what they will say regardless of their circumstance. A person with an adaptive style will act or say what they believe someone around them wants them to say or do. This sales personality test is often included in recruitment management software packages and should be one of the top choices when identifying potential top performers with the right salesperson profile.
The DISC test looks at the four basic aspects of a person’s personality including drive, influence, steadiness and compliance. Drive, often considered the ego drive, is usually presented with the can do attitude, such as ‘I can do this’ or ‘It’s up to me to get this done.’ Influence is the ability to convince others that something needs to be done by communicating in a way the other person is comfortable with.
A person’s steadiness is their willingness to work late, or arrive early to get the job done. Basically not willing to leave until the job is done and done right. Compliance is the person’s willingness to follow direction. Do they see directions as carved in stone and to be followed without question or do they see direction more as a guideline that is open for interpretation?
The results of a sales personality test can be very revealing and before you get started using them during job interviews it is important to understand how to interpret the outcome. Above all, if you want to hire the best salespeople you need to use this test to ensure you hire the right personality type for the position.
