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Results Based on Data

We often hire people we like and whom we hope CAN sell. Instead we need to hire and develop people who WILL sell.

Sales is hard...and getting harder. In complex, high-ticket, long sell cycle sales like capital equipment large buying teams, and myriad competing priorities require highly-skilled sales talent.

Yet too often decisions are made on gut feeling, outdated skill profiles and likeability. Emotion drives these critical business choices...and then sometimes a personality or behavioral screening is used to justify the choice.

Here's an alternative. Hire, retain, train, and reward the minority of salespeople who will sell your products in today's market. That is your obligation to your company.

Certainly technical knowledge and industry experience are important....in sales engineers. Those attributes are secondary to real sales skills.

It's past time to reclaim control of this critical business function. Demand accountability and superb performance across all the revenue roles that are part of today's teams - field sales, inside sales, customer service, marketing, and sales leadership and management.

Stop losing money to poor lead follow-up, low productivity, margin erosion, and missed opportunities - all symptoms of average sales teams.

today's sales force includes many different roles that sales force testing must assess effectively. sales evaluations and candidate assessments can help sales leaders and sales management find the right sales reps who will increase sales productivity of the the sales organization.

A Properly Engineered Sales Force

Capital equipment and industrial sales have used a simple model: field salespeople reporting to sales managers who processed their call reports and expenses and submitted forecasts.

Today sales organizations are more complex. Sales Managers report to VPs of sales. Inside sales may report to a different set of managers. BDRs (business development reps) may report to marketing. And marketing, while not strictly sales, has to create campaigns that will sell virtually and in parallel with their colleagues.

At the same time, buying teams and buying journeys are more complex, and new sales skills are necessary to deliver results.

That requires more than behavioral preference or personality testing. Sure, you want a collegial team. But more importantly, you want one that is proficient in each of the distinct functions.

Sales force testing should account for each unique revenue role, evaluate accordingly, and aggregate them into an actionable management overview.

every company should recruit every day and sales candidate assessments make that manageable. sales executives should never hesitate to address underperforming sales reps because they don't have time to recruit a replacement sales rep.

Recruiting is a Neverending Process

Things change. 

  • Market conditions
  • Skills required
  • Motivation and energy level
  • Your products and revenue model
  • Company needs and expectations
  • Sometimes a salesperson's family obligations uproot and move them
  • Sadly, serious illnesses and accidents can strike suddenly

In a perfect world, you'd hire top talent for a lifetime and they'd perform year after year. In the real world you need to continuously look for top talent. If you wait to recruit until you have a gap, you've accepted lengthy periods of non-performance from a territory.

The reason companies don't do this is simple. Hiring sales roles is a crap shoot. (That's what happens when you screen for personality!)

The solution is to constantly recruit and assess, allowing proven technology to churn through large volumes of applicants to find the very rare diamonds.

That's what we do with Sales Candidate Assessments.

data and science are the foundation of accurate sales force testing. predictively accurate sales candidate assessments and sales rep evaluations can improve hiring and guide sales coaching and sales training around sales processes to shorten the sales cycle and help in closing deals

Measure Sales People on Skills and Attributes

While all your employees must comply with your company's ethical, moral, and cultural expectations, they don't have to be friends. Collegial and supportive personalities are great, but you're not hiring sales talent to for friendship.

Sales success can be successfully predicted by data, when the methodology considers certain attributes of the company, market and products.

But make no mistake - evaluating your current team and prospective candidates requires a dispassionate foundation of data and science. 

That delivers results:

  • 92% of recommended and hired candidates reached to top half of the sales force within six months
  • 75% of candidates that were not recommended, but hired anyway, failed within six months

Many companies use personality and behavioral tests to supplement data-based sales force testing. That's sensible.

Just make sure that your testing methodology is based on a sound technical manual and proven reliability.

 

sales force testing should provide aggregate and individual insights to empower sales management and sales leaders to improve sales, increase productivity, and drive a company's success.

Insights and Data to Help You Manage

Today's complex sales environment requires that you have both the high-level management perspective to optimize the revenue growth function and specific details on the strengths and weaknesses of each leader, manager, and contributor.

So our model delivers.

You'll receive insights into each role (e.g. how effective and consistent are your VPs at coaching sales managers, and how effective are your reps at overcoming objections) and detailed information on each person in their role.

This combination provides the information you need to improve team performance, tailor group and individual training maximize impact, and make informed personnel decisions based on factors that contribute to consistent quota attainment.

You'll also have metrics on your recruiting results to help optimize all aspects of that effort.

MEET & LEARN MORE

An Approach Based on Science and Business

Consilium relies on the accuracy, insight and continuous refinement of the Objective Management Group's sales evaluations and candidate assessments.

We've seen OMG's approach work and watched the improvement since 1992.

OMG is the original sales assessment and remains sales-specific (not another test adapted for sales.) 

It provides the rigorous, factual insights that our clients expect. The kind of data-based information that they rely on to manage other aspects of their business from engineering to production and finance.

 

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Guaranteed Actionable

Candidate assessments packed with actionable data.

Hire and onboard effectively.

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Focused Training

Even top performers need coaching and training. 

Sales force testing connects the right training with the right people.

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Science Based

Most screenings are about feelings. Granted, they're important.

But purpose built sales testing is necessary.

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Sales Effectiveness and Improvement Analysis

A full team overview packed with management, leadership, contributor, organizational & process insights.

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Platform & Integrations

Tracking high-volumes of sales candidate assessments is simplified with an intuitive platform, email updates and integrations with applicant tracking systems.

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Do you sell as well as you design & build at your company?

 

You may want to talk to Ed.

LEARN MORE
accurate and predictive sales candidate assessments and sales team evaluations will help to hire better sales reps and boost the sales productivity of an existing team. We measure their effectiveness with common sales tools and accurately predict sales performance to guide sales training, improve sales and grow revenue.

Sales Force Testing & Process for Companies Like Yours

There is no substitute for strong, capable, consistent and reliable sales.

Sales is an integral element of our Overall Revenue Effectiveness™ approach. All the marketing best practices in the world won't make a difference if your sales team can't sell. Lead generation and digital marketing - even trade shows - depend on sales effectiveness.

That's why it's critical to include a sober, clear-eyed assessment of your entire revenue growth team; to consistently recruit great talent that's been rigorously screened; and to match your sales process to the details of the market and buying journey.

LEARN MORE

Additional Resources

Whitepaper - The Science of Sales Effectiveness

What makes top producers effective? What prevents others from selling?

This whitepaper answers both those questions with science. (OMG download)

Whitepaper - The Science Behind Salesforce Excellence

What's the best organization structure for today's markets?

This whitepaper recaps a study of various market approaches (OMG download.)

Recruiting Process Grader
FREE Recruiting Process Grader
What's the difference between evaluation and assessment?

Evaluations are conducted on your current revenue growth team (Sales VP, sales manager, field sales, inside sales, customer service & marketing) to create an overview of the organization in addition to granular detail on each contributor.

Assessments are for recruiting and screening candidates and a license entitles your firm to unlimited screenings for a specific number of hires, variety of job roles and duration.

Maximizing Sales Force Productivity

Using accurate and predictive evaluations to hire and train top sales talent

To boost sales force productivity, it is crucial to understand and implement sales team evaluations effectively. These evaluations can be a game-changer for companies looking to improve sales productivity and drive growth by hiring better candidates, aligning current team members with the optimal roles for their capabilities, and helping managers coach and train reps to reach their maximum potential.

Enhancing Sales Productivity with Targeted Assessments

Sales team productivity is often hindered by a lack of clarity on what drives effective sales engagement. By conducting thorough evaluations, business leaders can identify specific skills that need development and areas where sales reps can improve. This tailored approach ensures that each member of the team is equipped to handle prospective customers efficiently and effectively.

Accurate and predictive sales candidate assessments and sales team evaluations can identify root causes of frustrating symptoms.

Sales Enablement through Customer Data Analysis

In today's data-driven selling environment, customer data is a goldmine for improving sales productivity. Sales team evaluations should focus on how sales reps utilize and interpret this data to understand and serve customers better. By leveraging this information, sales teams can identify high-value opportunities and focus their efforts where they are most likely to yield results.

Streamlining Processes to Focus on Core Selling Activities

A significant challenge in driving sales productivity is the time spent on administrative tasks, repetitive tasks, and data entry. Evaluations can help identify reps who are efficient in time allocation and work well with limited supervision so that non-selling activities don't consume excessive time. Implementing tools for sales enablement can automate these tasks, allowing sales reps to devote more time to engaging with customers and pursuing new business.

Collaborative Approach with Business Partners

Effective sales team evaluations involve collaboration with business partners like sales channel and other departments. This approach ensures that sales reps are not working in silos but are integrated into the broader business strategy. It also helps in understanding the needs of the customer base from multiple perspectives, leading to more effective sales strategies.

Identifying Leading Indicators of Success

Sales evaluations should identify reps with strength in areas that are leading indicators of success. This includes measuring forecast accuracy, customer engagement levels, and the ability to identify and capitalize on high-value opportunities. By focusing on these indicators, sales teams can adjust their strategies in real-time, staying ahead of market trends and customer needs.

Focusing on Specific Skills for Customer Engagement

Improving sales productivity is not just about increasing the number of sales calls or meetings. It's about enhancing the quality of each engagement. Sales team evaluations should assess how effectively sales reps communicate with customers, understand their needs, and provide solutions. This focus on specific skills leads to more meaningful interactions with prospective customers and, ultimately, to successful sales outcomes.

Expanding the Customer Base and Generating New Business

A key aspect of sales team productivity is the ability to expand the customer base and generate new business. Evaluations can highlight the strategies and tactics that are most effective in attracting new customers. This includes understanding the customer journey, tailoring the sales approach to different customer segments, and leveraging customer data for targeted outreach.

Reducing Time Spent on Non-Selling Activities

One of the most direct ways to improve sales productivity is by reducing the time sales reps spend on non-selling activities. This includes administrative tasks, data entry, and other repetitive tasks. By streamlining these processes, either through technology or process improvement, sales reps can spend more time engaging with customers and closing deals.

Enhancing sales force productivity requires a comprehensive approach that includes evaluating and improving sales competencies and specific skills, leveraging customer data for data-driven selling, streamlining non-core activities, and fostering collaboration with business partners. By focusing on these areas, business leaders can ensure their sales teams are well-equipped to meet the demands of the modern sales environment, ultimately driving growth and success.

Whitepaper - The Science of Salesperson Selection

Understand the research, data, evidence and insights that make OMG's methodology 91% accurate.

This whitepaper covers it all (OMG download.)

Sales Process Grader
FREE Sales Process Grader
Learn About Sales Force Evaluations

What can a sales force evaluation uncover?

Dave Kurlan provides a detailed overview.

What if we already have a sales trainer?

There must be a reason you're here, considering other options.

A necessary precursor of effective training is to understand that current situation. 

That's where we start, and you're probably wondering why you haven't before.

Besides, we're not sales trainers. We focus on strategy, process, organization, etc - and often refer companies to specific sales trainers as necessary.

Is it possible some of your revenue uncertainty is due to your sales team? Schedule a meeting with Ed.