(SalesAP) Sales Achievement Predictor

BY JOTHAM FRIEDLAND, PHD, SANDER MARCUS, PHD, AND HARVEY MANDEL, PHD

Measure Traits Critical to Sales Success

With the Sales Achievement Predictor (SalesAP), you no longer have to wait 6 months or longer to find out whether a new hire will succeed. This unique inventory measures traits that are critical to success in sales—and in related fields such as customer service, sales management, marketing, and public relations.    

Many things are not apparent in an interview or resume—inhibitions about cold calling, reluctance to ask for a sale, or poor motivation to follow through once on the job. The SalesAP will pick up these traits. Validated against actual sales performance, the SalesAP helps industrial psychologists, human resource professionals, sales managers, and business owners select, place, and train salespeople. And it meets all EEOC guidelines. 

Predict Sales Performance

Composed of 140 items and written at a sixth-grade reading level, the SalesAP can be completed by anyone over the age of 14. Applicants can take it on your PC or on a paper-and-pencil answer sheet. You can score the test on your computer and get an interpretive report that gives the applicant one of three clear-cut ratings:

• Highly recommended for sales

• Recommended with areas that could be improved

• Not recommended for sales

The report also shows the individual’s percentile rank on the following scales:

Sales Disposition

Initiative/Cold Calling

Sales Closing

Achievement

Motivation

Competitiveness

Planning

Initiative

Teamwork

Managerial Style

Assertiveness

Personal Diplomacy

Extroversion

Patience

Cooperativeness

Self-Confidence

Relaxed Style

Goal Orientation 

Validity scales identify applicants who are exaggerating strengths or minimizing weaknesses—and the scores of those applicants are automatically adjusted. In addition, the report includes recommendations for training and motivation. If you like, this section can be removed and shared with the individual who is being evaluated.

Determine Sales Motivation and Follow-Through

While other sales tests attempt to tell you whether applicants can sell, the SalesAP tells you whether they will sell. It stresses sales motivation, identifying individuals who will actually follow through once they’ve got the job. And it makes a clear distinction between cold-calling and closing skills—helping you place salespeople where they’ll do the most good.    

You can use the SalesAP not only to predict sales success but also to find out why your current salespeople are not working up to their potential, how to motivate them, and how to supervise them more effectively.