Exposed - Personality Tests Disguised as Sales Assessments
Exposed - Personality Tests Disguised as Sales Assessments
Many people are not going to like this article. I am about to expose the findings in personality based and behavioral based assessments that companies have been marketing as sales assessments for the last dozen years.
First, you'll need to read this piece, Personality Assessments for Sales - The Definitive Case Study. Really, you need to read it first!
There isn't a tremendous difference between personality assessments and behavioral styles assessments. Popular behavioral styles assessments, like the various versions of DISC, produce findings along 4 dimensions (categories) while some personality assessments, like those using the PF16 as their underlying instrument, can measure traits in as many as 16 dimensions.
But Personality Assessments and Behavioral Styles assessments are not predictive of sales performance. They don't conduct Predictive Validity studies as we do because their assessments don't predict. Instead they conduct Construct Validity studies, which only show to what extent an assessment measures a specific trait. And not the traits you want to know about, but the traits they can actually measure.
So here's the problem. Their marketing material usually says something like, "Salespeople must be able to Prospect, Question, Manage Objections and Close. They must have Product Knowledge. They must be accountable, have drive, be self starters and be coachable." You read those words and say, "yes, yes. That is exactly what we need." And the masquerade is on.
As I wrote in the other article, personality based sales assessments don't really measure what you need to know. Instead they report on what they can actually measure. In the table below, I'll list some of the most common "findings" in personality and behavioral styles tests that are marketed as sales assessments, describe what is really being measured, and compare that to what Objective Management Group (OMG) measures and reports.
I can't display a table on this site so here's a link back to the original article where you can view the table and read the rest of the article
If you are continuing to read here, following is the remainder of the article without the table:
Those are just some of the most common findings. Since OMG's Assessments are so sales specific, there are literally dozens of findings covering everything that can possibly happen in sales including, but not limited, to prospecting, closing, qualifying, account management, farming, use of the sales process, ability to handle stalls, put-offs, objections and work remotely, growth potential, development needs and more. What's most important to understand about assessments is that:
* the questions in the personality tests are asked in the context of social settings, not sales settings, so none of the findings are sales specific.
* Because the findings in personality assessments are not sales specific, they are not predictive.
* Personality assessments are generally one size fits all, without regard to your market, its challenges, your competition, your pricing, the resistance your salespeople will face, your compensation plan and how specific selling strengths and weaknesses will impact those conditions.
* Assessments of your existing salespeople should be useful for development. If you don't have sales specific findings, you are only developing them as people, not salespeople.
* How is OMG Different? Assessments are only a minor part of an effective sales force evaluation. The most important part is to be able to learn:
* What impact sales management is having on the salespeople
* Whether you've been hiring the right people
* Whether your sales force can execute your strategies
* Whether your systems and processes support the sales force
* How effective sales management is
* If you can develop more of a sales culture
* Whether the salespeople can make a transition like - account manager types to hunters and closers; presenters and quoters to consultative sales types; transactional sale to a solution sale; etc.
* Who can be developed?
* If you're attempting to down-size or right sales the sales force, who are the individuals that actually have the ability to help you do more with less?
* How much better can they get?
* What it will take?
* What the ROI on development would be
* Why you get the specific results you get
* What is the quality of your pipeline?
* Etc.
When used for Hiring and Selection, an assessment must be an accurate predictor of sales success for a particular sales role in your particular company, calling on your particular market, with its particular challenges and competition. A personality assessment won't consistently identify the people who will succeed while OMG's Assessment, with its 95% Predictive Validity, will. We can differentiate between Hirable (they meet our criteria and yours); Hirable - Ideal (they are hirable and they will ramp up more quickly than normal); and Hirable - Perfect (they are hirable ideal and they meet additional customized criteria that match up with your most effective producers).
In summary, whether you are using a personality assessment, behavioral styles assessment, psychological assessment, or psychometric (describes all of the above) assessment, it's the marketing that is sales specific, not the findings. Use them at your own risk.
Exposed Personality Tests Disguised as Sales Assessments - To learn more about this author, visit Dave Kurlan's Website.
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Yesterday, I met with a long-time client who, in his previous company, used OMG's Assessments to identify what needed to change in order to double revenue from $30 million to $60 million. In his new company, which is already about 12x that size, he wants to double revenue again. He said, "I just wasted two years with the _____ Assessment. The assessment he referred to was a personality assessment marketed as a sales assessment. It could have referred to any personality or behavioral styles assessment.
Many people are not going to like this article. I am about to expose the findings in personality based and behavioral based assessments that companies have been marketing as sales assessments for the last dozen years.
First, you'll need to read this piece, Personality Assessments for Sales - The Definitive Case Study. Really, you need to read it first!
There isn't a tremendous difference between personality assessments and behavioral styles assessments. Popular behavioral styles assessments, like the various versions of DISC, produce findings along 4 dimensions (categories) while some personality assessments, like those using the PF16 as their underlying instrument, can measure traits in as many as 16 dimensions.
But Personality Assessments and Behavioral Styles assessments are not predictive of sales performance. They don't conduct Predictive Validity studies as we do because their assessments don't predict. Instead they conduct Construct Validity studies, which only show to what extent an assessment measures a specific trait. And not the traits you want to know about, but the traits they can actually measure.
So here's the problem. Their marketing material usually says something like, "Salespeople must be able to Prospect, Question, Manage Objections and Close. They must have Product Knowledge. They must be accountable, have drive, be self starters and be coachable." You read those words and say, "yes, yes. That is exactly what we need." And the masquerade is on.
As I wrote in the other article, personality based sales assessments don't really measure what you need to know. Instead they report on what they can actually measure. In the table below, I'll list some of the most common "findings" in personality and behavioral styles tests that are marketed as sales assessments, describe what is really being measured, and compare that to what Objective Management Group (OMG) measures and reports.
I can't display a table on this site so here's a link back to the original article where you can view the table and read the rest of the article
If you are continuing to read here, following is the remainder of the article without the table:
Those are just some of the most common findings. Since OMG's Assessments are so sales specific, there are literally dozens of findings covering everything that can possibly happen in sales including, but not limited, to prospecting, closing, qualifying, account management, farming, use of the sales process, ability to handle stalls, put-offs, objections and work remotely, growth potential, development needs and more. What's most important to understand about assessments is that:
* the questions in the personality tests are asked in the context of social settings, not sales settings, so none of the findings are sales specific.
* Because the findings in personality assessments are not sales specific, they are not predictive.
* Personality assessments are generally one size fits all, without regard to your market, its challenges, your competition, your pricing, the resistance your salespeople will face, your compensation plan and how specific selling strengths and weaknesses will impact those conditions.
* Assessments of your existing salespeople should be useful for development. If you don't have sales specific findings, you are only developing them as people, not salespeople.
* How is OMG Different? Assessments are only a minor part of an effective sales force evaluation. The most important part is to be able to learn:
* What impact sales management is having on the salespeople
* Whether you've been hiring the right people
* Whether your sales force can execute your strategies
* Whether your systems and processes support the sales force
* How effective sales management is
* If you can develop more of a sales culture
* Whether the salespeople can make a transition like - account manager types to hunters and closers; presenters and quoters to consultative sales types; transactional sale to a solution sale; etc.
* Who can be developed?
* If you're attempting to down-size or right sales the sales force, who are the individuals that actually have the ability to help you do more with less?
* How much better can they get?
* What it will take?
* What the ROI on development would be
* Why you get the specific results you get
* What is the quality of your pipeline?
* Etc.
When used for Hiring and Selection, an assessment must be an accurate predictor of sales success for a particular sales role in your particular company, calling on your particular market, with its particular challenges and competition. A personality assessment won't consistently identify the people who will succeed while OMG's Assessment, with its 95% Predictive Validity, will. We can differentiate between Hirable (they meet our criteria and yours); Hirable - Ideal (they are hirable and they will ramp up more quickly than normal); and Hirable - Perfect (they are hirable ideal and they meet additional customized criteria that match up with your most effective producers).
In summary, whether you are using a personality assessment, behavioral styles assessment, psychological assessment, or psychometric (describes all of the above) assessment, it's the marketing that is sales specific, not the findings. Use them at your own risk.
Exposed Personality Tests Disguised as Sales Assessments - To learn more about this author, visit Dave Kurlan's Website.
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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