As used here the term tests refers to a procedure , techniques or measurement instrument for ascertaining characteristics such as aptitudes capabilities , intelligence , knowledge , skills or personality . Sales managers may approach the testing process in any one of several ways. They may decide the following
- Not to use tests
- To administer tests and interpret the results themselves
- To administer tests and have someone else interpret the results
- To turn the testing over to consulting industrial psychologists
Sales managers should have the ability to judge the value of tests whether or not they ever use them.
The majority of sales managers use tests as only one part of selection process. The purpose of testing is to determine whether applicants have the traits the company feels leads to selling successfully. In turn, this results in Advantages such as lower turnover and increased performance.
Types of Tests
Four types of psychological tests are used in selection systems for sales personnel:
- Tests of ability measure how well a person can perform particular tasks with maximum motivation (tests of best performance).
- Tests of habitual characteristics gauge how prospective employees act in their daily work normally (tests of typical performance).
- Interest test measures an individual’s interest in a particular type of job.
- Achievement tests measure how much individuals have learned from their experience, training, or education.
Tests of Ability
Tests of ability include tests of mental ability (intelligence tests) and tests of special abilities (aptitude tests). Tests of mental ability, or intelligence tests, are used in a wide range of applications and have higher validity and reliability than most psychological tests. However, they measure primarily abilities that make for success in educational or training situations, namely, language usage and comprehension, and abstract reasoning or problem-solving ability. They do not measure creativeness, originality, or insight. They are measures of mental aptitude, not of general intelligence. Because tests of mental ability are timed tests, they indicate an applicant’s ability to learn quickly and to arrive at accurate answers under pressure.
Where there is no other evidence of ability, such as graduation from college, the test of mental ability serves as a screen to eliminate applicants falling below a predetermined level. A wide variety of mental ability -tests- is available.
Certain tests measure special abilities or aptitudes, such as spatial and perceptual abilities, speed and reaction time, steadiness and controlled movement, mechanical comprehension, and artistic abilities. Aptitude tests used individually aid in making selection for some industrial jobs, as illustrated, by the use of perception tests in selecting clerical personnel. But because selling requires diverse aptitudes, and sales job specifications differ even among competing companies, an especially designed battery of aptitude tests is needed for sales personnel. The procedure for developing a battery of sales aptitude tests is straightforward. The test expert begins with the job specifications (derived, as you will recall, from the job description), checking them to assure that the abilities required for job performance are correctly identified. Then the expert selects existing tests and/or constructs new tests to measure each aptitude. Finally, the test expert develops a scheme for weighting and combining the scores of individual tests.
Empathy and ego drive are essential in good salespeople. Empathy is the ability to feel as others do, to put oneself in another person’s shoes. The empathetic salesperson senses the reactions of customers and adjusts to these reactions. Ego drive makes the salesperson want to make the sale in a personal way. The salespersons self-picture improves by virtue of conquest and diminishes with failure. The good salesperson has a proper balance between empathy and ego drive.
Tests of Habitual Characteristics
These include attitude, personality, and interest tests. Attitude tests are more appropriate as morale-measuring techniques than as selection aids. They ascertain employees’ feelings toward working conditions, pay, advancement opportunities, and the like. Used as sales personnel selection’ devices” they identify abnormal attitudes on such broad subjects as big business, labor unions, and government. Their validity is questionable, since people often profess socially acceptable attitudes they do not actually have. Attitude tests do not measure the intensity with which particular attitudes are held.
Personality tests initially were used to identify people with psychotic tendencies and certain tests are useful for this purpose. Subsequently, some have been used for measuring personality traits in normal individuals, or which purpose they have little or no validity or reliability. The basic limitation is the lack of uniform definition for such traits as initiative or aggressiveness. The chief use of the personality test is as a screening device to identify persons with abnormal personalities.
Interest Tests: A basic assumption implicit in the use of interest tests are that a relationship exists between interest and motivation Hence, if two persons have equal ability, the one with the greater interest in a particular job should be more successful in that job. A second implicit assumption is that interests are constant, that those of a person at age forty are the same as they were at twenty one.
The interest test is useful for vocational guidance, but it is not a satisfactory selection device. This is because of the opportunity for faking responses individuals may select answers overstating their interest in a particular field.
What proof is there that interest tests help in predicting selling success? Unfortunately, very little! Strong demonstrated that there is a positive but low correlation between interest scores and success in insurance selling. Significant variation has also been found in the interest test scores of successful and unsuccessful salespersons of accounting machines. Otherwise, there is little proof of the value of interest tests as devices for predicting selling success.
Achievement Tests: Achievement tests seek to determine how much individuals know about a subject. Few standardized achievement tests are used by industry, because special job skills require different knowledge. Tests of clerical and stenographic ability are one exception, and civil service examinations are another. For the employer custom designing a test for sales applicants, achievement tests can assess the knowledge applicants possess in such areas as the product, marketing channels, and customer relations. However, as with other psychological tests, test designing is a job for an expert, not an amateur.
Conclusions on Testing: Besides the legal requirements that tests must not be used in ways that discriminate, there are other precautions to observe when incorporating psychology tests into a sales personnel selection system. It is essential to have accurate job specifications, derived from up to date and completes job descriptions. A qualified expert’s services are required in selecting tests and in devising new ones when, necessary, in determining test validity and in detecting differential validity, in administering the tests themselves, and in interpreting the result. Effective scales executives recognize that psychological testing, although capable of making a valuable contribution, is but one step in a selection system.
