Sales Aptitude’s Importance in Successful B2B Sales Training

It is an indisputable fact that professional business sales training produces better salespeople, bigger profits, and happier staff in the majority of the cases where it is implemented.

In cases where it falls down, one reason this might occur is due to a misalignment between the skills being taught and the natural aptitude of the persons being trained.

Spending time and resources on those with little inherent talent for sales will produce better results than no training at all, but experience has repeatedly shown that they will rarely reach the level of achievement of those born with “it.”

So how does one determine who should receive business sales training and who would be better suited for a different role?

The answer is sales aptitude assessments.

The Craft Personality Questionnaire (CPQ)

The CPQ is a tool for determining the appropriateness of sales personnel for their given roles. Why is it so important?

• It is estimated that the cost of hiring the wrong person in a B2B sales position can reach six figures in the first year. The CPQ helps avoid these costly hiring mistakes.
• Even in top-producing companies, over one-third of the sales force lacks the aptitude to reliably achieve acceptable results. The CPQ helps identify individuals like this so their roles can be adjusted.
• The test measures aptitude for the most common sales, leadership and administrative positions on a scale of 0 to 50. Results include an easy-to-digest description of personality types, strengths, and weaknesses, and a guide in how to coach each person to maximize sales and results.
• The CPQ can be used to assess talent for over 30 different sales roles, including sales manager; inside salesperson; outside salesperson; and customer service representative.
• Identifying potential top performers early and focusing attention on them can foster their loyalty and make them raving fans, which in turn will attract other top performers searching for greener pastures.

Impact on Sales Training

Aptitude assessment training, and placing the right people in the right roles, also improves business sales training effectiveness and ROI. While a small number of people might be able to adapt, trying to make a Sales Hunter out of someone who is naturally a Sales Farmer through training is a losing proposition in most cases — this is how millions of sales training dollars are wasted annually.

The correct approach is to reinforce the natural talent which is already present and fine-tune the skills needed for each sales role:

• Those suited for outside sales positions might have an extra emphasis placed on prospecting, face-to-face presentations, and developing coaches.
• In contrast, inside sales people might concentrate on customer care and account management services, as well as capitalizing on cross selling opportunities.
• Those identified as good candidates for management and executive positions would be well-served with training on strategic planning, developing formal sales processes, team building, and high-level negotiations.

ASHER Strategies offers the CPQ Assessment 24 hours a day online. Use it to help place your people in the right roles and utilize your business sales training dollars more effectively.