September 11, 2020
On the extensive list of benefits of using the APQ Sales Aptitude Test, lies the many great financial payoffs. Saving money while making smart business decisions is a no-brainer. ... read more
August 12, 2020
You have probably been advised to “take a risk” or to just “wing it” at some point in your life. Although these approaches can be great at times, they are not among the best practices to use when hiring a new employee.... read more
August 7, 2020
The importance of teamwork has been stressed to us from a very young age. Working well with others is an extremely valuable skill and we learned this in school with group projects, participating in sports and various other activities.... read more
This might be surprising to some, sales managers are not mind readers! However, sales aptitude tests, like the APQ, can bring them quite close to this status. ... read more
July 9, 2020
The concept of a “unique selling proposition” (USP) is increasing in importance. If the buyer’s old decision making brain doesn’t see a clear difference between your company and the competition, price becomes the only discriminator. If your company has a strong USP, price does not enter the discussion.... read more
May 21, 2020
If you’re new to the world of working from home, it might feel like you’re navigating a minefield. A new work environment and an increase in the use of technology is enough to cause some uneasiness throughout this transition. However, there are many ways you can make the most of working remotely. Those in sales are hit particularly hard, the new world of “virtual sales” demands new skills and techniques.... read more
May 19, 2020
As most of the nation approaches the two-month mark of quarantine, a sea change is occurring in how Americans conduct business. Some of these changes might be permanent. Twitter’s CEO Jack Dorsey sent an email to staff permitting them to work from home indefinitely, even after the lockdown is over. Google is reportedly encouraging many in its workforce to do the same.... read more
April 27, 2020
If you’re a salesperson, wouldn’t it be great to be able to read a buyer’s mind? Some salespeople seem to have a knack for it, while others struggle with receiving a buyer decision. Elite salespeople understand this is the realm of where sales art, meets sales science; where communication skills and neuroscience knowledge converge. Over the past several years there has been an explosion of neuroscience of selling knowledge. With functional MRI data, neuroscientists have secured insights into decision-making that can help salespeople help buyers.... read more
April 20, 2020
Recent events have made online sales training more important than ever. Until the coronavirus pandemic is over, it remains the only form of meaningful personal sales training for many salespeople and executives across the country.... read more
April 2, 2020
At ASHER we teach the Top 10 Selling Skills possessed by Elite salespeople. These include things such as focusing on a few top prospects, using powerful marketing messages, and building long-term relationships.... read more
The coronavirus pandemic is a rapidly evolving, fluid situation which will undoubtedly have many new developments by the time this post is published. With extensive shuttering of restaurant and meeting/entertainment venues, mass gatherings discouraged, and more than a few cities on mandatory lockdown, times can seem dire for B2B salespeople. How are you supposed to drum up business if you are prevented from travelling and meeting prospective customers?... read more
March 17, 2020
“An organization, no matter how well designed, is only as good as the people who live and work in it.” – Dee Hock, founder and former CEO of VISA.... read more
March 16, 2020
Our training programs for sales teams incorporate the latest neuroscience research. Study after study prove that Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is a better harbinger of sales success, more than IQ. This is logical: those with highly developed EQ can better relate to others and gain their trust, and this makes for easier sales.... read more
March 2, 2020
The APQ has proven to be an indispensable tool for recruiters and sales leaders in thousands of companies. The strong correlation to real-world performance, easy-to-understand charts and reports, and uncomplicated set-up make it a leading pre-employment assessment for sales organizations.... read more
In this chapter, we’ll explore a few best practices for implementing pre-employment assessments in your business. All are based on years of real-world experience working with many B2B customers to identify and hire the best possible candidates. ... read more
February 27, 2020
In the previous chapters we covered the basics of pre-employment assessments and their value to sales organizations. In the following installment, we delve into the features which comprise a great test, especially for sales candidates.... read more
February 14, 2020
EQ, or Emotional Intelligence, is a hot topic among sales leaders. Word has spread that when it comes to sales success, EQ trumps IQ. This makes the identification of those with natural EQ, and its development in those who lack it, important tasks to boost the effectiveness of any sales team. ... read more
January 28, 2020
Employers have a wide variety of assessment options, and the market is predicted to grow – especially for online testing solutions.... read more
January 21, 2020
Pre-employment assessments vary in what they measure. Some are skills-based, such as those which require the test taker to complete job-related tasks. Others measure general problem-solving faculties, a perfect example being the good old-fashioned IQ test. And then there are aptitude tests which seek to predict suitability for certain jobs based on the personality or attitudes of the test taker.... read more
January 15, 2020
Implementing a pre-employment assessment to test all prospective employees, particularly salespeople, has many benefits. ... read more
December 19, 2019
Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter coined the term “creative destruction” in 1942 to describe how technological advances increase productivity in any endeavor but simultaneously destroy part of it as well. At its essence, it means we have to dismantle the current way of thinking and doing things in order to progress – and this means even entire professions could be wiped out in the process (horse and buggy drivers after the automobile, for instance). ... read more
December 18, 2019
Many buyers no longer seek as much education from company reps as they did before. They can execute much of their research and product discovery online well before talking to a salesperson. Because of the wealth of information available to prospects, salespeople have been pushed much further back in the buying process.... read more
December 10, 2019
For salespeople who enjoy and excel at cold calling, it’s a point of pride to be able to do so comfortably. So many people are turned off by it, yet “dialing for dollars” has been a mainstay of many sales organizations for decades. The ability to cold call is a skill many sales managers and executives still seek when hiring top salespeople as it connotes the image of a fearless go-getter. ... read more
December 9, 2019
You’ve incorporated a hiring aptitude test into your recruitment line and have assembled what you feel is a top-notch team of sellers. You’ve put them through training and feel you are definitely moving in the right direction. And, you wonder if there is something else you can do to improve your sales department. There is – it’s called salespeople engagement. ... read more
November 26, 2019
What’s your relationship with your smartphone like? Are you, like many Americans, practically addicted to it? Or do you check it only a couple of times a day and have a bare minimum of apps installed? Whatever your current usage, your smartphone can turn into a sales productivity booster and sales training tool with the right apps and proper discipline. ... read more
November 20, 2019
There are two phases where salespeople are so bogged down in paperwork and other tasks, they have very little time for active selling. The first is when they are starting out, and the second is when they become very successful. ... read more
November 13, 2019
Soft skills are nearly impossible to teach, but necessary for success in B2B sales. Unlike hard skills, such as writing a proposal or knowing what to say when faced with a certain objection, these are inherent. A person can easily improve them if they are part of his or her natural makeup “from the get-go.”... read more
November 6, 2019
One of the hottest topics in advanced sales training is social selling. Despite some of the flak social media has received in the news lately, B2B salespeople seeking an edge are increasingly using it to source business.... read more
October 23, 2019
In order for a business to really thrive, it has to take some risks. New product launches, expansion to new territories, investments in infrastructure or new software – these are just some of the areas where things could go wrong but also pay off very handsomely. Fortune favors the bold, as the saying goes.... read more
October 12, 2019
Hiring top salespeople is a close cousin to trying to close big sales – except the product is your company and the opportunities it provides to the “buyers” and their careers. In both cases, it is not smart to place all your hopes on one or two leads and devote everything you have to land them. Likewise, once a sale is closed or a recruit hired, you cannot just say “I’m done!” and ignore subsequent opportunities. ... read more
October 2, 2019
A sales predictor assessment can shed a lot of light into the personality traits of your sales candidates and whether they make a good fit for your company. It also informs as to the selling style each is likely to use.... read more
September 30, 2019
A pre-employment aptitude assessment will help identify the best prospects for inside and outside sales positions. That is just the first step in building a winning sales team. In order to focus all that raw talent and capture significant market share, you need a clear and effective sales process for them to follow.
With a formal process in place, salespeople are 50 percent more likely to meet quota, and turnover is reduced by 39 percent, according to a recent survey by the TAS group.... read more
September 24, 2019
“In business, you don’t get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate.” – Chester L. Karrass... read more
September 19, 2019
When hiring sales talent, recruiters are increasingly looking for salespeople who can build their personal brands and do some marketing on their own. For the individual salesperson, this generally means blogging, videos, LinkedIn and other social media.... read more
September 13, 2019
We would like to thank The Hire Talent for the fantastic InfoGraphic. The Hire Talent is a pre-employment assessment testing service, offering a broad range of behavioral and competence-based assessments in order to hire the best talent on the market.... read more
Successfully placing someone in the “right” position for them means matching their personality, work habits and traits to the job. Candidates who enjoy the tasks and behaviors they have to repeat each day on the job are more likely to be interested in and engaged in their work for longer periods of time than those who are in jobs where they have to do things regularly that are outside of their interest or comfort zone.... read more
September 10, 2019
When hiring top salespeople, we want to find the “elite” among all prospects and suspects. It goes back to the Pareto Principle, where 80 percent of the results come from 20 percent of your salespeople, so it makes sense to stack that 20 percent with the best of the best!... read more
August 30, 2019
When thinking of branding, most experts would agree that it is no longer enough to build a brand around a business. Top executives and even sales managers must develop their own personal brands as well. This forms an extension of a company’s brand. ... read more
August 13, 2019
A brilliant, yet sobering article in the June print issue of Fortune called “Seven Decades of Self-Destruction” relates the downfall of one of the most powerful brands in American retail history: Sears. Millennials might not be too familiar with the brand, but most everyone else remembers anticipating the large catalogs that arrived in the mail in order to circle the toys they wanted for Christmas. Sears was past generation’s Walmart and Amazon rolled into one.... read more
August 6, 2019
The attention span of the average buyer is getting shorter. There is so much content being thrown at them that it requires brands to figure out more creative ways to stand out if they want a successful sales and marketing program. ... read more
July 25, 2019
Research demonstrates that while you can improve a salesperson’s performance through training, the bulk of their success comes from innate personality traits. In other words, there is a lot of truth to the phrase “they are born with it” when it comes to selling.... read more
July 10, 2019
There is a great article in Rough Notes, a trade magazine for the insurance industry, author Roger Sitkins talks about the “Sales Iceberg.” He describes this as:... read more
July 2, 2019
Pre-employment testing of all potential hires is useful not only to identify talented sellers, but also those with the right skills to lead salespeople. Selecting a VP of Sales, branch manager, or sales manager is not a light decision. Choose wisely and your ability to scale and increase value accelerates. Choose poorly and you burn through cash, morale dips, and jobs are put at risk.... read more
June 28, 2019
Emotional intelligence for sales success requires learning how buyers react to certain activators and why. When you have this knowledge, you will be more in tune with prospects and close more deals faster. ... read more
June 26, 2019
Every salesperson is tasked with presenting their solutions to potential buyers. Sometimes this involves just one buyer, but in the B2B and government sales world this usually means multiple people such as a group of executives or a buying committee. This can cause problems for salespeople uncomfortable with public speaking. ... read more
June 13, 2019
Sales training managers are responsible for procuring and managing solutions to improve the selling skills of their employees. While books and videos are very useful, sales training managers also need a formal sales training curriculum led by one or more live instructors. This leads to a choice: either they develop a completely in-house program which they deliver themselves or use another employee to do so, or they outsource the training to a third party.... read more
June 6, 2019
When we deliver customized sales coaching at ASHER, we sometimes get asked for help with social media selling. While we can share a lot of tips for LinkedIn, one platform which is underutilized in the B2B space is Instagram. Instagram is a giant among social media platforms with over 1 billion active users per month. That means one in seven people are posting, commenting, liking, using IGTV, and sharing to their Story regularly. ... read more
May 25, 2019
Pre-employment testing such as the APQ sales aptitude assessment, DISC, PI, CI, etc. are used by many companies as a screening and development tool. Despite widespread availability, there are still plenty of firms yet to adopt them as part of their hiring process. For the most part, the reasons for this are lack of awareness of the value of pre-employment testing and/or erroneous ideas about them.... read more
May 18, 2019
Are you investing in sales seminars for your salespeople, but neglecting your team leads and managers? If so, you are not alone in this deficiency. According to a survey done by Sales Xceleration, 96 percent of sales managers want sales leadership training, and only 1 in 5 companies budget for it.... read more
May 7, 2019
Millennials have received a bad rap as the generation everyone loves to complain about. The stereotype describes them as narcissistic and they have a terrible work ethic. In truth, just about every younger generation gets picked on by older generations who resent change and long for “the good old days,” and
Millennials are not exempt from this.... read more
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