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Most people would agree that selecting the right people for the right role should be easier than it has been. The selection process also needs to be more efficient than is currently experienced in far too many organisations. Top candidates are highly sought after in this talent-hungry marketplace, and if your selection processes are too long or too slow, you risk losing the best candidates to other organisations that move faster. The impact on your organisation’s bottom line can be severe, especially if you are missing out on the best salespeople. We help organisations like yours by providing you with the right selection assessments for selecting the best people – quickly, easily and affordably.
In this post-pandemic world, it is vital that you have a selection platform that:
- is respectful of everyone’s time;
- delivers an accurate report quickly and efficiently;
- can be easily and effectively used by all hiring managers;
- is legally defensible;
- predicts both performance and potential;
- signposts the development of each candidate.
A gap in a sales team can quickly become a chasm
The challenge for many is that there is currently a gap in the organisation’s recruitment and selection strategy, and it needs to be closed – quickly.
When speaking with sales leaders, we hear a constant complaint – “it takes far too long to fill a sales role”. Sales roles typically need to be filled quickly, effectively and efficiently. From a sales leader’s perspective, their $ number is not on hold until the role is filled, so they need prompt action to solve their problem; hence a very real sense of urgency.
The longer that hole in the team continues, the more pressure it puts on the sales leader; so for them, it can rapidly change from being a gap to becoming a chasm. This causes a great deal of angst and frustration, which in turn can cause some rancour with those tasked to fill the role.
It can get even worse if candidates who are put forward don’t meet the expectations or requirements of the sales leader. The pressure on the recruitment and HR teams is therefore intense, especially when their own team numbers have often been significantly reduced as part of an overall cost reduction policy. So, any solutions that can support your recruitment strategy will take the pressure off.
In this far too common scenario, the gap has clearly become a chasm. Therefore, it is increasingly common to find sales leaders taking the control and the lead in filling their vacant roles themselves.
A simple solution to a complex problem
In our work here at Validity Group, we have the opportunity to help many and varied sales leaders across organisations of all different sizes, across most industry sectors, and across numerous geographies. Interestingly, there is a common theme across all our conversations, and that is an appetite for an assessment tool that they can use themselves for all sales recruitment and selection that is:
- straightforward;
- easy to use and apply;
- a good fit with the requirements of the sales professionals.
This is a requirement that we have pleasure in filling for our clients, and witnessing their success as a result.
Role-specific assessments take out the guesswork
Of all the recruitment and selection assessments that we take to market, each carefully constructed to align with specific roles, we have one that is especially designed for the sales profession. Introducing the POP7.0™ – now in version 7.0 of its development, this sales recruitment solution has a long and enviable reputation. It is used by some of the world’s most competitive sales organisations as part of their standardised strategy for recruitment of sales professionals.
POP7.0™ is ideal for helping you identify and select high-performing sales teams. Designed specifically for the selection of sales team members, the POP7.0™ delivers outstanding results across all industry sectors and sales environments. The importance of the selection process has far-reaching impacts and implications on the success of any business. The predictive model of the POP7.0™ is based on a database of over 10 million assessments and has evolved through 7 editions to be one of the world’s leading sales employee selection tools.
POP7.0™ is the instrument of choice for many of the most competitive sales forces in the world and as such, has been proven effective in predicting both performance and retention.
What Does the POP7.0™ add to your sales selection decision?
The POP7.0™ provides a comprehensive, holistic and objective assessment of an applicant’s core character traits as they relate to success in a competitive sales position. Simply put, it assesses how natural of a fit to a sales career would be for this applicant by measuring them on personality traits associated with key sales competencies, such as the key competencies important for every sales leader such as:
- prospecting
- negotiating
- managing rejection
- handling objections
- networking
- closing skills, etc.
It’s not a crystal ball, but it comes close
One key area where the POP7.0™ delivers is in regard to the candidate’s Probability of Success in the sales role. This assessment is structured so that applicants don’t know what each question is directly assessing or what items go together, and in conjunction with its baseline response scale and social desirability (ie the lie detector) scale, the POP7.0™ provides an objective assessment of an applicant’s probability for success.
Moreover, it provides consistency in any sales organisation’s selection process by ensuring that all applicants are being evaluated against a common benchmark.
Finally, it adds predictive validity to an organisation’s selection process, which is the standard recommended by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and numerous other international government regulators of employment testing.
By taking as much of the subjectivity out of the selection process and replacing it with scientifically validated objective assessments, organisations can insulate themselves from applicant grievances and legal action while simultaneously increasing their ability to identify candidates with the highest probability for success.
Who should use the POP7.0™?
The POP7.0™ is constructed to help organisations identify and select top performing sales representatives no matter the sales role involved. Whether they require to identify someone in a highly competitive sales role, a New Business role (often referred to as a Hunter role), or as a Relationship Manager (generally referred to as a Farmer role), where the objective is to expand the share of wallet and further identify and expand all opportunities, the POP7.0™ is ideally suited to support your selection for both those roles.
In just one assessment, the POP7.0™ allows the hiring manager to compare their applicant against both roles in the one report. The report is presented as a live rendition and thereby enables you to toggle between the two roles and see how the candidate measures up to each role. And yes, all in one report and at one very affordable price.
Easy to read, use and apply
Of importance – and this is especially applicable across all organisations and all our clients – is that the reports need to be easy to read, use and apply.
Sales leaders require a solution that they, or any of their hiring managers, can easily use. They have no appetite for complex reports that are difficult to interpret or apply. They certainly have no interest for themselves, or for others, to achieve a certification in the use and application of any assessment tool for recruitment and selection.
This is why our assessment reports are so popular. They are designed and structured for ease of use by everyone, with no certification requirements. Today it is a non-negotiable requirement that the selection platform must be user friendly, otherwise it is not seen as a realistic or suitable recruitment tool. POP7.0™ delivers on all that as it is specially constructed to solve those very specific issues and concerns of sales leaders. You can download a sample POP7.0™ report here.
POP7.0™ is ideal for all industry sectors
Developed by a team of 5 PhD psychologists, POP7.0™ is based on predictive analytics and thorough scientific validation. The reports can be delivered directly to your hiring manager(s) and are easily used and applied.
Some common industry sectors currently using POP7.0™ include:
- Hi Tech – Software, Services and Hardware
- Insurance industry
- Financial Sector
- Motor Vehicles
- Manufacturing
- Retail
- Transportation & Freight
- Real Estate – Commercial, Retail, Residential
- Advertising – All media
- Call Centres – Outbound Sales / Inbound Service roles
POP7.0™ is available in 40+ languages and multiple currencies
You can purchase the POP7.0™ assessment in the language of your choice, plus you can receive the reports in your preferred language. Add to that the ability to purchase in your preferred currency, makes our assessments truly international.
No matter where you are in the world, we give you easy access to the latest science for all your selection, promotion and development investments. Based on predictive analytics and thorough scientific validation, our extensive range of tools accurately predict potential, performance, and retention for a broad variety of roles and industries.
One size does not fit all, so now you can access a full range of sales selection assessments designed specifically for your industry and your roles. Rather than just read about it here, why not try one with my compliments? If you have read this far you should be rewarded – so I have great delight in offering a complimentary POP7.0™, to use and apply as you see fit. We will also provide you with a complimentary Interpretation Guide so you can see for yourself what it is we are providing and why so many sales leaders are using our POP7.0™.
Use POP7.0™ to successfully recruit, develop & retain your best salespeople
Let’s be clear – measurement is key, but measurement as compared to what? We let you measure your candidates against millions of profiles of people from over 3,500 organisations. We provide you highly developed and sophisticated ways in which to measure success factors using a variety of normative profiles.
You might have read in some of our other posts that we can help you set your own internal benchmark. So, what does that look like? Firstly, we’d review your top performers to see how they measure against our data base. Then we’d establish the metrics of success that you want to achieve. You can then measure any applicants against your very own stringent parameters.
Now THAT is a customised metric that is sure to deliver on your success.
The benefits don’t stop there – let’s take a look at cost controls
Cost controls are obviously vital, so it is imperative that everyone identifies solutions that remove any unnecessary expenditure. Our reports are structured by our psychologists so that all your hiring managers and HR personnel are provided with a level of clarity often missing from other reports.
That means that you don’t invest in unnecessary and expensive certifications. We believe that you are better off investing in assessments as that will deliver you better business outcomes, as well as meaningful data that everyone understands. Clear and precise data points that will positively impact the business by removing the unnecessary costs and bottlenecks so that your business can move with the speed and accuracy it needs in today’s highly-competitive, fast-moving world.
You can now create the extraordinary with our inspiring and powerful selection tools, which can be integrated with your choice of HCM (Human Capital Management) platform, LMS or CRM.
It’s time to close the gap on your competitors
Intelligent, predictive selection is now affordable, super easy and available for every organisation of every size. As I started this blog, I stressed that the competition for the best staff is hot and about to get hotter. You need to find a way to get ahead of the pack and lead rather than follow.
And not only do you need an edge – you also need to be able to create the extraordinary. You can do that now by applying our assessment tools for all your recruitment and selection needs. It can start right here, and it can start here
Purchase from our online assessments shop as you need or talk to us about having your own company site with secure access, branded to your requirements, and volume pricing.
Why not see for yourself and request a demo of our inspiring selection and recruitment assessments?
