Take the Sales Exam to evaluate competence, as a sales test, a learning aid, or for verifiable sales qualifications.
Use sales testing for grading, verification, selection, and development. Each of the three Sales Exam assessments provides three distinct tests. Each sales test prompts learning and provides evidence-based sales qualifications.
There are three levels of qualification. They are self-attestation, a SalesSense grading certificate, and a SalesSense validation certificate.
Levels two and three provide graded or validated evidence of sales competence. Grading is compiled from combined sales test responses and the corresponding grading or questionnaire.
How to test sales skills?
Before sales skills can be tested, decide what skills you want to test. Our sales competencies model will help. You can also explore the free assessment element of the Sales Exam, linked below.
You may end up with a long list. If so, the next step is to put your list in order of importance for salespeople selling your products or services. It may not be practical to test for all of the sales skills you have identified so decide which are the most important for your purposes.
For each skill or competency, devise a test and scorecard. The simplest test is to ask people to rate their level of skill in each case. This is what our free sales assessments do. Once someone has given a score, an interviewer can ask how they decided on their score and through a series of domino questions, invite the person being tested to provide evidence that supports their score. Those who cannot give satisfactory evidence questions are likely to have inflated their score.
More sophisticated tests can be devised by presenting a scenario and asking how the testee would respond in such circumstance. Such enquiries can easily be turned into role plays to explore abilities further.
Some skills, such as presenting to a group can be tested by requiring the person being tested to deliver a presentation.
There are also many free personality tests that can help reveal communication style and provide more avenues for interview exploration.
Test results should never be used in isolation. Test subjects should always be given an opportunity to discuss their results. This reduces the risk of mistakes and misunderstandings that can arise from the use of sales testing.
Sales Testing with the Sales Exam
In summary, the Sales Exam consists of three separate assessments or sales tests that can be consolidated into a single representation of competence. The assessments evaluate knowledge, skills, and motivation. Feedback includes specific on-the-job actions that aid learning while increasing sales effectiveness. They are free to use for self-attestation:
The assessments can be used as they are to inform sales candidate selection. Grading or validation provides third-party expert verification that authenticates Sales Exam results.
Independent Sales Qualifications Through Exam Grading
Grading involves the independent review and scoring of answers to a series of supplementary evidence questions. Scoring is carried out by a SalesSense consultant. Grading feedback includes explanations of any diverging scores.
£495 plus applicable VAT
The Process
- Complete the Sales Exam assessment tests.
- Request Sales Exam grading.
- Complete the grading questionnaires, supplied separately.
Review the grading scores and recommended actions. Then arrange an in-person consultation with the reviewer to gain additional insights. Use the feedback, the recommended actions, and the development resources to strengthen strengths, address weaknesses, improve sales effectiveness, and increase results.
Use the certified grading scores as evidence of sales competence.
Independent Sales Qualifications Through Exam Validation
Validation is based on the scoring of verbal answers to questions in two sixty-minute one-to-one assessment interviews conducted by a SalesSense consultant. For this option, the grading questionnaire can be skipped. Validation feedback is a comprehensive report that includes development recommendations.
Validation can include responses to the grading questionnaire.
The feedback from the validation interview and grading questionnaire if complete, provides verified sales qualifications and development guidance. As for grading, validation includes an in-person consultation with the reviewer.
£995 plus applicable VAT
Booking Options:
- Telephone 01392 851500.
- Send an email to jimm@salessense.co.uk.
Exam Validity
The exam reveals and quantifies professional sales competence. Grading and validation by a SalesSense consultant or other accredited assessor substantiates and verifies results.
Managers, in-house specialists, and third-party professionals can be accredited by taking a short course. Contact us for details.
Individuals can use the assessments as learning tools or to support career planning. The free assessments facilitate self-reflection and discovery.
Exam Benefits
- Taking the assessments increases understanding, improves skills, and develops better habits.
- Increased understanding of current skills and capabilities reveals improvement opportunities.
- Grading and validation feedback include low-cost and no-cost recommendations.
- The feedback improves productivity and results.
- The exam provides a competency framework, a template for development discussions, and a platform for career advancement.
- Using the exam in the hiring process reduces or eliminates hiring mistakes. Having shortlisted candidates take the exam before an interview, ensures that managers have all the information they need to make informed decisions.
- Self-assessment results document sales abilities. Validated results provide sales qualifications and evidence of competence.
Exam Applications
Rating Professional Sales Competence
The Sales Exam provides the ability to measure and quantify sales competence.
Guidance for Individual Development
The assessments identify and quantify opportunities for individual development. The feedback helps users attain and improve sales knowledge, skills and habits. The experience prompts learning, provides guidance for development plans, and offers directions for improvement. Participation leads to increased competence, rising sales performance, and personal growth.
Team Development
Customers who use our validation service for a whole sales team receive an additional team-level report that explains the process, details the exam statements, and lists the validation questions. The report includes written team-level feedback and recommendations that help organisations use the data to address issues, improve sales productivity, and increase sales performance.
Training Needs Analysis
Use the Sales Exam to determine training priorities. It eliminates guesswork and provides managers with a quantitative and qualitative assessment of strengths and weaknesses at the team and individual levels.
Recruitment and Selection
Improve hiring consistency and reduce hiring mistakes through sales testing. Have candidates take the assessments. While candidates can claim any level of ability, doing so falsely reveals their approach. The radar chart presents strengths and weaknesses for investigation. Use the feedback to guide interviews and alignment or lack of it to inform selection.
Getting the Right Job
Taking the Sales Exam and obtaining grading or validation from SalesSense, provides salespeople and employers with independently corroborated sales qualifications. The feedback reports provide documented evidence of sales professionalism.
Salespeople can use the reports to help present a compelling picture of their strengths, skills, and abilities. It helps candidates explain exactly what they are good at so that interviewers are left in no doubt of the candidate's competence.
Employers can use the feedback reports to determine if candidates for sales roles have the required skills, knowledge, and motivations for the role being filled.
If you are interested in sales testing, sales qualifications, or evaluation, we can help. If you want to encourage experienced salespeople to continue learning, the Sales Exam offers a solution. The three sales assessment tests offer a comprehensive evaluation of sales competence. Telephone +44 (0)1392 851500 for more information. Alternatively, send an email to custserv@salessense.co.uk or use the contact form here.
