Sales Temperament Assessment

If you've been in sales and sales management long enough, you've learned that when it comes to salespeople, one size doesn't fit all. We've yet to find a salesperson that fits seamlessly into every type of sales environment. Some sales styles are better than others, depending upon the sales situation.

Different selling situations require different temperaments. The same temperament that allows a person to naturally do cold calls, open new accounts, or pioneer new sales areas isn't appropriate for a sales situation that requires the nurturing of existing accounts, retail selling, team selling, or a high degree of client service.

Of the eighteen sales styles we've identified, eight have a high probability of success (depending upon your selling environment), four are more appropriate for the retail environment, another four are going to look and sound good but usually don't perform, and the remaining two should be avoided in all but the most specialized selling situations.

As we mentioned above, there are the people who simply shouldn't be in sales. Their temperament is such that it's unnatural for them to do what must be done in order to succeed in sales. Even with proper training, these people will succeed only by forcing themselves to do the job and people with this amount of drive, desire, and discipline are rare. Most will stay with you until they can find an easier job or one better suited to their temperament.

Temperament versus Personality

Temperament is similar to personality in that both are developed at a very early age and generally don't change very much over the years. Think of personality as being the distinctive qualities or characteristics of a person, while temperament is a measure of how that person naturally responds and reacts to the world around him or her.

Simply put, personality is who you are and temperament is how you act.

The STA is an inexpensive, cost-effective, independent second opinion as to the suitability of an individual's temperament and how well he or she might perform in your particular sales environment.

The STA is a great tool that can be used both with your existing sales force and with potential new hires.

The STA can help you identify who's what!