Sales Profiler (SP)
Measurement object / dimensions
This test is one of the few procedures in the personnel selection process that measures both intelligence and personality and produces an evaluation that provides concrete indications of an existing ability as a "salesperson". The test can also be used to support diagnostics for sales and field sales staff, as sales in particular entails a comprehensive requirements profile with many skills.
The following competencies, among others, are covered:
- Holistic logical thinking
- Action skills such as leadership motivation, flexibility, independence, assertiveness ....
- Mental constitution: emotional stability, resilience, self-confidence, ...
- Social skills: customer orientation, advisory skills, conscientiousness, interpersonal skills, acquisition skills, empathy, conflict resolution skills ....
- Personal competence: motivation to perform, loyalty, discipline, reliability, tendency to pretend (openness) and willingness to take risks on the part of the respondent...
Brief description of the procedure
Authors
Jörg A. Prieler & Jasmin Pfeifenberger
Area(s) of application
Business psychology, sales psychology
Execution
The Sales Profiler combines intelligence (22 items) and personality (167 items) and offers a comprehensive profile of the respondent with 27 personality traits based on the respondent's subjective self-assessment.
Execution time
Approx. 30 minutes
Reliability
Reliability in the sense of internal consistency is given due to the validity of the rating scale model. Nevertheless, Cronbach's alpha and retest reliabilities were calculated:
In a study of 448 people, reliability coefficients for the individual scales were determined to be in the range of 0.75 to 0.92 (Cronbach's alpha).
To determine the stability, 177 people were tested a second time at six-month intervals. The retest reliabilities are between 0.74 and 0.85.
Validity
The validity of the IA is given because there is a high level of agreement with other test procedures (WAVE, Professional Styles, Saville Consulting), some of which measure similar dimensions, and because there is little or no agreement with test procedures that measure something else (convergent and discriminant validity).
In a second validation study (persons in sales/outside sales and normal persons, N=171) with subsequent cross-validation (persons in sales/outside sales and normal persons, N=142), the scale differences between these two groups were analyzed using inferential statistics (variance and discriminant analysis).
In a third validation study (sales/field service professionals who were described as excellent by companies, N=47), the SP was specified and compared with the scale values of the norm sample. This data was also used to optimize the ideal profile.
Evaluation / Standards
Norm values (stanine scale) are issued for the individual scales, which are continuously being expanded. At present, norms are available for normal persons (N=470), persons in sales (N=203) and persons in field service (188); breakdown by gender, age and level of education available. For copyright reasons, the norm tables are not presented, as is customary internationally with many test publishers today; the norms are part of the evaluation software and are not published.
Execution methods
Possible on PCs/laptops/touchpads without restriction. On mobile phones only to a limited extent, as input with a finger is somewhat cumbersome (but possible in principle).
Languages
German, English
Security and data protection
The IR&C system meets the latest IT requirements ("banking standard"). As an additional security measure, personal codes can also be assigned instead of the specific names of the persons tested. Customers only need to provide sufficient PCs/laptops/touchpads with or without an Internet connection (on/off-line capable, also intranet-capable).