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CHAPTER 9

SELECTION, PLACEMENT, AND

SOCIALIZATION OF
SUCCESSFUL SALESPEOPLE

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LEARNING OBJECTIVES
The selection, placement, and socialization of salespeople are
extremely important to the sales force and the new individual. This
chapter should help you understand:

 The purposes, importance, and influencing factors of selection

and placement.
 The predictors used to make selection decisions.
 The many forms of personnel selection, as well as their
differences and similarities.
 That evaluation of selection and placement decisions is very
necessary.
 With whom the final decision rests.
 The need to effectively socialize new personnel into their jobs.
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 SELECTION AND PLACEMENT
OF SUCCESSFUL SALES
PERSONNEL
Selection of sales personnel refers to the process
of selecting the best available person for the job.

Placement is concerned with ensuring that job

demands match an individual’s skills, knowledge,
and abilities, along with preferences, interests,
and personality.
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IS SELECTION THE MOST IMPORTANT
ELEMENT IN FIELDING A SALES FORCE?

The selection of the right people is, without a

doubt, extremely important to the success of the
sales district, the region, and the total sales force.

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PURPOSES AND IMPORTANCE OF
SELECTION AND PLACEMENT

• Selection and placement procedures provide the

fuel that runs the sales force.
• Sales managers want to improve productivity.
• The proper match between person and job can
improve productivity and reduce operating
costs.

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FIGURE 9.1 MAJOR INFLUENCES AND COMPONENTS OF
SALES FORCE SELECTION

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 PREDICTORS FOR SELECTION
DECISIONS

WHAT ARE PREDICTORS?

The various pieces of information about the
person are often called predictors. They are
referred to as tests when used to make selection
decisions.

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The Uniform Guidelines include all forms
of information collection methods used to
make selection decisions.

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 SOURCES FOR COLLECTING
INFORMATION

• Skills, knowledge, and ability.

• Preferences, interests, and personality.

• Other category: employment tests,

interviews, etc.
• Other characteristics: physical examinations,
reference checks, etc.

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FIGURE 9.2 MAJOR STEPS IN SALES PERSONNEL
SELECTION PROCESS

1 . A p p lic a tio n

6 . P h y sic a l 2 . I n itia l
E x a m in a tio n I n te r v ie w

Y es D e c is io n N o

5 . R eferen ce 3 . I n -d ep th
C h eck s I n te r v ie w s

4 . T e stin g

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IS THE INFORMATION JOB RELATED?

• Any information collected from the applicant

should be related to the job.
• Information classified into the “other
characteristics” category usually represents
minimum qualifications for a job.

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 THE SELECTION PROCESS

THE JOB APPLICATION BLANK

An orderly, convenient method of collecting
necessary information for determining an
applicant’s minimum qualifications.

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When reviewing an application blank, the sales
manager should look for the following:

• Minimum job requirements.

• All dates accounted for.
• Number of jobs and length of time spent on
each job.
• Reason given for leaving jobs.
• Pattern of growth.

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THE PERSONAL INTERVIEW –
A ONE-ON-ONE SELLING SITUATION

The personal interview usually involves the one-

on-one, face-to-face meeting of two strangers,
both seeking to sell themselves to the other.

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TABLE 9.1 INTERVIEWS ARE IMPORTANT FOR THE SALES
MANAGER AND THE APPLICANT
FOR THE SALES
MANAGER
Act as a screening device to create the
pool of qualified applicants.
Confirm application blanks, written
tests, and feedback from references
relative to SKAs, PIPs, the other
category, and other characteristics
Judge if the applicant can be successful
in the short and long run
Meet the potential employee and
determine if a match exists
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FOR THE APPLICANT
Act as a screening device to create a pool of
qualified jobs
Determine skills, knowledge and
abilities required
Determine what will be received from
the job, such as training, compensation,
promotional opportunities
Meet the potential boss and determine if a
match exists
TABLE 9.2 THE INTERVIEW QUADRANT

SUCCESSFUL-LOOKING
The successful- The successful-
PERFORMANCE looking failure looking success PERFORMANCE
FAILURE The unsuccessful- The unsuccessful- SUCCESS
looking failure looking success
UNSUCCESSFUL-LOOKING

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Types of Interviews

In a structured interview, the recruiter asks

questions, often from a standard form.

In an unstructured interview, the recruiter

asks few preplanned questions and often
begins with open-ended questions such as
“Tell me about yourself” or “Why do you
want to sell for IBM?”.

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The Stress Interview – An interviewer may
place the applicant in a stressful situation
to ascertain how the person might cope
with stress when selling.

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Nonverbal cues in interviews:

• Body movements.
• Gestures.
• Firmness of handshake.
• Eye contact.
• Physical appearance.

One of the reasons nonverbal cues are so powerful is that,

in most cases, interviewers are not aware of them as
possible casual agents of impression formation.
Interpretation of nonverbal cues varies with each person.
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FIGURE 9.3 FIVE PHASES OF THE SALES INTERVIEW

1. P r e p a r a tio n

2 . O p e n in g th e I n te r v ie w

3 . T h e I n te r v ie w P r o p e r

4 . E n d in g th e I n te r v ie w

5 . P o s t- in te r v ie w
A c tiv i tie s

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Four basic guidelines to interviewing:

• Collect information that relates directly to

job performance.
• Consciously wait until the interview is over
to make a final decision.
• Always remember that weaknesses can be
offset by strengths and potential.
• The interview is only one method of
obtaining information on the applicant.

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TESTS

Employment test refers to a procedure, technique,

or measurement instrument for ascertaining
characteristics such as aptitudes, capacities,
intelligence, knowledge, skills, or personality.

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Sales managers may decide the following:
• Not to use tests.
• To administer tests and interpret the results
themselves.
• To administer tests and have someone else
interpret the results.
• To turn the testing over to consulting
industrial psychologists.
The majority of sales managers use tests as only
one part of the selection process.
To be used successfully, tests must have
reliability and validity.
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Test subjects that are often used for selecting
sales personnel include:

• Aptitude tests.
• Intelligence tests.
• Interest tests.
• Knowledge tests.
• Personality tests.

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The polygraph test measures blood pressure,
respiration, heartbeat and skin response and plots
these on a graph.

Polygraph tests are seldom used to screen

applicants for outside sales jobs for national
companies and primarily are used by smaller
companies.

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The major problems with testing are:

• Tests are misused and not understood.

• Applicants can become “test wise.”

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ASSESSMENT CENTERS

The assessment center is a centralized

organizational unit within the firm.

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EMPLOYMENT REFERENCES

References are the names of persons from whom

information can be obtained on an applicant’s
ability and character.

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PHYSICAL EXAMINATIONS

Almost all companies require their prospective

employees to undergo physical examinations. As
a general rule, if the applicant gets this far in the
process, he or she has the job unless health
problems are discovered.

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 EVALUATING SELECTION AND
PLACEMENT DECISIONS

The quality and effectiveness of selection and

placement decisions depend on sales managers
hiring as many applicants as possible who turn
out to be good performers.

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Costs to consider include both actual and
potential costs:

1. Actual costs.

a. Recruiting and assessment costs.

b. Induction and orientation costs.
c. Training costs.

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Costs to consider include both actual and
potential cost: continued

1. Potential costs.

a. Costs associated with hiring a person

who subsequently fails.
b. Costs associated with rejecting a person
who would have been successful on the
job.

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Some of the benefits of an effective hiring policy:

• Lowering the cost of turnovers and

absenteeism.
• Lowering training time.
• Meeting individual territorial sales potential.
• Increasing customer satisfaction by having
the same salesperson call.
• Improving morale.
• Because of these benefits, recruiting
effectiveness increases, thus lowering the total
costs associated with operating the sales force.
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THE SOCIALIZATION OF SALES
PERSONNEL

Socialization is the process by which salespeople

learn the sales culture and behaviors appropriate
for their roles in the organization.

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Properly done, the socialization process can help:

• Increase performance and job satisfaction.

• Reduce job anxieties and the fear of failure.
• Reduce turnover.
• Impart a positive image of the company, job
duties, and future expectations.
• Save the manager’s time and thus reduce
costs.

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 THE BOTTOM LINE
Establishing a sales force is a complex process that involves
many variables.
Sales managers use predictors for hiring decisions.
The selection process is no longer based on intuitive feelings.
The personal interview is an important part of the selection
process.
Managers also can use certain employment tests for selecting
personnel.
Sales force productivity benefits with the selection of good
employees.

Copyright © 2001 by Harcourt, Inc. All rights reserved.