Using sales assessments helps you predict performance, reduce turnover, and hire top-producing sales talent with confidence.Great sales consultants often don’t look like top performers on paper. That’s why adding assessments to a solid, behavior-based interview is critical to finding the truth behind the resume.
Companies that use pre-employment assessments report 36% higher employee retention and 24% greater productivity, according to Aberdeen Group.
Why the Best Salespeople Don’t Always Look the Part
A homebuilder once told me they had interviewed a candidate who nailed every question, charmed the VP, and had a glowing resume from another builder. But within 60 days on the job, they realized he couldn’t close, wouldn’t follow up, and avoided CRM like the plague. They didn’t hire a closer—they hired a talker.
What Are Sales Assessments and Why Use Them?
Definition & Purpose
- Behavioral assessments: Identify the behaviors that make someone successful in sales.
- Cognitive assessments: Measure problem-solving and learning agility. These are important in ensuring the candidate can understand a complex sales process or product.
Why They Work in New Home Sales
Objective screening of “hidden traits.”
Sales assessments predict performance in long-cycle, relationship-driven sales environments.
Identifies candidates who thrive with weekend hours, CRM accountability, and self-generated pipeline.
What Sales Assessments Should Measure According to FPG
Sales assessments look for someone who is…
- Coachable
- Goal-oriented
- Unleashed
- Motivated
- Procedural Based
How to Integrate Sales Assessments into Your Hiring Process
When to Administer the Sales Assessment
- After the initial phone screen and the prescreening interview, but before an in-person interview.
- Use it as a “second filter” to avoid wasting time with candidates who interview well but sell poorly.
How to Frame It with Candidates
- “This helps us understand how to coach and support you best.”
- “It helps ensure fairness and eliminate hiring bias.”
- It’s not a pass/fail—it’s a fit check for both the candidate and the company.
Who Should Review Results
- Someone trained in how to review the results.
- Recruiting or hiring manager.
- Sales trainer or coach.
Common Mistakes in Using Sales Assessments
Treating It Like a Magic 8-Ball
- Mistake: Using assessment results as the only hiring factor.
- Fix: Use as one-third of your decision (alongside interview and resume).
Not Using a Sales-Specific Tool
- Mistake: Generic personality tests (e.g., Myers-Briggs) that don’t correlate to sales performance.
- Fix: Choose tools validated for sales roles.
Ignoring Red Flags in the Report
- Mistake: Dismissing “coachability” concerns because the candidate was likable.
- Fix: Probe deeper in interviews when the data says pause.
Checklist for an Effective Sales Assessment Strategy
✅ Choose a validated sales-specific assessment tool.
✅ Create a solid candidate profile.
✅ Defined role-specific benchmarks (not just generic “sales” standards).
✅ Align hiring managers on how to interpret and use results.
✅ Embed assessment reviews into weekly hiring syncs.
✅ Use assessments as coaching blueprints after the hire.
Latest Trends in Sales Assessments
AI-Powered Interview Scoring
Companies are using AI to evaluate tone, speech patterns, and word choice against high-performing benchmarks
Adaptive Learning Assessments
Assessments that evolve as the candidate answers in real-time, leading to more accurate profiling
Culture Fit Indexing
Tools that compare candidate values and motivations with the company’s mission and sales culture
📊 Reference: SHRM 2024 report shows a 34% adoption rate in AI-enhanced hiring assessments among midsized businesses.
Measuring Success: How to Track ROI on Sales Assessments
Key Metrics to Watch
- Time-to-hire reduction
- Ramp up speed
- Performance of assessment-matched hires vs. traditional hires
- Retention rate after 6 and 12 months
Build a Feedback Loop
- Meet quarterly to compare assessment data against real-world performance
- Use assessments to refine future hiring profiles
Using Sales Assessments to Identify Training Needs in Your Current Team
Assessments aren’t just for hiring—they’re also powerful tools for developing the team you already have. By administering sales assessments to your current consultants, you can uncover hidden performance gaps and coaching opportunities.
Common Sales Assessment Use Cases:
- Are top producer scores low in coachability? Focus your training on reinforcing process consistency.
- Are Sales Consultants showing a high reluctance to make phone calls? Add in mindset training or coaching through FPG.
Team Development Benefits of Sales Assessments:
- Data-driven 1:1 coaching plans.
- Targeted group training sessions.
- Increased accountability and performance transparency.
Final Thoughts:
Consistency
Always ensure consistency in your hiring process. Hiring managers should give assessments to every sales consultant at the same interval. For instance, if you assess the in-person interview, then every sales consultant should get the assessment at that point in the hiring process. Maintaining consistency in the process ensures everyone is on the same page and reduces claims of bias.
Use Data to Hire Like a Pro
You wouldn’t build a custom home without blueprints. So why build your sales team without a framework?
Assessments are the blueprints for talent. They reveal what you can’t see on a resume or in a 45-minute interview.
The builders we coach who consistently outperform their market aren’t just selling better—they’re hiring better. That starts with data. With structure. And with tools that help you find more of what works.
🛠️ Want to Use Assessments Like a Pro?
At Precision Sales Recruiting, we partner with FPG to provide comprehensive sales training to all of our sales hires. Even if you don’t use us to hire your New Home Sales Consultants, we highly recommend contacting them to see their assessment tool in action and how it has helped thousands of individuals achieve their sales goals.
Book a call with us today! We will show you how our process works and how we use assessments as the ultimate advantage.
Share this post: