1. Selecting Applicants
Sales Management
Chapter 6
Irene Mae Simon
Genevieve Lara

2. Selecting Applicants
and Strategic Planning
Selecting applicants is an integral part of
implementing the strategic sales force
planning.
Matching company needs and applicants’
potential is very important to the strategic and
tactical aspects of sales force
management.

4. The sequence in which selection tools
are used varies among companies. Initial
screening (beyond that done in
recruiting) may start with an application
blank, an interview, or some form of test.

5. Legal Considerations
Hiring decisions may no longer be
made on “gut feeling.” Title VII of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964 provides that
the selection of employees must be
based on the objective criteria. These
criteria must be (1) independently
measurable, (2) job related, and (3)
predictive of performance.

6. is the statistical
Validation process of
measuring the
extent to which a
given selection
tool or hiring
qualification is a
predictor of, or is
related to, job
performance.

7. Application Blanks
The application
blank – or personal-
history record, as it
is sometimes called,
is one of the two
most widely used
selection tools.
(The other is the
interview.)

8. Information Asked for on Application
Blanks
On the application
blanks, experience
requirements are usually
divided into two
groups, educational
background and work
experience.
Most application blanks
ask for information about the
candidate’s employment
history, including periods of
unemployment

9. PERSONAL INTERVIEWS
A personal interview is
used basically to determine a
person’s fitness for a job.
Moreover personal interviews
disclose characteristics that
are not always observable by
other means.
Another purpose in
interviewing is to interpret and
get further information about
facts stated on the application
blank.

10. Fundamentally, all the questions asked
during an interview are aimed at learning four
points about the applicant:
• Is this person capable of excelling at this job?
• How badly does this applicant want the job?
• Will the job help this person to realize his or
her goals?
• Will this applicant work to his or her fullest
ability?

11. Reliability of Personal Interviews as
Predictors of Success
It has been
discovered that
behavioural/performanc
e-based interviews are
better predictors of
success in the sales job
than other types of
interviews.

12. Improving the Validity of Interviews
There are ways to
offset these weakness and
improve the validity of
interviews as predictors of
job performance. It is
important thoroughly
review the applicant’s
resume or application
before proceeding further
in the selection process.

13. Interview Structure
Selection interviews
can differ, depending on
the extent to which
the questions are detailed in advance and
the conversation is guided by the
interviewer. At one end of the scale is the
totally structured or guided interview and at
the other end is the informal, non directed
type.

14. Guided Interviews
The guided interview seeks to overcome problems
encountered in using personal interviews as a selection
technique.
Non Directed Interviews
The interviewer ask a
few questions to get the
applicant talking on certain
subjects, such as his or her
business experiences, home
life or school activities. The
interviewer does very little
talking – just enough to keep
the conversation rolling.

15. Interview Focus
One type poses questions concerning
the candidate’s past or intended
behaviours which relate to their sales
aptitude. Another
focuses on the
candidate’s
performance of
selling related
exercises.

16. Behaviorally Based Interviews
Questions which focus
on past behavior are
based on the premise that
what a person has done in
the past is indicative of
what he or she will do in
the future. Applicants who
have performed
successfully in the past are
expected to be successful
in the new job

17. Performance-Based Interviews
Some companies ask candidates to
perform exercises simulating selling
situations.
Stress Interviews
The stress interview is one in
which the interviewer intentionally
places the applicant under stress.

18. Timing of the Interview

19. During Initial
Screening
Companies often use an
interview as the initial
screening device.
At Later Stage
Firms that do a thorough
selection job ordinarily
interview applicants
several times before they
are hired.

20. Psychological Test
Major tools often used in the sales selection
process.
Psychological testing has undoubtedly been
the most controversial of all selection tools

21. What is Psychological Test?
A field characterized by the use of samples of
behavior in order to assess psychological
construct(s), such as cognitive and
emotional functioning, about a given
individual. The technical term for the
science behind psychological testing is
psychometrics. By samples of behavior, one
means observations of an individual
performing tasks that have usually been
prescribed beforehand, which often means
scores on a test

22. Psychometrics
the field of study concerned with the theory
and technique of psychological
measurement, , which includes the
measurement of
knowledge, abilities, attitudes, personality tr
aits, and education measurement. . The field
is primarily concerned with the construction
and validation of measurement instruments
such as question, tests, and personality
assessments.

23. REASONS
Employers has become more knowledgeable
about the legal requirement surrounding the use
of test.
Some studies have shown that testing is a better
predictor of job performance than any other
section job.
Finally as the cost of making a poor selection
decision continue to rise , employers are turning
to testing as an additional mean of improving
their selection decision.

24. Legal Aspect of Testing
Legislation put restraints on the use of
testing in the selection “testing is
legal”. Properly validated and
standardized employee selection
procedures can significantly
contribute to the implementation of
non-discriminatory personnel policies.

25. Framework for Testing
Ideally, test should be used to provide
objective information about a
candidate’s skills and abilities.
* It is important to remember that no test
can predict with 100% accuracy.
Therefore the result should not be
used as the sole acceptance or knock
out factor.

26. Selecting and Developing Test
In building a good testing program, a
company should use test which
measure the criteria develop during
the planning phase of the hiring
process.

27. Problem In Testing
Testing may eliminate the truly creative
person, who may fall in the average or
normal range in testing at the same
time. Creativity may be the very trait
that would make that person an
outstanding sales representative.

28. • Test are sometimes misused because
executive fail to apply the concept of a
range of score.
• All who fall within that range should be
judged as equally qualified for the job.
• Another factor to watch for in testing is
that applicants can fake the answers
on some tests.

29. Reference and Other Outside
Sources
Reference checks may be made by
letter, telephone or personal visit, and
each method has some limitations.

30. • Personal visit may take too much time, or
the telephone is advantage because
nothing is in writing.
• Some companies will not supply
information to a stranger over the
telephone.
• A letter is used more frequently than the
two other methods.

31. Assessment Centers
A Technique centralized,
comprehensive evaluation procedure
involving tests, interviews and
simulation exercises such a business
games, discussion group, role playing
and individual presentation.

32. Reaching A Decision About An
Applicant
When all the steps in
the selection process
have been
completed, one thing
remains to be done. A
company must decide
whether to make a job
offer. This decision
involves a review of
everything know
about each applicant.

33. Summary
The last step in the sales
force selection process
involves (1) developing
a system of tools and
procedures to measure
the applicants against
the predetermined
hiring specification and
the (2) actually putting
this system into
operation to select the
salespeople.