Use the results to build a profile of the characteristics most important in that particular sales field. Then measure candidates for sales jobs against the profile. And, if the student is not a wooer by nature, to try to make him one is comparable to trying to make a Don Juan out of a John Calvin. My guess is that not more than one person in a thousand is so constituted that he will be successful and find challenge and security in direct sales. The procedure is analogous in many respects to the act of falling in love.
Many persons are by nature highly suggestible.
He got the order. Research by McMurry and other psychologists has disproved the idea that a real salesman can sell anything to anybody. Since 1972, my colleagues at The H.R. Chally Group and I have studied more than 200 sales forces across the nation. From assessment testing and psychological profiling of 40,000 salespeople, we have identified four major types of sales specializations, as well as the traits, skills, motivations and psychological characteristics of the best in each specialty. Since the seller usually has only one contact with the prospect, the likelihood of failure is high.