Sales Achievement Predictor (SalesAP)
Updated
by
Cody Cooley
Predict Sales Success with a Sales Aptitude Test
The Sales Achievement Predictor (SalesAP) is a sales aptitude test that measures personality traits that are critical to success in sales and sales-related fields such as customer service, sales management, marketing, and public relations. The SalesAP was created by Sander I. Marcus, Ph.D., Jotham G. Friedland, Ph.D., and Harvey P. Mandel, Ph.D. It assesses traits that are not apparent in an interview or resume, such as inhibitions about cold calling, reluctance to ask for a sale, and poor motivation to follow through once on the job. Validated against actual sales performance, the SalesAP helps companies select, place, and train salespeople. the test contains 140 items and is written at a sixth-grade reading level. Validity scales identify applicants who exaggerate strengths or minimize weaknesses - and automatically adjusts the scores of those applicants.
Detailed Score Reports
The SalesAP presents an overall recommendation about an individual's suitability for sales work:
- Not Recommended
- Basically Recommended
- Highly Recommended
This recommendation is based on three Sales Success Scores in combination with the full SalesAP profile, which includes 15 subscales that measure individual traits that are important for success in sales and sales-related fields.
Validity Information
Construct Validity: SalesAP scale scores have been compared with a number of external measures of similar individual characteristics, including the Sixteen Personality Factor (16PF) and the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule (EPPS) scales; these comparisons provide very strong support for the construct validity of the SalesAP scales.
Concurrent Validity: Several validity studies have confirmed the concurrent validity of the SalesAP as a means of predicting the job performance of salespeople. For example, two studies comparing SalesAP scores to supervisor's ratings for real estate salespeople and insurance salespeople showed strong, statistically significant correlations between supervisor's ratings and the Sales Success Scores of the SalesAP, especially Sales Disposition and Initiative (Cold Calling). These studies involved samples of 156 real estate salespeople and 71 insurance salespeople, respectively.
The table below shows the correlations between test performance (Sales Success Scores) and job performance (as measured by Supervisor's Ratings) for a sample of 156 real estate salespeople.
Job Performance | Test Scores | ||
Sales Related Ratings | SAL | CC | CL |
Performance Level - Percent of Expectation Met | .41 | .45 | .26 |
Sales Skills | .42 | .34 | .30 |
Cold Calling | .58 | .65 | .30 |
Closing | .59 | .67 | .25 |
Reliability: The estimated test-retest reliabilities for SalesAP scale scores range from .67 to .90 and are well within acceptable psychometric limits.
Standardization Sample
Norms for the SalesAP were developed using a sample of 1.375 individuals aged 15 and older, of which 48% were male and 52% were female. These individuals were being assessed for job selection, placement, promotion or career appraisal. About 30% were students and the balance were adults ranging in age from their early 20s to mid-60s. Their current work situations included executive positions in technical and service-oriented areas, managerial positions, and sales positions. About 10% of the sample were Black and 2% were Hispanic. In establishing standardized scores for the final version of the SalesAP, normalized T-scores were first developed on the large, stable standardization sample for SalesAP scores. The normative information obtained from the standardization group was extended to a separate reference sample of 745 managers, people in sales-related occupations, and middle- and upper-level professionals.
