Personality and sales performance

Posted by Ricki Sharpe on March 27, 2008
Filed Under Personality, Persuasion/Selling

Most psychologists, at least those involved in selection, have at sometime in their career tried to discover the Holy Grail of personality testing: that is to identify the personality of the successful salesperson. Many have turned their endeavours into lucrative businesses, some with much smoke and mirrors, and quite a bit of snake oil. But the search goes on, with frustrated sales managers moving on to the next big thing.

Contemporary research suggests that individuals with high Conscientiousness and Extraversion, as well as low Neuroticism (Five Factor Model traits), perform better in sales occupations. It stands to reason that being organised, outgoing and confident would be obvious assets to the selling profession.

However, research is beginning to question the one size fits all model of sales personality. A recent study by Adrian Furnhamand and Carl Fudge of University College London, compared the personality and sales performance of 66 sales consultants from a sports organisation and came up with a different combination of traits. Their research showed a positive relationship for Conscientiousness and Openness, a negative relationship for Agreeableness, and no relationship for Extraversion and Neuroticism.

It should not be surprising that Conscientiousness received a guernsey, as it nearly always does no matter what the job. In the case of salespeople, however, it makes sense that more organised workers will achieve more sales. Much of the day is spent on the phone, chasing leads, cold calling, and liaising with companies in order to generate new business. Success in this area is as much about what is said on the phone as it is sheer persistence and number of phone calls made.

Openness has yielded consistently low correlations with job performance and has the lowest correlation with performance across most occupational groups. In this study, however, it had the third strongest correlation with performance. In previous studies, the one criterion that Openness has been linked to is responsiveness to training, with individuals who are higher in Openness taking a more open mind and positive attitude into training days and learning more as a result.

Agreeableness had a negative correlation with sales performance. This trait describes people who are kind, unselfish, and tend to be generous toward other people. Possessing a character that strives toward harmony with others may be advantageous in many job roles where teamwork is important. However, this is not the case when the job requires you to be in direct competition with other individuals. It seems logical, therefore, that in sales, where job success is measured purely on individual performance that a person high on Agreeableness would not do well.

Extraversion is associated with high energy levels, dominance, and exhibitionism, which may be particularly useful in sales. However, there is some evidence that the power of extraversion to predict success in sales is moderated by the type of sales job and the objects being sold. Thus, some facets of Extraversion like sociability and exhibitionism might help car sales, but be far less desirable in the selling of technical equipment to research specialists. It has also been speculated that the Extraversion and productivity is curvilinear, with both too little and too much having a negative effect on sales performance.

With respect to Neuroticism, it is more than likely that people high in this trait were selected out or found it difficult to keep their job. In this sense, the results from the present study show that there are very few people employed in sales who are high in Neuroticism rather than that Neuroticism doesnâ€™t predict sales performance.

So the bottom line is: one size does not fit all. Select the right salesperson for the right product. The implication from the present study is the importance of thoroughly analysing the job role in order to decide which personality characteristics are most relevant. See the article Blueprint for success: the four sales environments.