9. Selection Process

8/14/2019 9. Selection Process

1/18


2/18

I. INTRODUCTION

Selection systems for sales personnel range from simple

one step systems consisting of nothing more than an

informal personal interview, to complex multiple-step

systems incorporating diverse mechanisms designed togather information about applicants for sales jobs.

A selection system is a set of successive screens, at

any of which an applicant may be dropped from further

consideration.


3/18

A selection system fulfills its main mission if it

improves managements ability to estimate success and

failure probabilities. Management, in other words,

because has available the information gathered throughthe selection system, makes more accurate estimates of

the chances that a particular applicant will succeed a

company sales position.

I. INTRODUCTION


4/18

Steps in Selection Process

Step 1 Pre Interview Screening

Step 2 Formal Application

Step 3 - Interview

Step 4 - References

Step 5 Employment Tests

Step 6 Physical Examinations


5/18

II. Steps in Selection Process

1. Pre Interview Screening

Preinterview screening is for the purpose ofeliminating obviously unqualified applicants, thus

saving the time of interviewers and applicants.

The applicant is provided information about the

company and general details about selling positions

in it a well prepared recruiting brochure does this

effectively and does not require an employees timefor anything other than to hand it to the applicant.


6/18

1. Pre Interview Screening

The preliminary interview is short, perhaps nomore than twenty minutes. Questions about thecompany and the job are answered while thecompany employee determines whether theapplicant meets minimum qualifications.

If this hurdle is passed and the applicantexpresses interest, he or she is asked to fill out a

formal application form, and an appointment ismade for one or more formal interviews.



7/18

II. Steps in the Selection Process

2. Formal Application

The formal application form serves as a central recordfor all pertinent information collected during theselection process.

A formal application is filled out after a preliminaryinterview indicates that a job candidate has promise asa company salesperson.

The application form may be filled out by the

applicant personally or by an interviewer who recordsthe applicants responses.

Sometimes, section are reserved for later recording ofthe results of such selection steps as reference and

credit checks, testing, and physical examination.


8/18

3. The Interview

The interview is the most widely used selection stepand in some companies it comprises the entireselection system.

Some personnel experts criticize the interview as anunreliable tool, but it is an effective way to obtaincertain information.

No other method is quite so satisfactory in judging an

individual as to ability in oral communication, personal appearance and manners, attitude towardselling and the life in general, reaction to obstacles presented face to face, and personal impact upon

others.



9/18

3. The Interview

Good interviewers avoid covering the sameground as other selection devices. The

interviewer reviews the completed application

form before the interview and refrains fromasking questions already answered.



10/18

3. The Interview

Questions during interviewing: The questions

asked to the applicant should reflect the

following:o Attitude

o Motivation

o Initiative

o Stabilityo Planning

o Insight

o

Social skills



11/18

3. The Interview

There are different ways to do interviewing techniques andthey are as follows :-

Patterned Interview : Here a interviewer uses a prepared

outline of questions to elicit a basic core of information. The

interviewer may directly work from the outline, recordinganswers as they are given, but this may make the conversation

suited and the applicant nervous.

Nondirective Interview : In this technique the applicant is

encouraged to talk freely about his or her experience, training,and future plans. The interviewer asks a few direct questions

and says only enough to keep the interviewee talking.



12/18

Interaction (Stress) Interview : The interactioninterview stimulates and stresses the applicant that

would meet in actual selling & provides way to observethe applicants reaction to them. This interviewingtechnique has long been used by sales executives who,in interviewing prospective sales personnel, hand the

applicant an Ashtray or other object and say Here,sell this to me. Rating Scale : One shortcoming of personal interview

is its tendency to lack objectivity, a defect that isreduced through rating scales. These are so constructedthat interviewers ratings are channeled into a limitedchoice of responses. In evaluating an applicants generalappearance, for e.g., one much used form forces aninterviewer to choose one of five descriptive phrases:

very neat, nicely dressed, presentable, untidy, slovenly.



13/18

4. References

References provide information on the applicantsnot available from other sources. Some employersdeny the value of references saying that referenceshesitate to criticize personal friends, ex-employees.

But the experienced employers reads between thelines, and sees where, for example, the weakcandidate is not praised.

Personal contact is best way to obtain informationfrom references, since facial expressions and voiceintonations reveal a great deal, and most people aremore frank orally than in writing.



14/18


4. References

Credit Check :Many companies run credit checks

on applicants for sales positions. When a heavy

burden of personal debt is found, it may indicate

financial worries interfering with productivity,motivating factor serving to spur productivity to

determine which requires further investigation.


15/18


5. Employment Tests

The purpose of testing is to determine whetherapplicants have the traits the company feels leads

to selling successfully. In turn, this results in

Advantages such as lower turnover and increasedperformance.

Types of Tests: Four types of psychological tests

are used in selection system for sales personnel: - Tests of ability measure how well a person can

perform particular tasks with maximum

motivation (tests for best performance).


16/18

II. Steps in the Selection Process Tests of habitual characteristics gauge how

prospective employees at in their daily worknormally (tests of typical performance).

Interest test measures an individuals interest in a

particular type of job. Achievement tests measure how much

individuals have learned from their experiences,

training, or education. Effective sales executives recognize that

psychological testing, although capable of making

valuable contribution, is 1 step in selection system


17/18


6. Physical Examination

Since good health is important to a

salespersons success, most companies

require physical examination.

Because of the relatively high cost, the

physical examination generally is one of the

last step.


18/18

III. Conclusion

Appropriate selection procedures, and their

skillful execution, result in greater sellingefficiency. A higher- grade salesperson is

produced, and the advantage of having such

employees make impressive list- better workquality improved market coverage, superior

customer relations, and a lower ratio of selling

expense to sales. Thus, good selection fits the right person to the

right job, thereby increasing job satisfaction and

reducing the cost of personnel turnover.

9. Selection Process

Documents