SSP Scales Description

APPROACH & INVOLVEMENT - Refers to a salesperson's ability to approach and involve a prospect in a sale in a positive manner.

Low scores indicate the salesperson may alienate the prospect before they have had a chance to present their product or service. This usually happens because their approach is too aggressive. Experienced salespeople can sometimes score low in this scale if they have not recently been involved in a sales job where this skill was necessary.

Experienced salespeople have usually built a strong following of satisfied customers and are not as actively involved in initial contacts. A sales position which involves following-up leads does not require the same skill level in this area as does a position which requires Cold Calling and Prospecting. Successful salespeople realise that their initial objective should be to establish rapport and get the prospect to like and trust them.

OVERCOMING OBJECTIONS - Refers to a salesperson's ability to answer prospects’ questions in a knowledgeable manner.

It also applies to the salesperson's skill in helping a prospect to justify a purchase. Individuals strong in this skill will usually have a greater chance of closing prospects. To successfully overcome objections a salesperson must have a knowledge of the product and a basic understanding of the psychology of what motivates prospects to consider buying something. High scores in this scale generally indicate that the salesperson understands it is essential to thoroughly answer a prospect's questions and concerns before attempting to close.

BEING ABLE TO CLOSE - is essential to profitability. Even if salespeople can successfully approach and involve customers in a sale and overcome objections, if they are unable to ask for the order, or "Close," they will not have a positive impact on bottom-line profits.

The ability of being able to close not only involves knowing what to say, but also recognising the proper time to attempt to "Close" the sale. Low scores in this area indicate a lack of knowledge and experience in this vitally important skill. Training may have little effect on the examinee's skill level, unless the examinee makes a dedicated effort to implement that training in his or her sales presentations.

ETHICS - refers to a salesperson's commitment to conduct a sale in a reputable and truthful manner.

Low scores indicate a willingness, on the part of the salesperson, to get an order no matter how many lies or empty promises need to be made. Such people can seriously damage a company's reputation. These salespeople may initially appear to be very productive in terms of closing sales. Ultimately, however, their deceit and unethical conduct will be detrimental to promoting a customer relationship which involves long term repeat business.

POLITE & COURTEOUS - refers to a person's willingness to use commonly accepted social conventions when dealing with prospects, particularly when closing the sale.

Use of phrases such as: "Thank you", "Please", "I'm sorry", "Would you excuse me, please", are indicative of a Polite and Courteous salesperson. However, there is a time to be Polite and Courteous and there is a time to be very direct and to ask for the order. This is why some of the most effective closing techniques are not the most Polite and Courteous techniques. Thus it is not unusual to find lower scores in the Polite and Courteous scale when high scores occur in the Closing scale.

FRIENDLY & WARM - refers to a salesperson's ability to be perceived as being sensitive to the needs of the prospect.

High scores are indicative of salespeople who project to a prospect a genuine concern that their product or service will be of a significant benefit to the purchaser. Individuals with low scores on this scale tend not to be perceived, in a sales situation, as "people oriented" therefore, without proper training, their likelihood of long term success in sales is questionable. (NOTE: This scale measures how a prospect will perceive the salesperson's selling style, not their basic personality.)

While this may seem strange, it is perfectly normal for managers to rank lower in this scale. Because managers are usually placed in the position of problem solver, or are brought in for extremely difficult closes, they tend to be very practical and pragmatic in their approach. It's normal for a sales manager's attention to be focused more on "What's the bottom line?", "What's it going to take?", etc. They don't have time to establish rapport, or identify the prospect's needs, they assume the salesperson has done that.

HANDLING PROBLEMS - refers to a person's ability to handle customer problems, as well as problem customers.

Sometimes the profession of selling requires a great deal of patience when it comes to overly-demanding customers. A low score on this scale indicates a lack of ability or desire to deal with such problems. These salespeople tend to avoid conflict. Many good salespeople do not like conflict and are not very good at handling problems. This is not a significant drawback if the salesperson has a high Friendly & Warm score because these salespeople will not normally generate problems.

However, people with low Friendly & Warm scores and low scores in this scale may cause problems that they themselves are unwilling to correct. Higher score levels are also more important for managerial candidates.

QUALIFYING BUYERS - refers to the ability to determine the needs of prospects. Included in this area is the ability to learn if prospects have the authority to make the buying decision and if the purchase is within their financial means, or their company's budget.

PROSPECTING & COLD CALLING - refers to a person's ability and tenacity in generating new business prospects. Knowing how and where to look for new prospects cuts down the amount of time needed for this task.

PRESENTATIONS & DEMONSTRATIONS - refers to a salesperson's ability to give productive demonstrations and effective presentations. A key element to success in this skill area is "Prospect Involvement" in the Presentation or Demonstration.

TIME MANAGEMENT refers to a person's ability to organise their time in an effective and productive manner. (It should be noted that people who have owned their own company, or who have been in upper management, tend to score low in this area. Such people usually do not have to account for their time. Accordingly, they organise their time less rigorously than that of a salesperson expected to achieve sales quotas.)

TELEPHONE TECHNIQUE - refers to a person's ability to use the phone in a polite and productive manner, particularly in the area of making appointments.

CALL ENTHUSIASM - measures a person's motivation level and willingness to meet prospects and present their product or service.

Individuals with high scores on this scale usually have little reluctance in meeting prospects face-to-face. However, those with low scores may be avoiding person-to-person contact because they fear rejection. It is important to realise that even though a salesperson may have excellent skills, if they are reluctant to meet prospects, they will find it difficult to be successful and productive.

The FUNDAMENTAL SKILLS score is a weighted average of the first 8 scales.
It refers to those basic skills which are essential for any job in sales. Whether the job is in retail or inside sales, telemarketing, or is an outside sales position involving territory management, an acceptable overall score is important for success.

The COMPREHENSIVE SKILLS score is a weighted average of the first 12 scales.
It includes the Fundamental Skills plus the last 4 scales (it does not include Call Enthusiasm), which are more closely associated with more sophisticated sales roles. These generally include those sales positions which involve territory management, good time management skills and low supervision levels.