New Thomas International White Paper: Sales Has Become a Thinking Person's Game

OAKVILLE, Ontario, November 19, 2014–Sales reps with superior cognitive ability are a tremendous competitive advantage in today’s increasingly demanding and complex sales environment. That’s the central message of “Sales and HR Leaders: Sales Has Become a Thinking Person’s Game,” a new white paper from Thomas International, a global specialist in work-based, user-friendly assessments.

The paper was written to help companies explore how sales today has evolved, and to offer them insights on how to best deal with this evolution, and to get the maximum results out of their sales teams — insights such as:
– There is tremendous variation in sales rep performance. According to The TAS Group, when pursuing qualified opportunities, 17 percent of salespeople win less than a quarter of potential deals, 37 percent win less than half, and 46 percent win more than half.
– Many trends are making it harder and more cognitively challenging to sell. A few examples include increased competition, more sensitivity to price among buyers, greater hesitancy to buy and increased deal complexity.
– Many salespeople are failing to give buyers the right information, insights and intelligence, and to come up with the creative solutions that are so often needed. According to a 2013 Gartner survey, 74 percent of executive buyers say that salespeople focus too much on their product, and only 34 percent feel salespeople do a good job communicating the business value.
– Sales reps with superior cognitive ability have tremendous value. Studies show that higher cognitive potential has a direct connection with increased revenue generation and performance in salespeople and is also associated with significantly faster time to full proficiency for new hires.
– It’s critical to account for cognitive potential in salespeople. High-quality cognitive assessments such as Thomas International’s General Intelligence Assessment (GIA) have demonstrated outcomes when used consistently and systematically.

“Sales reps’ performance has a huge impact on revenue generation,” said Merle Ballaigues, President of Thomas International North America. “The Million-Dollar Question is, ‘How can you determine the right people for your company’s salesforce?’ Being able to deliver on this is the difference between reaching and exceeding your revenue goals and falling short. What we’ve found is that the answer lies in acknowledging that sales isn’t just about relationships anymore. Today’s high-performers are sharp, creative and agile individuals that can demonstrate and deliver value for their clients, which is why sales has become a thinking person’s game.”

The white paper is available for complimentary download here.

About Thomas International

Thomas International is a global specialist in work-based, user-friendly assessments, providing objective data to accurately identify people’s work behavior, learning capability and emotional intelligence. With over 30 years of experience, Thomas International works with business leaders to transform the performance of their teams and individuals by enhancing hiring, retention, development and management. For more information, visit www.thomasinternational.net. [www.thomasinternational.net].

Press Contacts:

Scott Mackintosh
Thomas International
smackintosh(at)thomasus(dot)com
289-291-1380, ext. 217

Eric Anderson
fisher VISTA/HRmarketer
eanderson(at)hrmarketer(dot)com
831-685-9700