How to Prepare for Sales Aptitude Test?
Do you have what it takes to become a salesperson? Sales careers allow you to strengthen interpersonal relationships, establish remarkable finance skills, develop your passions and progress as a business person. But, how exactly do you get into the market?
When applying to sales positions, you are faced with aptitude tests to test your skills, experience, and how ‘apt’ you are for the position. Applying to a new job heightens anxieties and nerves, but don’t worry! We’ve outlined everything you need to know about sales aptitude tests, including what is on them and how to prepare.
Table of Contents
What Is a Sales Aptitude Test?
Aptitude refers to your ability to complete specific tasks in relation to a specific topic. So, sales aptitude tests measure your ability to understand the motives behind the sales industry and complete common sales tasks.
Common sales aptitude tests include:
- Verbal reasoning
- Abstract reasoning
- Numerical reasoning
- Error checking
- Data checking
What Qualities Should I Have to Be a Salesperson?
Successful salespeople tend to have skills in many of the following areas:
- Confidence
- Resilience
- Relationship building
- Outgoing
- Negotiation
- Responsive
- Goal-oriented
- Communication
- Persistent
Sales Aptitude Tests
Sales aptitude tests can include a number of different tests. Preparation is key if you want to excel in each test. To prepare, check out the highly useful Sales Aptitude Test preparation materials from Job Test Prep.
Verbal Reasoning Aptitude Test
This exam measures your ability to communicate. Why? When working in sales, effective communications skills are one of the driving factors of success in your career.
Successful sales depend on your communication capabilities. You must know how to pitch a sale and be forward about advancing the deal. If you are timid, your sales deflate and your business rate decreases. Not a good look for someone depending on selling things for a living.
Test Questions
Verbal aptitude tests consist of written scenarios in essay form or paragraph form that ask you to read the section, analyse it and prepare an answer based on the information. They use a ‘yes/no or cannot say’ question format.
Everything you need to know to answer the questions lies in the passages. If a chunk of text does not provide enough information to answer the question, you select cannot say as the answer.
In sales, you need to know how to handle verbal conflict, redirect tension and speak to someone who is unhappy with a product. Conflict could be via phone or written in email form.
The test provider sees how you respond to certain verbal situations and make decisions based on the given information.
These exams also give potential employers insight into how you will fit the position and the results show your potential as a salesperson.
Preparation Tips
- Use prep materials – To prepare for a verbal reasoning test, we highly recommend targeted test prep training packs from Job Test Prep. Through the study guides and practice tests, pay attention to the questions you find most difficult and spend extra time with them. When you get to the real test, you will know what to do and how to handle the difficult problems.
- Read carefully – The verbal aptitude test measures reading comprehension. The test creators throw questions meant to trick you if you rush through the test. If you take your time and treat each question with care, chances are you will earn a higher score. And even if questions are difficult, treat them with the same attention as the trickier ones.
- Use time wisely – Yes, you should read and re-read with caution and care, but time is limited so pay attention to the time spent on each question. When you get stuck on a specific question, circle back to it after answering the other questions.
- Don’t assume anything – These tests are not to determine critical thinking capabilities but how you understand written information.
- Test Preparation – The test prep kit from Job Test Prep includes thirteen true/ false/ cannot say tests based on the actual aptitude tests given during assessments, video tutorials and additional questions that make sense of verbal comprehension.
Abstract Reasoning Aptitude Test
This exam is the opposite of a verbal exam as it focuses on numbers and shapes instead of written text. It examines the way you use non-verbal information to think about patterns. Perfect when working with sales trends and number figures in a sales career.
These tests focus a lot on patterns so studying different puzzles helps shape ideas for what is to come on the exam.
When applied to sales positions, abstract reasoning skills demonstrate pattern recognition and problem-solving skills. Performing well indicates you can make informed decisions and in sales, you want to sell something that benefits you and the customer. This information notifies the employer you can work on your feet with novel information, which is important for a sales career.
To succeed on an abstract reasoning test, you need to know what you are working with. For example, a question could show an octagon, a heptagon, a hexagon and a pentagon and ask what comes after the pentagon?
- First – Identify the similarities in the choices. What do they all have in common? They are all shapes with a certain number of vertices.
- Next – Move on to the pattern. A heptagon has seven vertices, a hexagon has six and so forth. The pattern decreases one vertex per shape, so after the pentagon would be a square.
How to Prepare
The best way to study for these exams is to learn how puzzles function. Completing a puzzle is challenging when it boasts an unfamiliar format. However, once you find a groove, you learn the mechanics behind the riddles, and you know what to look for. Practising also cuts down the time it takes you to complete the exam, giving you more time to review and double-check your answers.
While utilising our test prep materials benefits you during the test, you can also refer to logic games and brain teasers. You want to make sure you can identify patterns with a quick turnaround time.
For example, investing in a sudoku book and completing one puzzle a day helps tone your problem-solving skills, increase concentration, helps you understand the puzzle as a whole, helps you recognise patterns in other parts of life, calms you and increases your puzzle (and problem) solving speed. All of these factors translate into abstract reasoning tests.
When reading a question, look for similarities and differences to identify the pattern. Working backwards can assist in solving the question, too. If you get stuck or prefer to work backwards, read each answer to get a sense of what the question results in. Apply each answer to the question and see how and if they apply.
One thing to avoid during an abstract reasoning exam is external factors. Say two similar questions appear close to each other. Maybe three consecutive questions all have letter C as the answer. You might avoid picking the correct answer if you think the test makers are trying to trick you.
Instead of focusing on the patterns of the answers between questions, focus on the given information in the test. Think about the test makers after you complete the test, but remember having the same answer or the same pattern could pop up on an exam and it shouldn’t sway your performance.
Numerical Reasoning Aptitude Test
If you’re skilled with calculations, which hopefully you are if you want to pursue a sales career, this test is for you.
Numerical reasoning assessments pose questions about data and information from charts, graphics, statistics and basic maths skills. Test takers need to understand the information, and analyse and dissect it to solve the questions.
To the employer, these tests showcase how well you can use numerical data to make decisions or calculations and how well you understand the maths behind sales. Since sales deal with sales sheets, numerical figures and statistics daily, performing well on this test is mandatory.
Error Checking Aptitude Test
These exams provide test takers with various types of information: numerical, alphabetical, verbal or alpha-numerical. Use the information given to read graphs, charts or patterns and determine if the information within the graphs is incorrect.
Error checking tests quantify your ability to double-check information, including sales figures and monetary values, and they gauge your verification skills. Succeeding on this test alerts a probable employer you can handle sales deals with care and precision, something they keep an eye out for.
Error checking tests have limited time, so you must read questions carefully whilst moving swiftly so you don’t run out of time.
Two providers supply the error checking aptitude tests: Saville Consulting and SHL. The formula of the exams differ, but the main idea behind the tests remains the same. Here is what you can expect from both.
Saville Checking
Saville administers three different tests. The short online exam clocks in at one minute and 30 seconds with a total of eight questions. The longer online exam comprises 32 questions in six minutes. The in-person exam allows 32 questions in eight minutes and 30 seconds.
The Job Test Prep guide provides two practice exams to test your speed and improve your score, reasoning and explanations behind the questions and some video walkthroughs for those who need visual aids.
SHL Error Checking
SHL tests require more concentration and focus from test-takers since they are longer than Saville tests.
Job Test Prep provides customers with 13 SHL mock tests, answer guides, and in-depth explanations. If you don’t like the product or aren’t improving, they’ll give you a full refund.
To prepare and succeed
- Know which provider you will test with. Types of questions and the format of tests vary between publishers. If you know which distributor provides the test, you can take an extra step of preparation and read up on the policies, study previous exams and rules and requirements for the test.
- Read the instructions. You might think you already know the instructions if you’ve taken practice exams. However, the rules for the real test could differentiate from the rules on a practice exam. To prevent avoidable errors, take a moment to read and review the instructions.
- Read quickly but thoroughly. You only have a certain time to complete the exam, but if you rush through, you might miss important details which could tank your results. Pay attention to each section of the question and work with intention.
- Look for grammar mistakes. It helps to re-read grammatical rulebooks to ensure you will notice any grammatical errors on the test. If a test focuses more on grammar inaccuracies than spelling mistakes, you’ll run into trouble if you don’t recognise the issues.
- Study the spelling of words. You might be a great speller. Even so, it helps to brush up on complicated spellings and language rules. Always better to be well prepared than unprepared.
- Make sure you get a good night’s sleep the night before. We can’t stress this enough. When taking this type of exam, adequate rest recharges and resets your body, preparing you for success.
- Eat a balanced meal before the test. Again, sleep recharges and resets your body, but a healthy meal refuels your body. When taking a test on an empty stomach, you won’t be able to concentrate as much as if you ate prior to the exam.
- Lastly, breathe. Nerves are common, but keep breathing to soothe yourself and regulate your heart rate. Maintaining steady breathing throughout the test lowers your heart rate and helps you focus and succeed. Who doesn’t want that?
Data Checking Aptitude Tests
Like the error checking tests, data tests assess your ability to identify incorrect information in charts, tables or patterns. Data checking tests are simpler error checking tests. They ask fewer questions about fewer charts or tables of data in shorter time frames.
To study for these, you can refer to the above-mentioned details regarding preparation for error checking tests.
Takeaways
Entering a sales position poses challenges, but it also has its rewards. You learn how to assist with finances, establish client relationships and understand what makes for a decent sales pitch.
To establish a career in sales, you have to take several preliminary aptitude tests, from numerical assessments to abstract reasoning exams, to prove your capability of succeeding in the profession,
Aptitude tests can cause anxiety and fear, but with the right test prep materials, you can ease your nerves. Whether you want to start your sales career next month or are planning for the future, you are covered.
Click here to start preparing for your sales aptitude tests.
Sarah is an accomplished educator, researcher and author in the field of testing and assessment. She has worked with various educational institutions and organisations to develop innovative evaluation methods and enhance student learning. Sarah has published numerous articles and books on assessment and learning. Her passion for promoting equity and fairness in the education system fuels her commitment to sharing insights and best practices with educators and policymakers around the world.
