How to Identify Creative Sales People

Ever more companies have at their disposal almost identical technology and the same range of products and services. Therefore the critical factor in sales success is increasingly the recruitment of creative sales men. A creative sales man will not stay on the beaten track but will go in search of new business opportunities. This management training article gives a way for sales managers to assess the potential for creativity in the sales people they have.

Creativity can mean many different things. The abstract term 'creativity' is for this analysis subdivided into 11 categories. With the assistance of this management training checklist review each of your sales people for their creative potential.

1. Divergent thinking.

The development of their ideas opens up totally new avenues; in doing so, they test an increasing number of alternative solutions (5 points)

Their train of thought is innovative in the main; they are willing to consider alternative solutions (4 points)

Their train of thought sometimes produces new ideas; they are not always satisfied with the first solution that presents itself (3 points)

They seldom develop an independent train of thought and only when prompted to do so do they seek different solutions to the norm; they are usually satisfied with existing solutions (2 points)

They do not have any innovative ideas whatsoever and, in fact, stand in the way of conceptualising new ideas (1 point)

2. Unconventional thinking.

They have unbridled enthusiasm for innovative ideas and question previous practice (5 points).

They are open to innovative ideas in the main and reject old fashioned practice (4 points).

They will sometimes show interest in trying out new ideas, but mainly stick to conventional practice (3 points).

They have a initially sceptical of new ideas and stick to conventional practice (2 points).

They reject new ideas out of hand and hardly alter conventional practice at all (1 point).

3. Free flow of thought.

They are always thinking up alternative solutions for existing issues and are quick to express their opinion in the most surprising of situations (5 points).

They normally manage to come up with several alternative solutions for existing problems and can give an opinion in unexpected situations (4 points).

They manage sometimes to identify several alternative solutions for a problem and do not need long in order to express their opinion in an unexpected situation (3 points).

They seldom manage to come up with several alternative solutions for existing problems and hesitate in expressing an opinion in unexpected situations (2 points).

They manage to come up with one alternative solution at the most for existing problems and are unable to express an opinion on the spot in unexpected situations (1 point).

4. Originality.

Their ideas are always very unusual and they are never at a complete loss in dead-end situations (5 points).

It is not unusual for them to come up with unusual ideas and can also cope in dead-end situations (4 points).

They sometimes come up with unusual ideas and do not automatically give up when faced with a dead-end situation (3 points).

They come up very occasionally with unusual ideas and need time to come to grips with a dead-end situation (2 points).

They are not expected to come up with ideas and they are at a loss when faced with a dead-end situation (1 points).

5. Ability to identify problems.

Identifies opportunities and their associated benefits early on and plans ahead and arranges the countermeasures to be taken in order to deal with any difficulties which are expected to crop up (5 points).

They often point out possible opportunities; know how to appraise future difficulties and can arrange measures to combat these (4 points).

Problems and deficiencies in the working environment don't escape their notice for long and they are able to find possible improvements (3 points).

Sometimes overlook flaws and deficiencies in their working environment and they seldom put forward any suggested improvements (2 points).

They are not receptive to flaws and deficiencies in the working environment and therefore do not put forward any suggested improvements (1 point).

6. Elaboration.

They express their ideas in a polished and stylized manner; they have excellent observation skills and miss nothing (5 points).

They describe their ideas in detail and you can rely on their observation skills (4 points).

They are able to describe their ideas well and have a keenly developed sense of observation (3 points).

They tend to describe their ideas more in outline form and their observations sometimes miss some details (2 points).

They have only very vague ideas and their observations are almost always missing some important details (1 point).

7. Rich vocabulary.

They can present their ideas very precisely and clearly and always find the appropriate way of expressing facts (5 points).

They have a talent for finding the right words and use different ways to present the facts (4 points).

They are able to present their ideas in a comprehensible manner and find the right words to express the facts most of the time (3 points).

It can be difficult to understand their ideas and when presenting facts they sometimes repeat themselves (2 points).

They have difficulties with words and are usually unable to find the right means of expressing the facts (1 point).

8. Ability to concentrate

They concentrate fully when colleagues are talking to them; They are able to immerse themselves deeply in whatever they are doing so that it is impossible to distract them (5 points).

They concentrate when talking to colleagues; have the ability to submerge themselves in the task at hand and are rarely distracted (4 points).

They usually concentrate when talking with their colleagues; have the ability to sub-merge themselves in the task at hand (3 points).

They are sometimes unable to concentrate fully when talking to colleagues and are easily distracted from the task at hand (2 points).

When talking to colleagues they find it difficult to concentrate and are often distracted from the task at hand (1 point).

9. Redefinition.

They have an amazing ability to distinguish between important and unimportant matters and come straight to the point (5 points).

They are able to make quick distinctions between important and unimportant matters and quickly come to the point (4 points).

They are able to distinguish between important and unimportant issues and do not take long to come to the point (3 points).

They sometimes find it difficult to select between important and unimportant matters and sometimes require time to come to the point (2 points).

They have difficulty distinguishing between important and unimportant matters and often skirt around the main issues (1 point).

10. Grip on reality.

They carefully check and assess each piece of information and suggestion received and always take into consideration the corporate possibilities (5 points).

They assess every piece of information and suggestion they receive and take into consideration the corporate possibilities when doing so (4 points).

They don't take on board information and suggestions without first checking them and usually take into consideration the corporate possibilities(3 points).

They do not check the information and suggestions they receive carefully enough; they are not too good at appraising the corporate possibilities (2 points).

They do not check the information and suggestions they receive and completely overlook the corporate possibilities (1 point).

11. Organisational skills.

Everything that they do goes smoothly; they always select colleagues who are particularly suited for the tasks for which they are chosen (5 points).

There are very rarely problems in the smooth functioning of the tasks they fulfill; they show great talent for selecting the most appropriate colleagues for the different tasks set (4 points).

In general, their work runs smoothly/acceptably; they select good people for different tasks (3 points).

Their work could go more smoothly; they demonstrate a weakness in the people they select for different tasks (2 points).

Their work rarely goes smoothly; they have no skill in allocating tasks appropriately (1 point). Now divide each sales person's total score by 11 to calculate their creative profile. The interpretation is as follows: 1.00 - 1.50 = not creative, 1.51 - 2.50 = not very creative, 2.51 - 3.50 = averagely creative, 3.51 - 4.50 = above averagely creative, 4.51 - 5.00 = extremely creative.

It is the role of the sales manager to encourage the creative salespeople in their team and select creative applicants to fill sales positions. To learn about how to develop salespeople managers should attend a management training course.


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Richard Stone is a Director for Spearhead Training Limited that specialises in running management training courses to improve business performance. Richard provides consultancy advice for numerous world leading companies. View more details by clicking on the link.