Understand What Drives Sales Activity – and What Holds It Back
Understand What Drives Sales Activity – and What Holds It Back
1. Identify the Real Barriers to Sales
SPQ*Gold/FSA distinguishes between Sales Call Reluctance and Pseudo-Barriers.
- Sales Call Reluctance refers to psychological barriers that cause a salesperson to avoid key activities, such as making calls, booking meetings, or asking for business.
- Pseudo-Barriers are excuses or external factors often used to mask the underlying fear.
By understanding this difference, companies can address the right problems with the right solutions.
This insight is crucial not only for selecting the right salespeople but also for determining what to focus on in their onboarding program to ensure they ramp up effectively.
2. Increase Sales Activity and Reduce Excuses
Many salespeople know what they should do but still don’t do it. SPQ*Gold/FSA helps uncover the reasons behind this behavior, allowing sales leaders to provide the right support and coaching. The results?
✅ More booked meetings and proactive sales efforts
✅ Reduced passivity and avoidance behaviors
✅ Greater confidence and persistence in sales
Salespeople who work on reducing their barriers not only increase their number of business meetings but also build stronger connections with their customers and prospects. This always leads to increased sales. By how much? The lowest improvement we’ve seen is 18%, and in some cases, the impact has been dramatic—from half a new customer per week to five new customers per week.
3. Improve Hiring Accuracy and Sales Team Development
By using the test in recruitment, companies can ensure that new sales hires not only have the right skills on paper but also the mental resilience to succeed in a sales role. For existing teams, the test enables a data-driven approach to skill development, providing each salesperson with insights on how to overcome their unique limitations.
Salespeople with lower levels of Sales Call Reluctance learn faster and are more open to trying new strategies or sales techniques, which saves time and money in training and development.
4. Strengthen Sales Leadership with the Right Insights
Many sales managers struggle to motivate and drive their teams, but traditional coaching methods don’t always work if the real reason behind low activity is psychological rather than skill-based. SPQ*Gold/FSA provides a clear picture of which salespeople need what kind of support, leading to more effective coaching and better results.
This means that your investments in sales leadership training and coaching for managers or sales trainers will deliver a much higher return.
5. Direct Business Gains: More Sales and Higher Revenue
When sales teams overcome their barriers and become more active, it directly leads to higher sales and improved profitability. Companies that actively work to reduce Sales Call Reluctance using SPQ*Gold/FSA often see:
- Shorter sales cycles and faster deal closures
- More business from both new and existing customers
- More efficient sales processes and a higher ROI on sales efforts
It speaks for itself, doesn’t it? Additionally, salespeople with lower levels of reluctance stay in their roles longer. Likely because they perform better, and the sales job feels less stressful. The result? Lower turnover, fewer costly recruitments, and a more stable sales team.
The investment in additional testing is far outweighed by the money saved on turnover, training, and lost sales opportunities—not to mention the revenue increase from more effective salespeople.
Summary: Why Choose SPQ*Gold/FSA?
- It’s the only test that measures sales activity on a psychological level – revealing why salespeople don’t do what they should.
- It provides concrete, measurable insights for both individuals and organizations.
- It helps companies build stronger sales teams, improve hiring accuracy, and increase revenue.
Want to know how SPQ*Gold/FSA can help your company boost sales? Let’s talk!
