First and foremost, salespeople must be outgoing and confident in order to build relationships with customers and close deals. They also need to be comfortable in social situations, as they must meet new people on a regular basis.

Salespeople usually have excellent communication skills and empathy. It’s not always easy to talk to people about what they need or want. So a big part of sales is helping customers figure out what’s best for them.

Personality tests are used by companies to assess job applicants and employees, but they are also helpful in understanding how people think and behave in different situations.

Similarly, there are a number of personality tests you can take online to find out if you are a good fit for sales. One example is the Myers-Briggs test, which is based on the idea that people have different strengths when it comes to how they make decisions, how they process information, how they approach relationships, and how they behave under stress.

There are no better or worse personality tests, it’s more a matter of your preference. If you are drawn to a particular test, you can look at your results and compare them to the typical traits of salespeople. With this knowledge, you can try to work on developing certain traits to be successful as a salesperson, or you can focus on a profession you admire and can be better at. Read below to learn more about the MBTI and other personality tests, and choose the test that you think will help you know yourself best.

16 Types

Do you prefer to focus on the outer world or on your own inner world? Do you prefer to focus on the basic information you take in or do you prefer to interpret and add meaning? When making decisions, do you prefer to first look at logic and consistency or first look at the people and special circumstances?

These are just some of the questions used in the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), an assessment which identifies and describes the 16 different personality types that result from the interactions between your preferences.

The idea is that you can use the information from a test to figure out what kind of careers would be a good fit for you or how to approach specific situations in your life. For example, if you know that you are particularly sensitive to stress, then you might have ideas about how you could handle a stressful situation in your life in a different way.

That is, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is a 70-year-old assessment that provides positive language for understanding and appreciating individual differences. Today, the MBTI assessment is popular with organizations and millions of people around the world.

Based on the psychological types described by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, Isabel Briggs Myers and her mother, Katharine Cook Briggs, aimed to make the insights of type theory accessible to individuals and groups.

Unlike other psychological instruments and personality tests, the MBTI instrument sorts by preference and does not measure traits, abilities, or character. Despite being widely criticized by professional psychologists as pseudoscience, the MBTI is still beloved by HR departments and career counselors around the globe.

Your Enneagram Test

As a salesperson or manager, you should understand that an Enneagram test is not only a test that helps with self-awareness, self-understanding, and self-development, but it is also used as a typology to gain insight into interpersonal dynamics in the workplace.

The Enneagram is an ancient system of nine different personality types (sometimes called “Enneatypes”) represented by the points of a geometric figure called the Enneagram, which show the connections between types. Each type has its own strengths and weaknesses, and each person has a unique combination of these traits.

The Ennegram_AiPersonalDigitalTwin

Each of the personality types is usually understood to have three “instinctual subtypes.” These subtypes are thought to be formed according to which of a person’s three instinctual energies is dominantly developed and expressed. The instinctual energies are usually referred to as “self-preservation,” “sexual” (also called “intimacy” or “one-to-one”), and “social.” At the instinctual level, people may internally stress and externally express the need to protect themselves (self-preservation), to connect with significant others or partners (sexual), or to get along or succeed in groups (social).

Although it is not entirely clear where the ideas and theories related to the Enneagram of Personality originated, the teachings of Bolivian psycho-spiritual teacher Oscar Ichazo and Chilean psychiatrist Claudio Naranjo are considered to have influenced contemporary Enneagram theories.

Understanding your type can help you develop strategies to overcome challenges and achieve success. As a salesperson, manager or leader, you should understand that an Enneagram test is not only a test that helps with self-awareness, self-understanding and self-development, but it is also used as a typology to gain insight into interpersonal dynamics in the workplace.

DISC Model Test

DISC is a self-assessment tool that can help you predict your work performance or find out why you or others behave a certain way in the workplace.

The DISC theory is based on psychologist William Moulton Marston’s emotion and behavior theory and describes personality in terms of four key characteristics:

Dominance: active use of force to overcome resistance in the environment

Inducement: use of charm to overcome obstacles

Submission: heartfelt and voluntary acceptance of the need to fulfill a request

Compliance: fearful accommodation to a superior power

According to a 2013 German study, a DISC assessment “largely” met the requirements of the test assessment system of the Diagnostics and Test Board of the Federation of German Psychological Associations (TBS-DTk) in terms of reliability, however not at all in terms of validity.

Nonetheless, DISC has been used to help establish a course of action when dealing with problems as a leadership team—that is, taking the various aspects of each DISC type into account when solving problems or assigning jobs.

The Big Five Traits

The Big Five are the most widely used basis for assessing different types of personality traits. They provide a detailed insight into your personality type and how it affects your daily life. The five traits can be summarized by the acronym OCEAN (Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness and Neuroticism), while CANOE (Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, Neuroticism, Openness and Extraversion) is another option.

Openness to experience means how open-minded you are to new ideas, new situations, and new ways of thinking and living.

Conscientiousness means how much you care about your future and how hard you try to achieve your goals and stay organized.

Extroversion means how much you enjoy the company of others and how you recharge your energy.

Agreeableness indicates how much you want to get along with others and avoid conflict.

Neuroticism indicates how sensitive you are to stress and change and how well you can handle it.

You can be high, low, or somewhere in the middle on each trait.

Understanding your own Big Five personality traits can help you better manage your relationships at work, at home, and in other places.

For example, using the Big Five personality traits in your MindBank Ai will help you learn not only how you or those around you approach a particular activity, but also how they approach life in general.

How to Become a Good Salesman

If you are interested in becoming a salesperson, you should become familiar with talking to people about products and services. You can approach this in a number of ways, but one simple way is to follow salespeople and sales managers on social media. This observational approach will give you insight into how the sales process works and how salespeople build relationships with their customers.

Another option is to volunteer at a nonprofit organization. That’s because as a volunteer, you may be asked to take on various tasks, including talking to people who are not necessarily trying to buy something from you. Yet this experience can also help you gain confidence in your ability to reach out to people.

Conclusion

As mentioned earlier, salespeople have excellent communication skills, including the ability to empathize with customers and the confidence to approach people and start a conversation. They must also be very comfortable in social situations. In addition, salespeople must be outgoing and willing to take risks.

Personality tests are a great way to find out what careers are right for you. They are also helpful in figuring out how to approach certain situations in your life, such as how to deal with your stress levels or how to build better relationships with your colleagues.