Transforming Your Sales Force for the 21st Century The book, written for sales managers and executives in the distribution industry, provides a blue print for executives to transform their sales forces into highly directable, effective, focused performers. more info
Testimonials
Profile XT
“The Profile XT [whole-person] assessments were a good barometer of my existing staff. I was able to dramatically shorten my learning curve as far as getting to know the strengths and weaknesses of each of them when I first joined the company. The PXT allowed me to be aware of specific areas where my sales team needed more help/coaching, and helped me better manage each individual. The assessments were an excellent value, and I would certainly use them during the selection process for any new hire. I would recommend that your clients use them if they ever left their current employer and were going to inherit an existing sales staff to manage. I have used a few other assessments in the past, but the PXT assessments provide the best overall value.” John D. Rettiger, Vice President
"After we started using the Profiles Sales Indicator, we found that we had been making the same mistake that everyone also does, hiring on 'gut feel' and training everyone as if they were all alike. The Sales Indicator has helped us to know our people as individuals and what specific training and coaching we can do to help them perform at their peak. It also has empowered us with the information of what makes a top-performer for Mazda so that when we go to hire new sales people, we are no longer taking a chance, we KNOW if they can perform for us BEFORE we hire them. The use of the Sales Indicator in conjunction with the Step One Survey is giving us valuable information that was previously unavailable. I am looking forward to many more profitable years using the Profiles Sales Indicator, and I'm anxious to see how other assessments you offer can help us in other areas of our dealership." Mike Domenico, Sales Manager
"The assessments (The Profile/Sales Indicator) that you offer have helped us make the best decisions in aligning the right people to the right job descriptions. We have used other assessments before and it pales in comparison to the accuracy and breadth of information that we derive from your assessments (The Profile/Sales Indicator). Also, the user friendly reporting enables us to understand and implement the information so that we can benefit from it immediately. In addition to the sophistication of these instruments, the technology that drives the assessments is very impressive. Your user-friendly interface that administers and reports on the results is "cutting edge." We can now access data in "real-time" once a candidate completes an assessment instead of waiting hours, some times days, before obtaining feedback. This is important to us in our interviewing process. The instant feedback of this critical information allows our company to reduce the time frame in making our decision in hiring. Thank you for your help in working with us and enabling us to step into the future of assessments! In this competitive market hiring the wrong people and using less than "cutting edge" technology is not an option!" Paul J. Woods, Executive Vice President
"I wanted to take this opportunity to tell you how delighted we are with the Step One Survey. After interviewing over a dozen applicants we found the Step One Survey to be a useful inexpensive tool to help us screen applicants. The survey is beneficial for asking all the questions we should have and then suggesting follow up questions in areas that need more explanation." Ed Boerman, President
"Step One has proved to be a useful tool in gauging employee work ethic, integrity and propensity to substance abuse. We use the test as part of the interview process. The face-to-face interview, reference checks and Step One test all play equal roles in determining the success of a candidate. We have determined that Step One is very accurate in identifying potential problem areas." Margo Stewart, Human Resources Manager "I've been receiving very important feedback from the Step One Survey™ screening program. It has enabled me to learn insightful information prior to employment about an individual’s attitudes as they relate to honesty/integrity, substance abuse, reliability and work ethic that ordinarily wouldn't be discovered until after someone is employed - then it's too late! Also, the direct admission portion provides open-ended interview questions that make the interview more structured and effective." Judie Posner, Human Resources Manager
"The results of our utilizing the Step One Survey in the hiring of employees have been unbelievable. After just four months of using the Step One Reports as part of our application process, the annualized turnover rate for our cashiers in one of my stores went from 1200% to 200% without any other changes to pay rates, management or shift schedules." Johnny Branch, President "We currently use the Step One Survey as part of our screening procedure for hiring new applicants in all positions in every department of our business. As a result we have experienced a dramatic decrease in turnover as well as a substantial decrease in employee theft, tardiness, and absenteeism. There is no question that the use of your products has streamlined our hiring procedure dramatically. In fact, the use of your products made me painfully aware of how little objective consistency we were using prior to that time. I look forward to continued success in hiring better people in my business in the years to come. Thank you for your help!" Troy Cummins, Owner & Manager
"We recently used the customer service as a training tool to help our existing staff better understand their strengths and weaknesses. I found the Survey most helpful in identifying areas that our team members both excel at and can use additional training." Aimee Hathaway, Human Resources Manager
"I wanted to express how pleased we are with the results we have been obtaining by utilizing the Customer Service Perspective. It is without question that we have dramatically improved the quality and productivity of our staff over the past year. We are quick to give your products the credit for this dramatic improvement. I cannot imagine why any business could not experience the same results we are experiencing. It has been such a pleasure to hear the many compliments from our members and guests regarding the improvements we have made in our staff. I cannot thank you enough." Travis Branam, Manager of Club Operations
"The Profile Assessment has enabled our company to benchmark the performance standards in our sales executives so that we can strive to hire the best most productive candidates in the shortest amount of time. It saves us about $45,000 each time we can avoid hiring the wrong person. In addition, the Internet application with onscreen administration, instant analysis and report generation makes administration very easy and efficient." Howard Falkow, Director of Human Resources
"In a small company it is absolutely essential that the incoming people have the character and temperament to fit in. Public Relations is pressurized enough without having to sort out internal staff and personality clashes caused by hiring people with the wrong fit. As a small company, I would now never consider hiring anyone without first running them through the Profile." Ronnie Simpson, Managing Director
"We have been using Profiles Assessments since 1993 and I want to compliment you and your company on the constant development of new products and the improvements you have made through the years. The Profile gives me information about our people that is not just "on target," it hits the bulls-eye every time. Using The Profile, we are improving productivity and the efficiency of every employee. It is an incredibly effective tool that I wholeheartedly endorse and recommend." James M.D. Maloney, President
"We used The Profile when hiring 141 people in the 18 months following its implementation and all but one of these hiring decisions have proven to be excellent - resulting in an incredible 99.3% hit rate in terms of identifying and hiring productive and retainable team members. The information provided by The Profile has been key to achieving such a high number of new hires who immediately settled into their roles as productive team members. As soon as we began to use The Profile in the hiring process we immediately got feedback from our trainers that those recruited with the aid of The Profile were much "more trainable" and took to their responsibilities much more quickly. We are currently implementing programs to ensure that we make even more use of the Coaching, Training, and Succession Planning outputs of the Profile in the ongoing management and development of our people." Michael Owens, HR Director
"The Manual succinctly summarizes almost everything an employer should know about the legal issues associated with recruiting, interviewing, hiring, and discharging employees. One of the great things about the manual is that it collects a great deal of important information about those critical issues in one simple handbook." Donald Pedar Johnsen
"Profiles Team Analysis pinpointed exactly the same challenges as were demonstrated during the teams existence. Had we known before, what we learned after the fact, these team's ability to perform effectively could have been greatly enhanced. As it was, they threatened themselves from within. With a few minor changes, significantly greater performance could have been realized." G. Benson Lange, Director of Engineering, Griffin International
"The Checkpoint 360 is the best product in this category that I've used. As you know, this tool replaced another product that we had been using exclusively for almost two years. The managers and executives at Spectrum Healthcare Services (SHS) receive more valuable information in an easy to read, color-coded format, which encompasses everyone's individual learning style. Not only is there validated feedback, but a comprehensive action plan that each person may use to implement change, based on the facts from their customized report." Patricia L. Keeley, Director, Training and Development
"We have had extremely positive feedback from participants about the complete and detailed input they receive in their Individual Feedback Report. The data is colorfully presented in multiple formats so that participants can view their management and team competencies first with a wide-angle lens and then progressively narrow the focus all the way down to the survey item level." Susan Lupo, Management Development Specialist
"Our entire executive and management team took the Checkpoint 360. We found that the results helped us focus on key skills that will enable us to become more effective managers and leaders. Your assistance in setting the stage for this really helped all of the managers to view it as a positive experience." Appleby & Wyman Insurance Agency
"I predict that within five years everyone will have to do a '360-degree review'." Stephen Covey, USA Weekend - August 29-31,1997 "It used to be simple. Employees met with a boss for a performance review - and either got a raise or didn't. But times change. Now, with the latest evolution - 360 reviews - the performance evaluation has come full circle." Stephanie Gruner - INC. Magazine - February, 1997 "That makes multi-rater feedback - where employees get formal insights on their performance from multiple sources such as peers, their subordinates and their boss - the hottest human resources trend around." Robert McGarvey - Entrepreneur Magazine - December, 1996
