The General Sales Trait Measures Understanding of Selling and Closing
The Sales (general) trait is one of the Sales Traits scored on the Aptitude assessments. It measures what a candidate knows about marketing themselves and closing a sale, rather than whether they can put any of it into practice.
What Does the General Sales Trait Measure?
The general sales trait measures the degree of theoretical understanding of the best ways to market oneself, products or services and to close sales. In other words, it scores what somebody knows about selling, across both halves of the job.
What the general sales trait is not
It is not the ability to apply the sales techniques. Consequently, a candidate can score well here and still freeze in front of a customer, which is why the behavioral side of the profile carries equal weight on any sales hire.
What the General Sales Trait Helps You Evaluate Before You Hire
Ask how they would open and how they would close the same deal. Weaker sellers describe the product at both ends, while stronger ones describe two genuinely different conversations.
Why the General Sales Trait Matters in Hiring
This is the broadest of the Sales Traits, covering both halves of the job in one number. Because it scores knowledge rather than application, it tells you what a candidate has learned rather than what they will do in front of a prospect.
Knowledge, Not Application
This score covers what somebody understands about selling. Whether they can actually do it belongs to the behavioral profile instead.
Two Halves in One Number
Marketing yourself and closing the sale both feed this reading, so a middling score can easily hide a strong half.
A Wider Low Band
Weakness runs to 34 here rather than stopping in the twenties, which makes a low reading much harder to dismiss.
How a low General Sales score shows up on the job
A weak seller rarely looks weak in the interview, because talking about the product is the easy part. The gap appears once a prospect needs a reason to decide.
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How the General Sales Trait Is Scored
Eighteen questions produce a score from 0 to 100 across six named ranges, and the three bands below group them.
Low — under 46
A very poor to poor understanding of marketing oneself, products or services and closing sales.
Medium — 46 to 65
A borderline to OK understanding of the best ways to market and close a sale.
High — 66 to 100
A good understanding of those same things, which becomes an excellent one from 85 upward.
The low band is wider here than on most traits, and 35 falls outside every range. Low is defined as under 35 and Poor starts at 36, so treat a 35 as part of the low band. Guessing alone still produces about 20, which means a candidate can answer several correctly and still land in the weakest band.
General Sales is one of the Sales Traits on the Aptitude assessments
Each trait in this set scores selling knowledge rather than personality. However, this one covers the whole job at once, so the narrower readings beside it tell you where the strength actually sits. Managing Fear is named here as Fear, because selling means risking rejection over and over.
Closer
A named relation covering the closing half alone, so read it whenever a middling general score needs breaking apart properly.
Hunter
A named relation covering new business instead. Finding prospects and then closing them draw on quite different knowledge sets entirely.
Assertive
A named relation, because believing that a bold approach works underpins ever asking a prospect to make a final decision.
Questioner
A named relation, because selling well starts with what a prospect reveals, which depends on valuing the question itself first.
Managing Fear
Selling means risking rejection over and over, which is exactly what that other reading actually covers.
Sales Traits
The category this trait belongs to. Every Sales Trait is scored from multiple choice questions with one correct answer, so these readings measure what a candidate knows rather than how they describe themselves.Â
How to Interpret General Sales Results
Six named ranges cover this trait, and the action below each range assumes you are holding a report.
Both the IC Aptitude Test and the Sales Aptitude Test include it.
What to Do Based on Your General Sales Score
Treat as no demonstrated selling knowledge at all, and keep this candidate out of any position that carries a quota.
Expect training to start from the very beginning here, so budget the ramp time before you commit to an offer.
Workable only where a manager coaches every single deal, and check Closer to see which half is actually missing here.
Compare this against your own role benchmark, since a relationship seat and an aggressive closing seat demand quite different readings.
Confirm the behavioral profile before assuming any performance, since knowing how to sell is not the same as selling well.
Assessment results support your hiring decisions, they do not replace them. Always read the general sales trait score alongside the full profile and your role benchmarks before drawing a conclusion.
The General Sales Trait Matters for Every Role You Hire
Because what counts as a strong reading differs between a relationship seat and an aggressive closing seat, benchmarks define what each number means. Therefore, review results against the benchmark for the specific job.
Relevant for all role types
Salesperson with Cold Calling Duties
Non-Professional Salesperson
Sales Manager
Hunter (Telemarketer)
Vehicle Salesperson
Relationship Salesperson
Sales Closer
Marketing Manager
If any of these situations sound familiar, this assessment is for you
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Frequently Asked Questions
It measures the degree of theoretical understanding of the best ways to market oneself, products or services and to close sales. The reading covers knowledge across both halves of selling, from getting attention through to asking for the decision.
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