NAA Member News: Mercury Hampton – Choosing the Right Salesperson for Your Business: What Behavioural Profiles Tell Us
If you’re involved in building or managing sales teams, you’ll know it’s not as simple as finding the loudest or most confident person.
Sales roles across the automotive industry can vary and require quite specific strengths, depending on whether the job involves technical products, long sales cycles or close collaboration with engineering teams.
Understanding the natural behaviours that different salespeople bring can help you make better hiring decisions and create a more balanced team.
What Is the McQuaig Assessment?
The McQuaig Word Survey is a tool that measures how people naturally behave at work, focusing on things like how assertive or sociable they are, how patient, and how much they stick to rules. It’s not a personality test but rather a measure of work style that predicts how someone is likely to act in a job.
How We Use It
In our recruitment process, we work closely with your team to define exactly what kind of salesperson you need. For example, we consider: How technical is the product? How long does the sales cycle tend to be? What kind of relationships do salespeople need to build? And using McQuaig, we look for candidates whose natural styles will suit the demands of the role and your company culture.
That means we’re not guessing. We base decisions on insights about how people naturally work best.
Sales Profiles That Often Work in Automotive
- The Generalist: Competitive and independent, comfortable leading conversations and pushing deals forward. Good for fast-paced roles requiring decisiveness and influence.
- The Pioneer: Driven but more analytical. They carefully consider technical details and won’t rush decisions. Ideal for technical sales where thoroughness counts.
- The Persuader: Social and optimistic, skilled at building lasting relationships and influencing groups. Well suited to longer sales cycles where trust is key.
- The Administrator: Prefers routine and factual accuracy. Persistent and consistent; valuable where precision and compliance are important.
No profile is inherently better than another; each fits different roles and team requirements. It’s also possible that other profiles better fit your specific needs; these examples serve as a guide rather than a strict rule.
Understanding Development Points
Every profile comes with potential areas for development. For example, a Generalist might need support improving patience or listening, while a Pioneer may benefit from help with quicker decision making or social confidence.
Knowing these development points means you can better evaluate if your management and culture are set up to help someone grow. Tailored development plans support new salespeople to settle in smoothly and perform well.
Why It Matters
Knowing these profiles means you can think carefully about what your sales team really needs, rather than hiring someone who seems like a “safe bet” or just repeats a familiar approach. It also helps you recognise when a candidate’s natural style might not fit well with your team or management style.
For example:
- If you’re selling highly technical automotive components, you might want someone with a Pioneer’s curiosity and attention to detail.
- If you rely on building strong industry relationships, a Persuader’s people skills could be most valuable.
- Someone who needs close mentoring to develop social skills might struggle if your culture is more hands-off.
Just to name a few scenarios.
We’ve seen the cost of a poor hire can be high… and not just in time and money but also missed sales chances and team morale. Making recruitment decisions with behavioural insights helps reduce that risk.
Part of MHIQ
The McQuaig assessment is part of our MHIQ process for identifying which sales profile fits your business. We start by understanding your needs and then use data, not guesswork, to recommend candidates who suit the role and culture.
If this sounds useful, I’m happy to talk through how it could work for your sales hiring:
Dave Macpherson
Head of Global Accounts and NAA Account Manager at Mercury Hampton
