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You hire each employee to fulfill a specific role within your organization. And, with rare exceptions, most of your team members want to meet or exceed your expectations. But they also want more. Your employees yearn to feel a deep passion for their work and to be inspired by your company’s mission. They long to make a positive impact on the world around them.

As their leader, you should desire these things for your team. By unleashing their passion, you’ll help your staff feel empowered, fulfilled, and happy. Passion starts with employee engagement.

According to Gallup, “…engaged employees produce better business outcomes than other employees -- across industry, company size, and nationality, and in good economic times and bad.” The numbers bear this out; the behaviors of highly engaged business units result in a 23% difference in profitability. If that’s not incentive enough to focus on engagement, Gallup also reported, “Not engaged or actively disengaged employees account for approximately $1.9 trillion in lost productivity nationally.”

When your employees have this deep connection to their jobs, your company will reap numerous benefits. Engagement will go up. Turnover will go down. And your team will become an innovative, problem-solving force that fosters productive relationships and pursues continuous learning -- all in the name of moving your enterprise forward.

So how do you encourage, tap into, and nurture your employees’ passions? You:

Set the Culture

Your organization has to facilitate passion through engagement. And your company culture must reflect that desire to support the differing needs of each team member.

Shaping a culture that fosters passion begins with leadership -- old-school, rigid micromanaging and narrow-focused supervision is out. Collaborative, flexible, trusting, and visionary leadership is in.

Your employees need to know that it’s okay to fail if a calculated risk doesn’t pay off. They also need to know that you’re not after perfection -- you’re after results. And, while today’s performance is important, tomorrow’s growth and evolution are even more so.

This organizational stance has to be championed from the top down. As a leader, you need to model the behavior you want to see in your employees. Let your own passion show before you can expect your team to reveal theirs.

Show the Impact

To be genuinely invested in and truly passionate about their work, your employees need to see that what they do matters. To help them recognize this, show them how their effort impacts their department, organization, and community. When each employee can trace their output to a larger outcome, they’ll take ownership of it and strive to improve.

Here are a few ways you can show your employees their real impact:

Provide the Opportunity

According to Omnia’s 2024 Talent Trends report, “The value of a company aligning with the ambitions of employees is clear. 77% of job applicants research company culture before applying for a job. 92% say that the company culture impacts their decision to stay longer.”

When you invest in an employee’s development, you tell them that you care about them and their career. With an enhanced skill set, they’ll feel more confident navigating uncertain times. They’ll also feel more loyal to your organization.

This development can also uncover and nurture your employees’ passions. As they learn by creating and doing, they’ll realize their potential and find new ways to help your organization achieve its goals. It’s a real win-win.

For best results, provide each employee with various developmental experiences tailored to their emerging skills and interests. Let them interact with other passionate team members across the organization to spread enthusiasm and innovation. And most importantly, give them ample space to experiment and implement what they learn.

How Omnia Can Help

It’s exciting to watch your team’s passion develop and deepen, benefiting each member and the business as a whole. What if you could get a sneak peek into your employees’ strengths, tendencies, and work preferences? That insight would help you position them for success both now and in the future and determine optimal developmental opportunities.

Good news! You absolutely can get that insight anytime you want it. A behavioral assessment provides all of those details and more, helping you lead, motivate, and communicate effectively with your team. You can learn more about Omnia’s behavioral assessments here.

Remember, effective communication leads to more productive employees and a more profitable workplace.

According to Dan Schawbel, managing partner at Workplace Intelligence (as reported by The Workforce Institute at UKG), “Feeling heard drives a sense of purpose and belonging. By implementing employee feedback, people leaders can create an organizational culture of psychological safety and trust that thrives when its people thrive.”

Behavioral insights can provide leadership with ideas on how to communicate with each team member efficiently and thoughtfully, to ensure that they each feel heard.

Omnia offers a variety of reports using behavioral assessment data. For example, the Team Dynamics Report provides an in-depth custom analysis of an existing or potential team. On the other hand, our Professional Development Report is an automated self-awareness report written directly to existing employees.

Final Thoughts

Passionate employees can achieve great feats for your organization. But, they must be empowered to create, innovate, and take risks. When they are, you’ll retain valuable human capital, and your company will take giant leaps forward -- both necessities in today’s ever-competitive business world.

 

This article is a repost from August 2020 with updated information and statistics.

Hiring a new employee can feel a lot like a guessing game. Sure, you study resumes, conduct interviews, and check references, but it often still feels like you’re taking your chances and hoping for the best. After all, job applicants can (and do) fudge resumes, candidates do their best to say all the right things and impress in interviews, and some references aren’t very forthcoming — if you can get them to return a call or email at all.

As frustrating as the process may be, it doesn’t have to be a gamble because Omnia helps take the guesswork out of hiring. And after the employee selection process is complete, we help make onboarding a productive, seamless experience too. It all starts with The Omnia Behavioral Assessment.

Employee Selection

Our pre-employment assessment provides businesses with valuable insights into job candidates’ innate personality traits, revealing which behaviors are most natural and comfortable for them. It’s like getting a peek behind the curtain to see a potential hire’s inherent characteristics because the assessment uncovers attributes that might not be apparent from resumes, phone screens, or even interviews.

Omnia’s behavioral assessment helps companies identify candidates whose strengths and motivators align with the needs of the job, increasing the likelihood for success in the position. It also pinpoints a candidate’s potential challenge areas — something that might otherwise take weeks or months to come to the surface after starting a job.

Bonus #1: The personality insights gained from our pre-employment assessment help reduce the chance of unconscious bias in the hiring process. Rather than relying solely on subjective judgments, organizations use our data-backed assessment results as one of many factors in their decision-making, which helps to make their employee selection process more objective.

Our behavioral assessment is comprised of an adjective checklist, and job candidates select the words that best represent them. Because it is not a pass/fail test or a forced response questionnaire and there is no time limit, our assessment is an unintimidating exercise for job applicants. It’s also quick, typically taking 10 minutes or less to complete, making for a smooth candidate experience.

Although our clients are welcome to use any of the position benchmarks from our extensive library covering a variety of industries, we also offer the opportunity for clients to create their own job benchmarks unique to their businesses. They can assess the people who are successfully performing those jobs now to create a standard by which to evaluate future applicants.

The data derived from an Omnia pre-employment assessment is illustrated by an easy-to-read 8-column bar graph and explained in depth in both the Target Selection Report and The Custom Selection Profile.

Our Target Selection report compares the candidate’s attributes to the desired traits for a job and provides insightful discussions about the similarities and differences. The results are available immediately. Omnia’s Custom Selection Profile also offers informative explanations about an applicant’s job fit. Each Custom Selection Profile is individually evaluated and written by an analyst, and this enables us to tailor the writeup based on an employer’s unique needs, such as including peer and supervisor comparisons and addressing specific questions or concerns.

Bonus #2: All Omnia reports, including our automated reports, are originally written by analysts, not AI.

Interviewing

Understanding the characteristics that are most natural for an applicant can make interviews more impactful as well. Armed with this information, interviewers can ask behavioral interview questions that delve deeper into how a candidate’s attributes will either complement a job or become challenge areas within the position. It gives the applicant a chance to offer real-life examples of how they’ve handled specific situations and obstacles in the past, allowing employers to make hiring decisions based on concrete examples and experiences rather than surface-level impressions.

Bonus #3: All Custom Selection Profiles and Target Selection reports include behavioral interview questions specific to the traits outlined in each candidate’s report.

Onboarding

But the benefits of The Omnia Assessment don’t end after the selection process. The personality insights offered by Omnia’s suite of behavioral assessment reports aid in onboarding too. Understanding a new hire’s communication style or the level of structure and direction that best suits them in a new job helps companies tailor the onboarding process to the individual, maximizing their potential from the start.

Identifying a new employee’s intrinsic traits can help better integrate them into existing teams, uncovering potential conflicts or areas of synergy within the group, enabling managers to proactively address them during the acclimation process.

Bonus #4: Omnia also provides unlimited consultations with our team of expert Client Service Managers to discuss the assessment results, answer questions, and help clients get the most out of their Omnia reports.

For 39 years, Omnia has been a trusted partner through candidate selection, employee onboarding, and beyond. In addition to our pre-employment behavioral assessment, we also offer other tools such as a cognitive assessment, grammar assessment, and job ad writing assistance. Reach out to us today to discover how the Omnia advantage can help take your hiring and onboarding process to the next level!

Last Updated on March 18, 2024

Effective leaders excel at inspiring and guiding their team to achieve common goals that ultimately create successful and sustaining businesses. The best leaders capture the hearts and minds of their people, building a culture of engaged and thriving performers. This is the magic of great leadership.

Celebrating our 39th anniversary this month, The Omnia Group has been helping organizations select and develop leaders through the power of our behavioral assessment since our inception. Successful leadership begins with self-awareness, particularly understanding one's own personality traits and the unique traits of everyone on the team. Here’s how we do it.

Self-Awareness

Effective leadership begins with understanding who you are and how you are wired. Self-awareness forms the foundation of effective leadership. By understanding your personality traits, you gain insights into your unique leadership strengths, weaknesses, preferences, and tendencies. This self-awareness enables you to make informed decisions about how to lead and interact with others.

The Omnia Assessment takes just 10 minutes to complete. It’s packed with valuable insights into your distinctive traits. It helps you understand what may or may not be effective for you in your leadership role, gives valuable information on what motivates or demotivates you, and actionable take aways to help you develop, leverage, and execute your primary strengths.

Team Dynamics

Successful leaders must be able to manage and motivate diverse teams. Unfortunately, the odds are stacked against us when it comes to engaging our teams. Our annual 2024 Omnia Talent Survey Trends Report sighted that employee engagement is at an all-time low.

Understanding your personality traits and those of your team members allows you to tailor your leadership approach accordingly. Recognizing and appreciating different personality types, and adapting your style to match the preferences of the individuals on your team creates a more inclusive and harmonious work environment that leads to improved engagement.

Once you’ve gained insight into your own traits and strengths, you can use Omnia development reports for all of your team members, and take advantage of a custom and comprehensive Team Dynamics report to understand where common strengths, synergies and dissimilarities exist. The most successful teams have a healthy distribution of varied personality traits and respect these differences. With Omnia insights, you gain valuable perspective and actional information to leverage every team member’s strength.

Communication

Effective communication is essential for building trust and fostering collaboration within teams. I’m a big fan of the Edelman Trust Barometer data that comes from their annual report, even though unfortunately, their data points to a declining rate of trust across the globe when it comes to employee trust in their leaders.

Your personality traits influence how you communicate and interact with others. Consistent interactions and adapting your communications to individual preferences helps improve trust over time. For instance, if you're more assertive, but you have people on your team who are more cautious or risk averse, then you know you need to consciously strive to listen more and be sure to engage team members in different ways. Some prefer more frequent 1x1meetings while others crave team settings and brainstorming.

The key is to be sure everyone's voice is heard. If you have people on your team who prefer to process information independently, it’s best to seek out their feedback in written form or in individual meetings, rather than putting them on the spot in front of their peers. Knowing this about yourself and adapting your communications to the individual preferences of your team will go a long way in improving communications and building trust over time.

Decision-Making

Leaders are often tasked with making critical decisions under pressure. Your personality traits shape how you process information and approach decision-making. Knowing your tendencies can help you make more balanced and objective decisions by considering various perspectives and data points.

The Omnia assessment not only uncovers behavioral traits, it also helps determine the quality of an individual’s behavior (what we call Perspective). This gets to the heart of decision making. For example, are you appropriately assertive and competitive? Or more reckless or confrontational? Are you measured and methodical, or might you be stubborn? Knowing your blind spots helps you identify where you need to shore up your own approach and when to ask for help.

I can speak firsthand to this one – as I struggle with a higher perspective which means I tend to over think decisions. Colleagues over the years have rightly chided me and my foot-dragging or reluctance to land the plane, especially when the decision involves a major budget investment, strategic change or impacts an employee’s compensation. Everyone on my team has permission to push me along and help me make tough decisions. And that helps a lot!

Conflict Resolution

Often when I’m speaking in front of a group, I like to start with asking them how many of them have recently dealt with a conflict at work. Invariably everyone in the room raises their hands. Conflict is a natural part of any team dynamic. However, how you handle conflicts can make or break team morale and productivity. Understanding your personality traits enables you to navigate conflicts more effectively by recognizing your own triggers and biases. It also allows you to approach conflicts with empathy and diplomacy, facilitating constructive resolution.

Personality traits can influence how individuals respond to conflict emotionally. Some people may have a high tolerance for stress and remain composed under pressure, while others may become easily overwhelmed or defensive. By understanding these differences, you can approach conflict situations with greater empathy and awareness, helping to de-escalate emotions, promote constructive dialogue and ultimately resolve the conflict, while maintaining the health of the team.

Adaptability

In today's fast-paced and constantly evolving work environment, adaptability is key to leadership success. Your personality traits influence how you respond to change and uncertainty. By knowing your tendencies, you can proactively develop strategies for adapting your leadership approach to address evolving circumstances and challenges. You can be even more effective adapting your style when you know your team’s traits,  workstyles, preferred problem solving and communication preferences.

Knowing your personality traits is not just a self-discovery exercise; it's a fundamental aspect of effective leadership. By leveraging your strengths and understanding your communication style, you can navigate team dynamics and manage conflicts more effectively, and ultimately unlock your full potential as a leader.

Embrace self-awareness, and you’ll be on the path to lead with authenticity, empathy, and impact. If you haven’t identified your unique leadership traits yet, get started today by taking advantage of our complimentary assessment. Our experts are available to debrief your unique leadership traits and help set you on the path to effective leadership.

Last Updated on March 11, 2024

I know what you’re thinking, but no; it’s our first time turning 39! We’re not shy about our age. In March of 1985 gas cost $.83/gallon, the number one song was “Can’t Fight this Feeling” by REO Speedwagon, Beverly Hills Cop was a hit in theaters, and shoulder pads were all the rage. And that was the year Heather and John Caswell founded one of the first companies to pioneer behavioral analysis in the workplace.

It all started with a Macintosh 128k and a stack of floppy disks. If you don’t ever remember gas costing so little, you may need to read this Wikipedia entry to find out about floppy disks. This cutting-edge-at-the-time equipment was a critical component to pioneering the technology – The Omnia Behavioral Assessment – that has been helping businesses find the perfect fit for their jobs for nearly 40 years.

The Omnia Assessment (called the Omnia Profile back then) utilizes the theoretical work performed by William Marston, PhD, and the practical work by Prescott Lecky of Columbia University.

The Omnia Assessment analyzes non-pathological behavior – psychometrics – to evaluate an individual’s preferred behaviors. Then, using a series of questions, existing employees as benchmarks, and decades of industry knowledge, we help our clients create templates for their open positions. The individual preferences are compared with a position template to see if there is compatibility.

Our assessment measures four groups of behaviors: assertiveness, sociability, pace, and structure. And it includes something many of our competitors don’t have – a group of learned behavior words, which helps determine the quality of an individual’s behavior (what we call Perspective). For example, is an individual appropriately assertive and competitive? Or could they be reckless or confrontational? Are they measured and methodical, or might they be stubborn?

Both the assessment as a whole and the perspective measurement have been validated three times – most recently in 2023!

At the start, all work was transmitted via snail mail. Omnia mailed the assessment form to the client. Once a candidate completed it, it would be mailed back to us to be analyzed. Then, in the mail it went again, back to the client.

It’s hard to imagine having that much patience! Especially now, when an assessment can be sent instantly, completed on a computer or mobile device in under 10 minutes, and then returned either immediately, for our automated Target assessments, or within three hours, for our Custom analyzed assessments. But since the beginning, Omnia has embraced innovation, adopting fax technology in a drive to serve more clients more quickly. We still have clients who fax us assessments. If it works for them, it works for us.

Omnia has grown along with its clients, evolving our technology, adding new tools like our cognitive assessment, and improving our existing tools to help our clients hire, manage, develop and engage their talent. With that goal in mind, Omnia has just released its third annual Talent Trends Survey Report. We surveyed 388 companies across 21 different industries, functions, and hierarchies to offer critical, actionable insights to help organizations retain valuable talent in 2024 and beyond.

As Omnia nears its fourth decade in the compatibility assessment and employee retention business, it is helping more and more clients every year reduce turnover and boost profit by building a better, more collaborative, motivated and engaged workforce.

Speaking of working for our clients, here is what some of them have to say about Omnia:

"At Saga, talent is our number one resource. As a result, we are diligent in our recruiting and retention efforts. Hiring mistakes are usually costly ones. Tami Santiago and her team at The Omnia Group are a critical component to our success. We have been working with the Omnia Group for decades and will continue to do so." Chris Forgy, Sr., Saga Communications

"The more I’ve learned about the Profile, the more impressed I am. Omnia saved us many times from a bad hire, and confirmed what we experienced with the candidate. Using Omnia takes a lot of stress out of candidate selection." David Rose, Dowling & O'Neil Insurance

"For over 10 years, we have used Omnia to help us evaluate potential candidates for hire. Not only does the profile give us insight if the candidate is the right fit for the position, but they also help coach us on what a strong candidate looks like for our industry. As a result, we have made some tremendous hires that are helping propel our business to the next level!" Pete Krammes, Seltzer Insurance Agency

We’re so grateful to our clients for their loyalty and for allowing us to help contribute to their success. But Omnia doesn’t just sell and support our tools, we use them, too. If you’re curious how that has worked out for us, you should know that the average tenure for a US employee in 2023 was 4.1 years, and the average tenure for an Omnia employee in 2023 was 15.5 years!

What keeps us here year after year? Strong leadership (in the form of Omnia’s Co-founder and CEO Heather Caswell and President and COO  Keather Snyder), hiring right the first time, and an unprecedented level of understanding of ourselves and one another has nurtured a culture of respect that is hard to beat.

In short, Omnia walks the talk! We are each familiar with our personality types, the strengths and challenges that come with our traits, and how to leverage the former and overcome the latter.

Knowing how we like to communicate and how our coworkers like to communicate, what each person’s preferred pace is, how assertive or cautious, structured or independent we all are helps us work effectively together. It irons out wrinkles that people who don’t use the assessment have to stumble over or work around. We don’t need to question why someone reacted a certain way to a specific situation; we know why. We get it because that’s what we do. Plus, we really like one another!

The helpful insights that come from the Omnia Assessment keep both our clients and our own team coming back year after year. It’s a tool we believe in, and it makes life easier!

From a Mac 128k on a kitchen table to virtual offices throughout the US, The Omnia Group has been helping our clients and our own company flourish since 1985. It has weathered hurricanes, economic crashes, a pandemic, and shoulder pads. If you want to see what this simple but powerful assessment can do to help your business excel, reach out to us today. We know how to help!

Last Updated on March 4, 2024

We all recognize the pivotal role that customer service plays in business success. When mishandled, it sends ripples throughout the company, impacting not only profits but also employee recruitment and retention. Having the wrong people in key positions inevitably leads to a short-lived tenure for employees. Now, consider the following two statements for your customer service team – who would you chose:

  1. A supportive, flexible, and accommodating person whose natural aptitudes include collaboration, relationship-building, working under time pressure, and attention to detail.
  2. A helpful, sociable, and adaptable individual whose natural aptitudes include diplomacy, multitasking, and creativity and who likes to improvise and focus on the big picture and end results.

What sets these statements apart is one critical difference that could frustrate both you as a leader and your customers. This article will unveil this difference shortly. Your customer service representatives serve as the frontline ambassadors of your brand. Their role goes beyond issue resolution; they're tasked with creating positive experiences that nurture customer loyalty and drive revenue. So, let’s discuss the importance of hiring talented customer service reps, the repercussions of neglecting this aspect, and actionable tips to empower you in the hiring and development process.

The Foundation of Exceptional Customer Service

At its core, extraordinary service involves a genuine commitment to meeting and exceeding customer expectations at every touchpoint. It's about actively listening to customers, anticipating their needs, and demonstrating a sincere willingness to assist. Whether it's addressing inquiries, resolving issues, or delivering products and services, meticulous care and precision ensures that every aspect of their experience is executed to the highest standards. In essence, remarkable customer service is not just about meeting requirements — it's about creating memorable and meaningful interactions that leave a lasting impression of trust, satisfaction, and loyalty.

The Consequences of Subpar Customer Service

A business that neglects to prioritize the hiring and development of their service team risks facing a myriad of detrimental consequences. For example:

Identifying Stellar Customer Service Representatives

Recognizing the traits of outstanding customer service representatives is vital to building a resilient and customer-centric workforce. Some key attributes to look for include:

Know Before You Make the Job Offer or Develop the Ones Who Accepted

The Omnia Group offers invaluable tools to assist with hiring by identifying candidates who possess the essential traits as well as with developing existing employees:

  1. Target Selection Report

    This report provides deep insights into an individual's innate traits, facilitating informed hiring decisions and ensuring alignment with your organization's culture and values. By evaluating candidates' behavioral tendencies, communication styles, and problem-solving approaches, you can identify those best suited for customer-facing roles.

  2. Custom Selection Report

    The most comprehensive offering, individually tailored by skilled analysts, provides a thorough explanation of candidates’ behavioral styles, supervisor and peer comparisons, and management recommendations, empowering you to make strategic talent decisions. By leveraging data-driven insights, you can optimize team dynamics, minimize interpersonal conflicts, and maximize individual performance potential.

  3. Cognitive Report

    Measures an individual's general mental ability, reflecting their aptitude for comprehending ideas and solving problems. This evaluation provides an enlightening picture of a person's ability to understand and apply concepts to different situations.

  4. Omnia Service Style Report

    Crafted specifically to be shared with the service rep to give them and the leader actionable insights for skill enhancement. By understanding employees' service preferences, strengths, and developmental opportunities, you can tailor training initiatives, coaching interventions, and recognition programs to support their professional growth and job satisfaction.

Tips for Hiring, Developing, and Engaging Service Reps

  1. Recruitment Strategies

    Cast a wide net and leverage multiple channels to attract diverse talent pools. Incorporate behavioral assessments and structured interviews to evaluate candidates' suitability for customer service roles. Seek individuals who not only possess the requisite skills and experience but also demonstrate a genuine passion for serving others and exceeding customer expectations.

  2. Training and Development

    Provide opportunities for mentorship, cross-training, and professional development to foster growth and engagement. Encourage a culture of lifelong learning, where employees are empowered to seek out new challenges, acquire new skills, and pursue career advancement opportunities within the organization.

  3. Recognition and Appreciation

    Acknowledge distinguished performance, solicit feedback, and create avenues for employee recognition and rewards to boost morale and motivation. Consider implementing peer-to-peer recognition programs, quarterly awards ceremonies, and milestone celebrations to reinforce a culture of appreciation and gratitude.

  4. Open Communication and Feedback

    Cultivate a supportive environment where employees feel empowered to voice concerns, share ideas, and collaborate on process improvements. Establish regular check-ins, town hall meetings, and anonymous feedback channels to foster transparent communication and trust within the organization.

  5. Compensation and Benefits

    Consider offering service reps bonuses instead of commission, flexible work arrangements, and comprehensive benefits to enhance employee satisfaction. Conduct regular salary benchmarking exercises to ensure that your compensation practices remain competitive and equitable in the marketplace.

As companies continue to evolve and innovate, the one thing that will never change and is the cornerstone of success is a dedication to customer-centric service. Hiring and retaining amazing customer service representatives is not only essential for meeting customer expectations but also for driving sustainable business growth and maintaining a competitive edge in today's market landscape.

Did you spot the difference between the A and B service personalities in the beginning of the blog? The main distinction between the two was attention to detail. Customer service reps need to be detail attentive to help ensure accurate, thorough work results. As a leader, how frustrating is it to find mistakes or, worse, have customers call in about mistakes that were made? When this happens, productivity, profits, and employee and customer satisfaction take a hit. Wouldn’t it be great to know if the people applying for your open service position had these essential traits before you make a hire? You can!

By leveraging the insights and tools provided by The Omnia Group and implementing actionable strategies for recruitment, development, engagement, and retention, you can build a resilient service team that consistently delivers exceptional customer experiences and stellar results for your company.

Last Updated on February 26, 2024

Through nearly four decades and thousands of assessments, Omnia has researched and validated the characteristics that define the quintessential sales personality. Personally, I have a passion for helping professionals who don’t have these traditional traits consider which sales roles would fit them best. I also agree with Daniel Pink when he says we are all in sales. But that’s a topic for another blog to be written, so back to the point here.

In the dynamic world of sales, success often hinges not just on personal drive and people skills but on a deeper understanding of the nuances of human behavior, market trends, and strategic planning. While some sales roles may emphasize the need for a gregarious, outgoing personality, there’s a niche where a supportive, analytical, methodical, and structured approach can lead to amazing fulfillment and success.

We have found that there is a role for almost every personality type in sales. Let’s delve into the realm of sales roles that demand a different set of skills — ones that cater to those who thrive on data-driven decision-making, meticulous planning, and providing unwavering support to customers.

The 4 Unconventional Sales Traits that Still Matter

The Omnia Behavioral Assessment measures 4 distinct personality traits — assertiveness, communication style, pace and structure. There’s a lot that goes into each of these traits that you can read about here. Traditional sales roles typically call for an individual whose traits are highly assertive, less cautious, less supportive (think more me vs. we), outgoing, intuitive, fast paced, autonomous and resilient.

There are many types of selling roles that are also conducive to someone less gregarious, more analytical, methodical and detail oriented. Within our 17 personality groups, these characteristics fall into our analytical personality types.

An analytical sales personality is one that finds fulfillment in dissecting data, identifying patterns, and drawing insights that guide strategic decisions. Individuals with these traits have a keen eye for detail, an innate curiosity to understand the underlying mechanics of a market, and the patience to navigate complex scenarios methodically.

Roles that Benefit from Analytical Skills:

Enterprise Sales

Selling across the enterprise of a business often involves multiple stakeholders, intricate procurement processes, and long sales cycles. They also typically involve a high price point. These types of sales are not for the faint-hearted. An analytical approach is indispensable. Enterprise sales professionals must meticulously examine the needs of each stakeholder, map out the decision-making hierarchy, consider the internal politics, and craft tailored solutions backed by solid data and insights.

Consultative Sales

In consultative sales roles, success hinges on the ability to deeply understand the challenges faced by customers and propose solutions that address their pain points effectively. An analytical mindset enables sales professionals to conduct thorough needs assessments, perform root cause analyses, and present data-driven recommendations that resonate with clients.

Technical Sales

Within industries driven by technology, such as software, hardware, or engineering solutions, technical sales roles require a blend of domain expertise and analytical prowess. Sales professionals must possess a deep understanding of the technical intricacies of their offerings and be adept at translating complex concepts into tangible benefits for customers.

While the typical sales professional is hugely assertive and fast paced, there are benefits to having traits that fall into the categories of being more supportive, methodical and structured. Our reports display an individual’s results in the form of columns. We see many participant results depict very strong personality traits in one or the other, which comes in the form of an extremely high column on any of these dimensions. In the above sales roles, it can be beneficial if an individual’s columns are less extreme. And most people, after all, are never only one thing versus the other.

We all possess a balance of these characteristics. It’s important not to fall prey to a stereotype but lean into your unique traits and embrace your strengths or those of a candidate who demonstrates a solid sales track record and/or a deep propensity and desire to go into sales. Here are some other nonconventional characteristics that can be very beneficial in sales roles.

Supportive Selling

Building trust, cultivating long-term relationships, and providing exemplary customer service are paramount. A supportive sales approach involves actively listening to customer needs, empathizing with their challenges, and serving as a trusted advisor throughout the buyer's journey.

Methodical and Structured Approaches

This entails developing well-defined sales processes, setting clear objectives, and leveraging tools and frameworks to streamline workflows. From prospecting and lead qualification to closing deals and post-sales support, adhering to a structured methodology ensures consistency and efficiency in sales operations.

In the ever-evolving landscape of sales, there exists a niche for individuals with a supportive, analytical, methodical, and structured approach. Sales roles that demand these qualities offer diverse opportunities for professionals to leverage their strengths in data analysis, strategic planning, and customer-centricity. By embracing the analytical edge and cultivating a supportive demeanor, sales professionals can excel in roles where precision, insight, and empathy are required above all else.

Want to learn more about your unique sales traits and strengths? Try our complimentary assessment, and a member of our team will contact you to debrief your results.

Last Updated on February 19, 2024

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