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| 3M Medical Division A Case Study from the Max Impact Family |
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Managers also look at ProfileXT’s behavior scales. “Very important are energy level, assertiveness, sociability, manageability, attitude, decisiveness, level of accommodation
and independence.” All sales representatives and sales managers go through the process, and the company uses benchmarks for each. “If we are looking at a representative
who is becoming a manager, our leadership team sees how closely they match other managers and what coaching they need,” Nichols said. “We make sure the managers
we bring in look and feel like the managers who are doing a superb job.”
3M has benchmarked its sales representatives across the country. “When we first started this, upper management and regional leaders asked our sales managers to name the
sales representatives they felt excelled in the job they were asked to do,” Nichols said.
Nancy Ness of our assessment team has helped Nichols understand the power of the assessment tools 3M uses. “At first we benchmarked all representatives; then their
roles changed,” Nichols said. “I told her we have representatives who are now required to be specialists. They are required to sell everything in the bag. I think these are
different traits, even to know whether we have the right people in the right jobs.”
He now has three key groups of people and rebalances the benchmarks against those groups. “Nancy has been very helpful in getting the program set as it is today,” Nichols
said.
In turn, she likes Nichols’ enthusiasm for the assessment tools. “He spends time and energy on understanding the information,” she said. “He sees a lot of value in it.”
For more information about the assessments used by 3M, contact Max Impact at 248-802-6138.
and independence.” All sales representatives and sales managers go through the process, and the company uses benchmarks for each. “If we are looking at a representative
who is becoming a manager, our leadership team sees how closely they match other managers and what coaching they need,” Nichols said. “We make sure the managers
we bring in look and feel like the managers who are doing a superb job.”
3M has benchmarked its sales representatives across the country. “When we first started this, upper management and regional leaders asked our sales managers to name the
sales representatives they felt excelled in the job they were asked to do,” Nichols said.
Nancy Ness of our assessment team has helped Nichols understand the power of the assessment tools 3M uses. “At first we benchmarked all representatives; then their
roles changed,” Nichols said. “I told her we have representatives who are now required to be specialists. They are required to sell everything in the bag. I think these are
different traits, even to know whether we have the right people in the right jobs.”
He now has three key groups of people and rebalances the benchmarks against those groups. “Nancy has been very helpful in getting the program set as it is today,” Nichols
said.
In turn, she likes Nichols’ enthusiasm for the assessment tools. “He spends time and energy on understanding the information,” she said. “He sees a lot of value in it.”
For more information about the assessments used by 3M, contact Max Impact at 248-802-6138.
Nichols, a sales veteran with varied experience, is the education and development manager for the medical division of 3M, a diversified technology company with a
worldwide presence. When he took over in his current role four years ago, the previous manager was already using the assessment tools offered by Max Impact.
“We’d been using the assessments for seven or eight years, and my job was to develop training programs and training managers,” he said. “Our managers were asking for a
way to give tools to our field managers to coach salespeople. They asked me, ‘How do I continue to coach? What input can you give me?’”
Nichols examined the assessments with the goal of developing coaching skills for managers to use for hiring people and for changing their sales roles. “We needed to have
measures to look at how successful representatives were doing it, and how we could coach our people along those same skills sets,” he said.
worldwide presence. When he took over in his current role four years ago, the previous manager was already using the assessment tools offered by Max Impact.
“We’d been using the assessments for seven or eight years, and my job was to develop training programs and training managers,” he said. “Our managers were asking for a
way to give tools to our field managers to coach salespeople. They asked me, ‘How do I continue to coach? What input can you give me?’”
Nichols examined the assessments with the goal of developing coaching skills for managers to use for hiring people and for changing their sales roles. “We needed to have
measures to look at how successful representatives were doing it, and how we could coach our people along those same skills sets,” he said.
Nichols uses two testing processes—one to ensure his division is hiring the right people, and another to measure and benchmark sales
representatives to make sure the company is developing them. He uses ProfileXT’s measurement of thinking styles, behavior traits and
occupational interests. He also uses the Profiles Sales Indicator™ tool.
“Both are very important for us,” Nichols said. “Our sales representatives must be able to speak well and do calculations and contracts. So we
look at all of those—the learning index, verbal skills, verbal reasoning, numeric ability and numeric reasoning. We look at whether they have an
enterprising nature and how interested they are in servicing others. We look at their financial/administrative skills, technical ability, mechanical skill
and creativity. Those are our interest scales.”
representatives to make sure the company is developing them. He uses ProfileXT’s measurement of thinking styles, behavior traits and
occupational interests. He also uses the Profiles Sales Indicator™ tool.
“Both are very important for us,” Nichols said. “Our sales representatives must be able to speak well and do calculations and contracts. So we
look at all of those—the learning index, verbal skills, verbal reasoning, numeric ability and numeric reasoning. We look at whether they have an
enterprising nature and how interested they are in servicing others. We look at their financial/administrative skills, technical ability, mechanical skill
and creativity. Those are our interest scales.”
3M Trainer finds secret to coaching
A bid for help from managers who wanted to coach their sales representatives more effectively led Gene Nichols, a 3M trainer in St. Paul, Minn.,
to take a closer look at the employee assessments his company was using. He found assessments that could give managers specific information
and that could be changed to fit his company’s needs.
A bid for help from managers who wanted to coach their sales representatives more effectively led Gene Nichols, a 3M trainer in St. Paul, Minn.,
to take a closer look at the employee assessments his company was using. He found assessments that could give managers specific information
and that could be changed to fit his company’s needs.
