A METAANALYTIC REVIEW OF PREDICTORS OF JOB-PERFORMANCE FOR SALESPEOPLE

This meta-analysis evaluated predictors of both objective and subjecti ve sales performance. Biodata measures and sales ability inventories w ere good predictors of the ratings criterion, with corrected rs of .52 and .45, respectively. Potency (a subdimension of the Big 5 personali ty dimension Extraversion) predicted supervisor ratings of performance (r =.28) and objective measures of sales (r =.26). Achievement (a com ponent of the Conscientiousness dimension) predicted ratings (r =.25) and objective sales (r=.41). General cognitive ability showed a correl ation of .40 with ratings but only .04 with objective sales. Similarly , age predicted ratings (r =.26) but not objective sales (r = -.06). O n the basis of a small number of studies, interest appears to be a pro mising predictor of sales success.