Key takeaways
- A sales-specific assessment measures selling ability, drive, hidden execution weaknesses, and fit for the sale the role requires.
- The interview verifies deal history, shows the communication buyers will experience, and tests the working relationship with the hiring manager.
- OMG's assessment documents state predictive validity in the 95 percent range, which is the instrument's accuracy metric rather than a share of successful hires.
- In OMG's 2024 validation survey, 72 percent of recommended hires reached the top half of their sales force within 12 months.
- Hiring-manager intuition identifies a top performer about 20 percent of the time in research circulated through OMG's partner network, so selling ability requires a separate screen.
- The assessment works best as an early filter, followed by a structured interview, a live simulation, and reference checks.
In this guide
The question the assessment decides
Objective Management Group's sales-specific assessment examines 21 Sales Core Competencies. OMG's screen uses more than 400 data points and roughly 250 questions per candidate. The purpose is to measure selling behavior directly, outside the candidate's ability to manage a hiring conversation.
Sales DNA identifies the beliefs and hidden weaknesses that govern execution under pressure. Will to Sell measures the drive behind the work. Role fit compares the candidate with the selling motion, market, buyer, level of resistance, management conditions, and other demands of the specific role. OMG's assessed population also shows the distribution this filter is working against: 6 percent elite, 11 percent strong, 33 percent serviceable, and 50 percent weak. The full analysis of OMG's 6/11/33/50 talent distribution explains what those tiers mean.
The candidate-level application belongs in a separate practitioner process. Revenue Bench's walkthrough for assessing one salesperson covers the work sample and scoring decisions that follow this system choice.
OMG's data puts the training gain on Will to Sell at 0 to 6 percent, so drive is a hiring decision rather than a development plan. The five markers behind that figure, and what weak looks like in the first 90 days, are set out in the Will to Sell guide.
The accuracy record
OMG's assessment documents state predictive validity in the 95 percent range. This is OMG's accuracy metric for the instrument. It does not represent the share of assessed hires who reached the top half of a sales force.
OMG's 2024 validation survey supplies the hiring outcomes. In OMG's survey, 72 percent of recommended hires reached the top half of their sales force within 12 months. OMG also reports that 100 percent of candidates flagged not recommended who were hired anyway landed in the bottom half. First-year turnover in OMG's survey ran 9 percent for recommended hires against 33 percent for not-recommended hires.
These are OMG's own published figures, analyzed here. Independent peer review follows a separate evidence standard. The figures still provide a documented record that a buyer can examine while keeping the source and form of evidence in view.
When a selection decision becomes an active performance issue, the separate guide to a sales hire who is not working out covers the diagnosis and recovery path.
What the interview catches that the screen cannot
The interview has decision authority over information an assessment cannot collect. It is the only screen that can:
- Verify the claims a resume makes. Ask which deals the candidate worked, what role they played, how much the territory contributed, and which results belonged to the wider team.
- Show the communication your buyers will experience. The candidate's precision, listening, judgment, and response to challenge appear in direct conversation.
- Test the working relationship with the actual hiring manager. Both parties can examine expectations, feedback style, decision rights, and the cadence of the work.
- Surface what the candidate wants. The discussion reveals career priorities and whether the role can provide the scope, economics, support, and progression the candidate expects.
- Read the person against the company as it is. Leadership conditions, internal constraints, current capabilities, and the realities of the mandate require context from the people responsible for the hire.
The interview carries a known blind spot on selling ability itself. Research circulated through OMG's partner network reports that hiring-manager intuition identifies a top performer about 20 percent of the time. A job interview is the one sale every candidate has rehearsed. Selling ability therefore belongs outside the interview's decision authority, which is also why several sales-hire failure patterns remain invisible during interviews.
Which screen answers which question
| Screen | The question it decides | What it catches that nothing else does | What it cannot see | Where it sits in the sequence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sales-specific assessment | Can this candidate sell in the role's specific sales environment? | Sales DNA, Will to Sell, hidden execution weaknesses, the 21 Sales Core Competencies, and fit for the required selling motion. | The truth of resume claims, buyer-facing communication in the company's context, personal motivations, and the working relationship with the manager. | First substantive filter, before interview time is spent. |
| Structured interview | Who is this candidate, and how will the person work with this manager, company, and buyer group? | Specific deal history, the candidate's role in prior outcomes, live communication, motivations, expectations, and manager compatibility. | Hidden Sales DNA and a reliable measure of selling ability under pressure. | After the assessment, with questions tied to the role and the assessment evidence. |
| Role-play or live simulation | How does the candidate perform a representative part of this sale? | Observable discovery, listening, qualification, judgment, objection handling, and response to a realistic buyer interaction. | Long-term drive, the accuracy of prior claims, sustained performance, and third-party confirmation. | After the structured interview and before final diligence. |
| Reference checks | Does prior performance support the candidate's claims? | Third-party confirmation from people who managed or worked with the candidate. | Future performance in a different role and company. | Final diligence before the offer. |
Use this table to route each hiring question to the screen built to decide it. The sequence reflects how Revenue Bench runs selection, and firms vary in their process.
The order matters
The assessment is a filter that runs before interview time is spent. It establishes selling evidence while the decision remains open. Interview questions can then test the candidate's history and working fit with the assessment findings available as context.
When the assessment runs after the interviews, the interview impression has already formed. The result is then evaluated against an existing preference, which reduces its ability to filter. Early placement preserves the assessment's intended role in the decision.
In the Revenue Bench search process, candidates on a slate are assessed with OMG and screened by an operator in 2 to 4 business days, the stage's published typical duration, and that stage sits before shortlist presentation and employer interviews.
Why not a personality test
OMG and Dave Kurlan's position is that behavioral-styles assessments such as DISC and general personality tests are not predictive of on-the-job sales performance. OMG says it built sales-specific questions after concluding that personality assessment systems could not predict selling outcomes.
A personality profile can still inform how a manager works with a hire. The claim here is limited to its inability to predict whether the person can sell.
Where these figures come from
About these figures
Objective Management Group publishes the assessment documentation discussed here. OMG's screen covers 21 Sales Core Competencies, more than 400 data points, and roughly 250 questions per candidate. OMG's assessment documents state predictive validity in the 95 percent range.
The outcome figures come from OMG's 2024 validation survey: 72 percent of recommended hires reached the top half of their sales force within 12 months, 100 percent of candidates flagged not recommended who were hired anyway landed in the bottom half, and first-year turnover ran 9 percent for recommended hires against 33 percent for not-recommended hires. These are OMG's own data analyzed here rather than independent peer-reviewed research.
The hiring-manager intuition figure comes from research circulated through Objective Management Group's partner network, including the firm Big Swift Kick. It is not an OMG published study. That research puts hiring-manager intuition at identifying a top performer about 20 percent of the time.
The screen sequence and timing describe Revenue Bench's own published process as of July 2026. Candidates on a slate are assessed with OMG and screened by an operator in 2 to 4 business days, the stage's typical duration.
Revenue Bench applies the assessment through Swanston Growth Advisors, a Certified Partner of Objective Management Group.
What does a sales assessment measure?
A sales assessment measures sales-specific competencies, drive, hidden weaknesses under pressure, and fit for the sale a company needs someone to run. OMG's screen examines 21 Sales Core Competencies through more than 400 data points and roughly 250 questions per candidate. It separates selling evidence from the candidate's performance in conversation.
How accurate are sales assessments?
OMG's assessment documents state predictive validity in the 95 percent range, which is the accuracy metric. In OMG's 2024 validation survey, 72 percent of recommended hires reached the top half of their sales force within 12 months, 100 percent of not-recommended candidates hired anyway landed in the bottom half, and first-year turnover was 9 percent for recommended hires against 33 percent for not-recommended hires.
Can a sales assessment replace interviews?
No, because the hiring decision also requires information that an assessment cannot collect. The assessment decides whether the candidate can sell in the role's specific environment, which leaves the interview to verify deal history, show the communication buyers will experience, surface motivations, and test how the candidate will work with the actual hiring manager.
What do interviews catch that assessments cannot?
Interviews verify which deals a candidate worked, the role the person played, and what the territory or team contributed. They also reveal buyer-facing communication, motivations, expectations, compatibility with the hiring manager, and fit with the company's current conditions. Those questions require direct discussion with the people responsible for the role.
Should the assessment run before or after interviews?
The assessment should run early as a filter before interview time is spent. Running it later allows the interview impression to shape how the result is received. In Revenue Bench's published search process, candidates on a slate are assessed with OMG and screened by an operator in 2 to 4 business days, that stage's typical duration.
Why not use a personality test like DISC for sales hiring?
OMG and Dave Kurlan state that behavioral-styles assessments such as DISC and general personality tests are not predictive of on-the-job sales performance. OMG developed sales-specific questions after concluding personality systems could not predict selling outcomes. A personality profile can still help a manager understand working style, but it does not decide whether the person can sell.
What happens when a company hires a candidate the assessment did not recommend?
In OMG's 2024 validation survey, 100 percent of candidates flagged not recommended who were hired anyway landed in the bottom half of their sales force. OMG's survey also found first-year turnover of 33 percent for not-recommended hires against 9 percent for recommended hires. These are OMG's own published outcome figures.