Key takeaways
- OMG's data shows Will to Sell moved between 0 and 6 percent after training, while tactical skills and some Sales DNA measures changed far more.
- Will to Sell combines five markers. Desire alone cannot establish whether a rep will prospect, ask hard questions, own results, and recover from adversity.
- The weak-marker pattern matters more than a general impression of ambition because each marker points to a different execution risk.
- Screen for drive before finalist interviews. Direct coaching after the start date toward tactical skill and the Sales DNA that can change.
In this guide
What Will to Sell is
Objective Management Group places Will to Sell at the top of its 21 Sales Core Competencies. It is the drive layer of the assessment, built from Desire, Commitment, Motivation, Responsibility, and Outlook. Each marker answers a different question about whether a person will keep doing the work that sales performance requires.
OMG's model separates three layers across the 21 competencies: Will to Sell holds five, Sales DNA six, and Tactical Selling ten. Will to Sell measures drive. Sales DNA measures the beliefs and instincts that support or block execution under pressure. Tactical skill measures the behaviors used to prospect, qualify, reach decision makers, discuss money, and close. Training reaches tactical skill fastest. Focused coaching can also change parts of Sales DNA. Will to Sell changes the least.
OMG reports nearly 2.4 million salespeople assessed as a 2023 figure. That scale supplies the broader distribution context for the assessment. Revenue Bench's analysis of where elite sales talent concentration comes from explains why a hiring process needs a screen before selection confidence forms.
The evidence: what training moves and what it does not
OMG's before-and-after study followed 5,331 salespeople through training. OMG's data shows Closing increased 55 percent, Reaching Decision Makers increased 43 percent, and Comfort Discussing Money increased 66 percent. The first two are tactical skills. The third sits in Sales DNA. At the Will to Sell layer, OMG's data shows movement between 0 and 6 percent across the same program.
The comparison matters because the same training environment produced sharply uneven changes across the model. Methods, rehearsal, feedback, and manager reinforcement directly address selling behavior. Will to Sell asks whether the rep chooses uncomfortable work, owns the result, and returns with conviction after adversity. Training can provide a stronger method. The willingness to apply it remains a separate hiring input.
The figures are OMG's own before-and-after data. They document change associated with training. Independent causal proof would require a different study design. Revenue Bench treats the contrast as decision evidence because the drive layer moved far less than the skills the program was designed to teach.
You can train skill. You cannot install drive.
The five markers
Use the markers as a combined profile. A weak result points to a specific pattern a hiring manager may otherwise discover only after performance begins.
| Marker | The question it answers | What weak looks like in the first 90 days | What training reaches instead |
|---|---|---|---|
| Desire | How badly do they want success in sales? | The work happens only under supervision. Activity collapses the week the manager travels. | Training can guide activity, while the underlying desire remains a hiring input. |
| Commitment | Will they do the uncomfortable work, including prospecting, hard questions, and the follow-up nobody checks? | They avoid the parts of the job that carry rejection risk. | Training can teach prospecting, while willingness to do it remains a hiring input. |
| Motivation | Do they have a compelling personal why, and is it intrinsic or extrinsic? | The comp plan is the only lever, and it stops working between accelerators. | Training can strengthen methods, while the personal reason to use them remains a hiring input. |
| Responsibility | Do they own results or reach for excuses? | Every lost deal has an external cause: pricing, territory, leads, or the market. | Training can teach review habits, while ownership remains a hiring input. |
| Outlook | Are they optimistic, and how do they recover from adversity? | One bad quarter reshapes how they sell for the next two. | Training can provide recovery tools, while the underlying response to adversity remains a hiring input. |
The marker definitions follow OMG's Will to Sell construct, and OMG's before-and-after training study places all five markers in the drive layer that barely moved after training. The weak-pattern descriptions translate each marker into an early performance signal. They are diagnostic prompts rather than standalone employment decisions.
What drive cannot tell you
A strong Will to Sell supplies energy and persistence. Performance still depends on Sales DNA, tactical skill, role fit, the selling motion, management conditions, and the market the rep must address. A driven candidate with weak beliefs around money or approval can work hard while repeating the same ineffective behavior. A capable hunter can also struggle in a motion built around expansion and account development.
The high Desire rate in OMG's data removes a common shortcut: 86 percent of assessed salespeople are strong on Desire, so most want success. The screen earns its value by combining Desire with the other markers and showing where the drive profile breaks under pressure.
OMG's coaching research adds a boundary worth knowing. In its coaching study of 11,078 salespeople, frequent coaching lifted Responsibility by 34 percent and Motivation by 19 percent against no coaching, so a sustained weekly cadence can move parts of the drive profile. That is a management investment made after the hire, and it works best when the starting profile is strong.
Will to Sell also cannot verify deal history, communication, or the working relationship with a manager. Revenue Bench's guide to which selection screen catches each type of evidence explains how drive evidence fits beside the other hiring questions.
When a current rep shows these weak patterns, diagnosis should come before a separation decision. The structured path for triaging a sales hire who is not working out separates drive from role fit, management, pipeline, and skill issues.
Where drive belongs in the hiring sequence
Screen for Will to Sell at the door. Run a sales-specific assessment before finalist interviews, while the hiring decision remains open. Review the five markers as a pattern and connect each weak flag to the demands of the selling motion. The downside being priced is concrete: DePaul University puts the fully loaded cost of sales turnover at roughly 115,000 dollars.
OMG's assessment documents state predictive validity in the 95 percent range. OMG's current outcome figure says 72 percent of recommended candidates who were hired reached the top half of their sales force within 12 months. These are distinct OMG claims: the first describes the instrument's accuracy metric, and the second describes a hiring outcome.
The assessment sits inside a sequence rather than deciding the whole hire. The Revenue Bench search process shows where sales-specific assessment fits before employer interviews and final diligence.
After the start date, coach the layers that respond. Use call review, practice, feedback, manager reinforcement, and clear standards to improve tactical execution and address workable Sales DNA gaps. Revenue Bench's sales onboarding guide sets out what that coaching should target once the hiring decision is complete.
Where these figures come from
About these figures
Objective Management Group publishes the Will to Sell framework and the training data analyzed here. OMG reports nearly 2.4 million salespeople assessed as a 2023 figure. The competency, training, predictive-validity, and hiring-outcome figures on this page are OMG's own published claims. They are labeled as OMG's and should be read separately from independent peer-reviewed research.
OMG's assessment documents state predictive validity in the 95 percent range. OMG's current outcome figure says 72 percent of recommended candidates who were hired reached the top half of their sales force within 12 months. Predictive validity and hiring outcomes describe different measures.
For cost context, DePaul University puts the fully loaded cost of sales turnover at roughly 115,000 dollars. That figure comes from DePaul rather than OMG or Revenue Bench.
On lawful use: OMG runs annual adverse-impact audits and publishes an Adverse Impact Study, and holds an independent legal opinion (Bowditch and Dewey LLP, 2015) that its tools, used as designed, have no unlawful adverse impact on protected classes. That is an attorney opinion rather than an EEOC ruling. Selection and separation decisions should be reviewed with employment counsel.
Revenue Bench applies the assessment through Swanston Growth Advisors, a Certified Partner of Objective Management Group.
Can you coach Will to Sell?
Coaching and training are different levers, and OMG measured them separately. In OMG's training study of 5,331 salespeople, Will to Sell moved between 0 and 6 percent, so a training program should not be expected to close a drive gap. OMG's separate coaching study of 11,078 salespeople reports that frequent coaching lifts Responsibility and Motivation, two of the five markers, so a manager who coaches weekly can influence parts of the drive profile over time. Selection remains the more reliable lever: screen for drive before the hire, then coach what responds.
What is the difference between Will to Sell and Sales DNA?
Will to Sell measures drive: Desire, Commitment, Motivation, Responsibility, and Outlook. Sales DNA measures the beliefs and instincts that support or block selling under pressure. Training reaches tactical skill fastest, while some Sales DNA can change with focused coaching.
Is Will to Sell the same as wanting to succeed?
No. OMG's data shows 86 percent of assessed salespeople are strong on Desire. Will to Sell combines Desire with Commitment, Motivation, Responsibility, and Outlook, so wanting success alone does not establish the full drive profile.
How is Will to Sell measured before a hire?
A sales-specific assessment measures the five Will to Sell markers inside a sequenced selection process. Revenue Bench places the assessment before finalist interviews, as shown in how the search works, so hiring teams can review drive evidence before the final decision.
Does a weak Will to Sell result justify termination?
A weak Will to Sell result calls for structured triage before a separation decision. Revenue Bench's guide for a sales hire who is not working out helps separate a drive gap from role fit, management, pipeline, and skill issues. Employment counsel should guide any separation decision. If drive is the gap, more training will not close it.
Does a strong Will to Sell guarantee success?
No. A strong Will to Sell supplies drive, while Sales DNA and fit for the selling motion still determine how that drive becomes execution. Weak beliefs, poor role fit, or an unsuitable sales environment can sink a driven rep.