Every CEO who calls us is really asking two different questions at once, even if they only say one of them out loud. The one they say is some version of "what will it cost to fix this." The one underneath it is harder: are we trying to fix people, or fix a process? I've had to answer that about my own sales teams, long before I owned this company, and I ask every CEO I work with to answer it about theirs before we talk about training at all.
Why this question gets skipped
Training is the visible fix. It has a start date, an end date, and a certificate at the finish line, so it's the first thing most companies reach for. Diagnosing whether the real gap is talent, skill, coaching, or management is slower and less satisfying, so it gets skipped, and the company ends up investing in the wrong intervention. A talented rep who is missing a repeatable process gets sent to more skills training. A rep who fundamentally lacks the will to prospect or the ability to handle rejection gets sent to coaching that was never going to change either one. Neither company gets what they paid for, and both walk away thinking training doesn't work, when the real problem was never diagnosed in the first place.
What an OMG Sales Force Assessment actually measures
This is why we lead every new engagement with an Objective Management Group, OMG, Sales Force Assessment before we talk about what training should look like. OMG doesn't score whether someone is likable or works hard. It measures the underlying sales DNA that predicts performance: a rep's ability to handle rejection, their comfort talking about money, whether they need approval from the buyer, and whether they will actually initiate the uncomfortable conversations a real sales process requires. It also evaluates the sales process itself and the management team coaching against it, so a CEO isn't just getting a scorecard on individual reps. They're getting a picture of whether the gap sits in talent, in skill, in the process, or in the management layer that is supposed to reinforce all three.
Why this changes the conversation with your team
An assessment-first approach also changes how the conversation lands internally. Training rolled out without a diagnosis can feel like a blanket judgment on the whole team, and reps who didn't need it tune out while reps who did need it feel singled out. An OMG Assessment gives a CEO and a sales manager an objective, third-party read before anyone assumes the worst, or the best, about who on the team is coachable. It's the same discipline we build into our Sales Management Training programs: managers coaching to an objective standard, not a gut feeling.
How to decide
- If you don't yet know whether your gap is talent, skill, process, or management, start with an OMG Sales Force Assessment before you commit to any training format, and let the results point to the right intervention.
- If the assessment shows a skill and process gap on a fundamentally strong team, that's exactly what a Sales Training Boot Camp or Online Training track is built to close.
- If the assessment shows the gap sits with your managers, not your reps, that points to Sales Management Trainingfirst, since a team can't sustain new behavior a manager doesn't know how to coach.
This is also why reinforcement matters as much as it does once training starts. An assessment tells you where to start. It doesn't replace the ongoing coaching that keeps a new standard from fading once the initial excitement wears off, which we cover in Most Sales Training Fails. Here's Why Ours Doesn't.
FAQ: Talent vs. Training
Q1: How do I know if my sales problem is a talent issue or a training issue?
An OMG Sales Force Assessment is built to answer exactly that. It evaluates each rep's underlying sales DNA alongside your process and management, so you know which lever to pull before you spend on training.
Q2: Can an assessment tell me if a specific rep is coachable?
Yes. OMG evaluates traits like rejection resilience, comfort with money conversations, and need for approval, which are the underlying factors that determine whether coaching and training will actually stick for that individual.
Q3: Do I need an assessment if I already know my team needs training?
An assessment still adds value because it tells you what kind of training and where to focus it, whether that's individual contributor skills, process discipline, or management coaching, rather than applying a generic program to everyone.
Q4: Does an assessment evaluate my sales managers, or just my reps?
Both. OMG evaluates the sales process and the management team's ability to coach and reinforce it, since a talented rep working inside a weak process or under a manager who can't coach will still underperform.
Q5: How long does an OMG Sales Force Assessment take?
It's a structured evaluation, not an ongoing engagement, so it's designed to give you a clear diagnostic picture quickly, well before you'd commit to a full training rollout.
