SalesGenomix is a broad, role-specific sales talent assessment that measures 140 sales attributes across 14 sales roles. SalesDrive, the maker of The DriveTest®, is a focused sales talent assessment that measures Drive: Need for Achievement, Competitiveness, and Optimism.

If you’re comparing SalesDrive and SalesGenomix, ask yourself: Are you evaluating fit across several types of sales roles, or is your primary concern whether a candidate will persistently hunt for new business?

Choose SalesGenomix when you need a wide read on many competencies across different sales roles. Choose The DriveTest when your priority is hiring salespeople who will persistently hunt for new business.

If you’re comparing sales-specific assessments, these are two of the options worth reviewing. This guide gives you a side-by-side look at where each approach fits, what makes them different, and how to use the results so you can decide which one fits the sales role you need to fill.

SalesDrive vs. SalesGenomix Comparison Table

Why Compare Two Sales-Specific Assessments?

A candidate can be intelligent, personable, and conscientious and still struggle to initiate prospecting, handle rejection, or consistently develop new business. General workplace ability and personality measures don’t always capture what sales demands.

That’s why both SalesDrive and SalesGenomix were built specifically for sales. They recognize that sales performance requires more than general ability. Where they differ is in how they approach the hiring decision.

What is SalesGenomix and what does it evaluate?

SalesGenomix takes a broad, role-specific approach with its assessment measuring 140 sales attributes and distinguishing among 14 sales roles, including sales management. Its methodology draws on research involving 500,000 sales professionals and originated with the Chally assessment system.

Its greatest strength is the recognition that there is no single profile for every sales job. A successful account manager may need a different combination of characteristics than a business-development salesperson, and a strong sales manager may need something different.

SalesGenomix evaluates a candidate against the demands of a particular sales role and provides a direct hiring recommendation. It can also support evaluation of salespeople for other roles, promotion potential, succession planning, and development needs.

When SalesGenomix May Be the Better Fit

Consider SalesGenomix when your evaluation needs extend across several kinds of sales work, or you also want to use assessment data for promotion, succession planning, or development.

In these situations, a broader role-based framework may give you useful information to investigate.

That does not mean every feature is included in every purchasing option. Ask the vendor which reports and services support your specific decision.

What is SalesDrive (The DriveTest®) and what does it evaluate?

SalesDrive takes a more focused approach. Its assessment, The DriveTest®, evaluates what we call Drive, which consists of three motivational characteristics:

1. Need for Achievement: the desire to set and pursue challenging goals. Think of the student who just has to get the “A.”
2. Competitiveness: the desire to excel, win business, and persuade prospects to see the value in your solution.
3. Optimism: certainty in success and the resilience to keep selling through rejection and setbacks.

The DriveTest® also evaluates supporting competencies: Confidence, Persuasion, Relationship Skills, and Organization. Its focus on Drive does not mean those other capabilities are irrelevant. It means we distinguish the motivation to pursue the work from the skills used to carry it out.

Hunter-style sales roles place extraordinary demands on motivation. The salesperson has to initiate contact, create opportunities where none existed, compete for the business, and keep going when prospects say no.

Skills can be developed and product knowledge can be taught. But if a salesperson lacks the internal motivation to prospect persistently and pursue difficult goals, those skills may never be used consistently enough to generate revenue.

Imagine two candidates who can both explain a sound outreach strategy. Each gives a convincing answer about how to follow up with an unresponsive prospect. Their interview performance may look similar.

What you still need to understand is what happens after several weeks of unanswered messages. Does the person continue working methodically, adjust the approach, and pursue the goal? Or does prospecting gradually give way to easier tasks?

That is the uncertainty a Drive-focused assessment is designed to help you investigate. It does not guarantee future revenue. It gives you additional evidence about the motivational characteristics associated with sustained effort.

When SalesDrive May Be the Better Fit

The DriveTest® deserves particular consideration when you are hiring for roles such as:

• Outbound business development representatives.
• SDRs expected to initiate prospecting rather than only qualify inbound leads.
• Account executives responsible for generating their own opportunities.
• Salespeople opening new territories or pursuing new customers.

The job title alone is not enough. An account executive who receives a steady flow of qualified opportunities faces different demands from someone expected to build a pipeline from scratch.

Choose based on the actual work, not the title printed on the job description.

Which Sales Talent Assessment Is Better for Your Company?

The better question is which assessment is better aligned with your hiring objective.

SalesGenomix may be a strong fit if you want a broad evaluation of numerous attributes across several distinct sales roles. Its breadth is relevant when the decision involves role placement or potential movement within the sales organization.

SalesDrive may be the more focused choice if your central concern is whether a candidate has the Need for Achievement, Competitiveness, and Optimism to persistently hunt for new business. That is the emphasis of The DriveTest®.

Neither assessment should make the entire hiring decision for you. Use results alongside structured interviews, relevant experience, references, and other job-related evidence. The purpose of an assessment isn’t to replace judgment. It’s to improve it.

What matters most is whether the information the assessment provides helps you evaluate candidates who will best fit your open sales role(s).

Ready to evaluate Drive in your next sales hire? Explore The DriveTest sales assessment or compare SalesDrive assessment plans to choose a next step for your team.

Compare More Assessment Options

SalesGenomix and SalesDrive’s DriveTest are two of several tools companies use somewhere in their hiring and development processes. If you’re evaluating your options more broadly, our full guide compares the major assessment platforms — what each one measures, where it fits best, and which roles it’s suited for.

Read the full sales assessment comparison guide →

You might also want to see how The DriveTest compares to Caliper Profile, Predictive Index, and Objective Management Group (OMG), three other assessments frequently shortlisted alongside SalesGenomix.

Frequently Asked Questions

About the Author: Dr. Chris Croner is a clinical psychologist and Principal at SalesDrive, LLC. He developed The DriveTest® sales assessment and is co-author of Never Hire a Bad Salesperson Again. He has helped more than 1,500 companies worldwide identify and hire top-performing salespeople. Connect with him on LinkedIn.