How many times have you thought the easiest way to grow your business was just to add more salespeople?
If you have a fully developed sales infrastructure including:
A comprehensive sales strategy with your Ideal Customer Profile(s) understood;
A Unique Value Proposition your existing sales force understands and promotes as your differentiation in the market;
An optimized sales process which is documented and managed;
CRM, fully implemented and used correctly to document progress through the sales process, opportunities and creation of your sales pipeline;
A detailed Position Description identifying the Ideal Candidate Profile for new sales professionals;
An onboarding procedure for new sales talent which offers them the best chance of success and inclusion into your culture;
An annual revenue plan with Goals and Quotas for each member of the sales team;
A Compensation package which incents the behavior you seek – is it new customer growth? Existing customer growth? New product launch support and sales success? – and rewards individual and team / company performance;
KPIs to provide focus on the directional success or failure of the sales team’s efforts;
A competent sales leader capable of motivating, coaching, training, and leading a team to success.
Then absolutely add more people – it’s money well spent. You will know exactly what the outcome should be for every FTE you bring on even before they get there.
IF NOT (Over 70% of small and medium size businesses do not have these characteristics), adding more salespeople is not the solution.
Consider strengthening or adding the fundamentals of a great sales infrastructure and watch your revenue grow with your existing sales team before considering additional investment in sales resources.
