Which Sales Roles Should You Hire Next?

Friday Funnel Focus Blog by EPOCH Sales Management Solutions

One of the biggest challenges for small business owners is putting the right salesperson on their team in the right sales role, especially when it comes to new business development. 

As a small B2B business owner or sales manager, you have a limited number of salespeople on your sales team.  You may need each salesperson to perform multiple roles.  As you grow your sales team, consider specialization into the following roles:

Our recommendation is to specialize sooner than later based on salesperson expertise and the needs of the business. 

So, what are the ideal traits and characteristics for each role?  

For fun, we attached a “Persona Name” to each role and added some traits and characteristics to describe the structure and “rules” each follow:

How many people do you know that are a fit for 100% of those characteristics? 

When you hire a “universal salesperson” that is what you are asking them to be.

So, how does a small business optimize their sales team as they grow from one to ten salespeople.  Each company needs to evaluate its own new business development situation to develop systems and processes and build expertise. This is meant to be a guide. Focus on the concept and principles. Each situation will be different.  This situation assumes a small business in pursuit of one market.  If your business has 2 or more markets, you will need to adjust these numbers per market, sharing what “overhead’ you can depending on the similarities in the markets keeping the big picture in mind.

First, consider your mix of new opportunity process “buckets”.

Initial Salesperson Roles (1-2 salespeople) – Fill your biggest gaps first.

• Detailed person to build out your targeted lists and manage your campaigns.
• Salesperson to get initial appointments (outbound).
• Salesperson to manage existing accounts.
• Salesperson to qualify inbound leads.
• Salesperson to (qualify and) close inbound leads.

Leverage existing employees, technology, or virtual assistants, where possible, to handle tasks such as: build lists (under your direction) and qualify inbound leads. Consider existing personnel, skilled at customer service, to manage existing accounts.  At least one salesperson is partially responsible for new business development. 

Each company needs to evaluate its own situation.  

• For some companies, the first sales hire(s) may need to be the hiring of a universal sales development rep and a virtual assistant to do the sales data specialist role. 
• For other companies focused on inbound marketing engines, the inbound sales development representative can be a higher priority.
• Some companies develop a ratio of sales development representatives per account executive.

Consider your mix of processes that your company will be using in creating new opportunities

Goal: Confirm Product/Market fit. Demonstrate that your sales processes and structure are repeatable for someone besides the business owner.

Growing the Sales Team (3-5 salespeople) – Preparing to hand off sales to a sales manager.

• Build out your sales development role and establish learning tools to build expertise.  You still may use a virtual assistant, technology platforms or other existing employee to build lists.  Have one person dedicated to “creating new opportunities”.  May combine this role with Marketing Assistant.
• Optimize mix of Account Managers and Account Executives based on demonstrated competence and expertise for your business to grow existing accounts and win new logos.  Recommend there is at least one salesperson (Account Executive role) dedicated to winning new business.  There may be more.

Goal: Confirm that your sales processes are repeatable for multiple people.

Adding Sales Manager (6-10 salespeople) – Scale the team and complete the specialization.

• Recruit, Hire and Onboard sales manager to lead sales team growth with emphasis on identifying competence while developing and enhancing skills for each role.
• Complete sales team specialization focusing on self-mastery. Optimize Sales Development Rep, Account Management and Account Executive Roles.
• Sales Development Team (1-3 people)
• Builds Lists
• Manages Sales Campaigns
• Create New Opportunities
• Account Management Team (3-6 people)
• Maintain and grow existing clients.
• May need to do limited new business development.  Consider Dream Account New Business Development.
• Account Executive Team (1-3 people)
• Dedicated to winning new business.
• Focused on mostly Bread and Butter Accounts.
• Consider a dedicated Marketing Rep at this point if you do not have one yet.

Goal: Optimize specialization of the sales team to scale your team.

Reminder: If your business has 2 or more markets, you will need to adjust these numbers per market, sharing what “overhead'' you can depending on the similarities in the markets keeping the big picture in mind.

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