增长放缓时，盲目扩招销售团队通常是错误的 desperation move

Dear SaaStr: Growth Has Slowed and My VP of Sales is Pushing Me To Hire More Reps. Is That The Right Way to Go?

No. Not 9+ times out of 10. Probably 9.8 times out of 10. It’s a desperation move.

In fact, the #1 sign your CRO / VP of Sales is really struggling is when their best answer to slowing sales is to … hire even more sales reps.

It’s a sign they don’t know what else to do, and want to try to magically brute force it with more humans. As if more humans, on their own, magically equal more sales.

Of course you need enough reps to hit the plan, and enough capacity to hit the plan. But when grow slows, when you miss the plan, more bodies does not solve the problem.

In fact, fewer sales reps often in the short term solves the problem. You focus leads and opportunities on the best reps, and then rebuild the sales team from there.

Once a CRO / VP of Sales that is struggling starts pushing for a lot more sales headcount … it’s time to realize it’s not working.

It’s a hail mary than on paper might work, but in reality, doesn’t.

A related post here:

10 Crystal Clear Signs Your VP of Sales Just Isn’t Going to Work Out