Putting the right people in the right place in your sales engine

So, you're looking at scaling your sales efforts?

Your natural go-to would be to hire a salesperson. But unfortunately, that's probably going to fail to work out for you.?

The logic seems sound, though. More salespeople should equal more sales, right?

Unfortunately, this flawed approach often leads to inefficiencies, high costs, missed opportunities, and the repeated hiring of one salesperson after the next.

But there is a better way. A modern approach to putting the right people in the right place.?

Supported by the right strategy, process, technology, and culture, this approach to structuring your people will help you truly scale your sales engine effectively.?

It minimises knowledge leaks, leverages the strengths of your team members, and ultimately ensures that your sales engine can drive growth over time.

The misconception of hiring more salespeople solves sales.

As we know, when businesses look to scale, their first instinct is often to hire additional salespeople who are expected to manage the entire sales journey from cold prospecting through nurture and own closing deals.?

But the end-to-end approach is a broken model.?

Finding someone who can do end-to-end pipeline growth is like searching for a unicorn.?

Why? Because the individual who excels in every aspect of the sales process is extremely rare.?

These "full-stack" sales professionals are often already employed in high-level roles at large organisations and command a significant salary, which makes them unaffordable in most cases.?

The issue is more than just the difficulty in finding these all-in-one salespeople; it's about the fundamental inefficiency of the model itself.?

When you hire a sales team composed of individuals who are expected to handle the entire sales process, you end up setting them up for failure.?

These professionals are stretched too thin, and unable to excel in every area of the sales cycle, leading to suboptimal performance and stunted growth.

A scalable, role-specific sales engine

The key to building a scalable sales engine lies in rethinking the roles within your sales team.?

Instead of relying on individuals to manage the entire sales process, break down the sales journey into specialised roles, each with a distinct focus.?

This approach not only optimises efficiency but also makes the best use of your team's talents without necessarily increasing costs.

But it relies on identifying the right people for the right roles. So, let's break that down.

Top of the funnel 'Drivers'

At the top of your sales funnel, you need "drivers" who are young, hungry, and possess the right attitude and energy to turn the handle for your demand generation and channel activity.?

These team members are responsible for running campaigns across various channels, managing content, and driving initial engagement with prospects.?

They don't need to be highly skilled or experienced, but they need proper training, tools and guidance to succeed.

Drivers handle the heavy lifting of your demand generation, triaging responses, and managing CRM systems.?

They're cost-effective to hire and, with the proper oversight, can significantly boost your top-of-funnel activities.

Middle of the funnel 'Nurturers'?

In the middle of the funnel, you need the "nurturer" role, which is commercially-led relationship builders who excel at rapidly developing trust and turning it into a strong relationship.?

These individuals are focused on something other than the hard sell but rather on guiding prospects through the decision-making process, ensuring they are positioned to buy when the time is right.?

Nurturers often come from account management or client services backgrounds and possess a deep understanding of your product or service.?

Their role is to use the assets available - whether it's thought leadership content, case studies, or product demos - to move prospects down the funnel, converting them from leads to qualified opportunities.

Bottom of the funnel 'Closers'?

At the bottom of the funnel, you need the "closer" role, which are highly experienced professionals skilled at getting deals over the line.?

In smaller businesses, this role is often filled by founders or senior leaders, but as your business grows, it can include other experienced salespeople.?

Closers should focus exclusively on high-value opportunities, ensuring they are involved at the right time to convert opportunities into revenue.?

Given their experience and time constraints, it is crucial that they aren't bogged down by tasks that drivers or nurturers can handle.

Your go-to-market personas are your 'Subject Matter Experts'

Lastly, you need "Subject Matter Expert" roles to add credibility and depth to your sales efforts.?

These individuals are not salespeople, but their expertise is invaluable when engaging with prospects.?

Whether it's a founder, department head, or even an expert in their field, SMEs bring authority and knowledge to the conversation, which can be a decisive factor in winning deals.?

SMEs help demonstrate that your business understands the client's challenges and has the expertise to provide real solutions.?

But, importantly, they're not doing the work. The Drivers will use their profiles to go to market with - and with great results. The data we see shows that an SME campaign is likely to be double as successful, generating demand for someone with a 'Business Development Manager' title.

Ensuring success

Implementing this role-specific sales engine requires more than just the right people.?

It also demands a well-defined strategy, clear processes, and the appropriate technology stack. From CRM systems tailored to each stage of the funnel to AI-driven tools that assist in nurturing leads, technology plays a crucial role in ensuring that each team member can focus on what they do best.?

Proper training, role clarity, and a supportive culture are equally important to drive success.

Of course you don’t need a huge team for this model to work. If can be done in a very discreet way too.

Let's wrap this up?

You don't need a massive team to begin implementing this scalable model.?

Even with a small team, you can start assigning roles based on the framework outlined above and gradually build out your sales engine as your business grows.?

By putting the right people in the right places, supported by the right processes and technology, you can create a sales engine that drives growth and does so sustainably, minimising knowledge leaks and optimising efficiency at every stage of the sales cycle.?

Scalability is not just about adding more people; it is about building a system that leverages the unique strengths of your team, ensuring that your sales engine is effective and primed for long-term success.