Navigating Sales Team Management: From Startups to Corporations

There’s a common misconception that larger IT companies have it easy when it comes to closing deals and acquiring clients. Many company founders aspire to mirror the sales structures of counterparts who are significantly larger in scale. It’s natural to admire successful businesses and dream of achieving similar profits, scope, and talent. While this aspiration holds truth and validity, every company faces its own set of challenges within the sales department. Yes, every single one. There’s no such thing as a flawless company or a perfect sales process. While an ideal state may be attained for a brief period, typically a month or two, something inevitably disrupts the equilibrium – perhaps a major client defects to a competitor or a key sales manager departs after a decade of service.

In smaller companies, management tends to be more flexible. The crucial factor is ensuring the sales team remains manageable. The primary obstacle for small companies and their slow growth lies in the fact that salespeople often learn the ropes alongside the company’s evolution. As the company develops, so does the sales manager. However, as experience accumulates over 2-3 years, sales peak, and gaining momentum, it becomes challenging for many small companies to expand or invest in new channels until profits are realized.

From our observations, successful company development begins with salespeople actively gaining experience in their first year, heavily reliant on a well-structured onboarding program. By the second year, sales operate on a different scale, and salespeople feel more confident having mastered the material, knowing what to sell, and understanding the internal processes for seeking advice.

Yet, effective team management and onboarding are not always achievable in large companies. Often, responses to queries are delayed by 2-3 days, and the onboarding process may prioritize internal procedures over external ones. Salespeople may become overly process-driven, adhering strictly to formulas to avoid deviating from company directives. Such constraints can be advantageous to the company, ensuring uniformity in client interactions.

Building a sales process from scratch with a new team is ideal. However, colleagues who have endured prolonged periods of stagnation are often skeptical about change. It takes more than 30 attempts, in our consulting experience, to refine campaigns until the team aligns their offerings with client needs. This applies across various expertise and technologies we ultimately sell, as well as in website design, case studies, reviews, and presentations. Achieving harmony among these elements takes time and effort.

To summarize the ideal scenario for sales department development:

For small companies (up to 50 colleagues):

• 1 lead generator
• 1 sales representative
• 1 proactive CEO who oversees sales and ensures continuity

For medium-sized companies (up to 300 colleagues):

• 4 lead generators
• 4 sales representatives (2 outbound, 2 partners)
• 1 sales head overseeing С-level control

For large companies (up to 2000 colleagues):

• 10 lead generators (3 outbound, 3 inbound, 3 platform specialists)
• 3 Sales Development Representatives (SDRs)
• 5 sales managers
• 4 Account Managers
• VP of Sales
• Director of Sales

Every company experiences inefficiencies, whether in personnel or processes. It could be an imbalance in staffing, such as an excessive number of sales managers, or deviations from optimal procedures.

For consultation, simply click the button on our website or on the right side of this article. We cater to companies at all stages of development, from novices to highly complex enterprises. Let us help you determine the level of development required to achieve your revenue and client retention goals.

Happy selling to all!