
How to Build a Sales Process Before You Scale Your Team (Ask Jeb)
About this episode
If you are still the only person selling at your company, the worst thing you can do is start hiring before you have a documented process for people to follow.
In this Ask Jeb, Jeb Blount answers two questions on scaling a sales team the right way, one from Yemi, who is building his first team from scratch, and one from Ramesh, who is trying to figure out how to budget for sales pay and support in a B2B healthcare business.
Jeb walks through the three stages every founder hits when they try to grow a team: the solo seller, the roller coaster, and the building phase, including the $45,000 mistake he made this year by skipping straight to hiring without a process in place. He also breaks down how to think about compensation, why a lower base and higher commission actually raises your cost of sale, and how to calculate what a new sale should cost you as your business grows.
What You'll Learn:
- Why documenting your sales process before you scale protects you from expensive turnover
- The three phases every founder cycles through when growing a sales team, and which is the most dangerous one
- Why you have to block time outside of peak selling hours to build out your system instead of waiting until you are desperate
- How bringing in a sales leader to document the process, separate from the founder's own instincts, speeds up the process
- How to calculate cost of sale in and use it to guide your compensation strategy
- Why a low base salary and high commission structure can actually lower your true cost of sale
- Why your margin should determine how much you can afford to pay in commission
- How support staff and infrastructure spending shift as a company grows past its early scrappy stage
-
Submit your question: salesgravy.com/ask
Purchase Jeb Blount's new book: 90 Days to Level Up Your Sales Skills
Grab your tickets for OutBound Conference
Our Sponsors:
* Check out Plaud AI and use my code JEB for a great deal: https://www.plaud.ai/jeb
* Check out TruDiagnostic and use my code SALESGRAVY for 20% off your entire order: https://www.trudiagnostic.com
* Go to https://OmahaSteaks.com and use promo code BEEF at checkout for $35 off. Minimum purchase may apply.
Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Get every episode summarized
Each time Sales Gravy: Jeb Blount publishes, we email you a written briefing from the transcript — the topics, who appeared, and any specific claims, with the ad reads skipped.
Email me new episodesFree for 3 shows. No card needed.
Hosts & guests
No transcript yet
This episode has not been transcribed. Request it and it moves to the front of the queue.
More episodes
More from Sales Gravy: Jeb Blount

What to Say When a Prospect Says They're Already Taken Care Of (Ask Jeb)
Sales Gravy: Jeb Blount

Fix Your Attitude to Fix Your Sales Rut (Money Monday)
Sales Gravy: Jeb Blount

The Three-Post Formula for Standing Out on LinkedIn with Daniel Disney
Sales Gravy: Jeb Blount

How to Run a Sales Blitz and Revive Cold Leads (Ask Jeb)
Sales Gravy: Jeb Blount