Every entrepreneur reaches a tipping point. The moment when, after hustling solo or with a small team for months (or years), you wonder: “Is it the right time to hire salespeople?” This decision can either propel your business to new heights or, if done too early, drain your resources and momentum.
So, how do you know if your company is ready to hire salespeople?
Salespeople Help You Grow, But Only if You’re Ready
Before diving in, let me give you a reality check: hiring a sales team doesn’t automatically solve your revenue problems. Yes, salespeople are crucial for scaling, but they can’t generate demand out of thin air.
You need marketing and a solid product/service in place first. If you hire salespeople before creating demand or understanding the full sales cycle yourself, it’s like hiring an orchestra without sheet music. The result? A chaotic performance.
The truth is, for most small companies, the founder has to be the salesperson. You wear many hats – founder, marketer, operations manager, and yes, sales rep – until your company reaches a certain scale.
Now, let’s break down exactly when that shift should happen.
In Early Days – Why You Should Be Selling First?
Before you even consider hiring a salesperson, take a long, hard look at your business. Are you at a stage where you understand your product or service well enough to teach someone else to sell it?
If not, you’re not ready.
In the early days, your product or service is evolving, and no one understands it better than you do. You’re learning what resonates with customers, handling objections in real time, and refining your pitch with each conversation.
These lessons are invaluable. When you do the sales yourself, you get an intimate understanding of the customer journey and pain points. You know what it takes to convert a cold lead into a paying client because you’ve done it.
💡 Jason Lemkin, the founder of SaaStr, puts it bluntly: “The CEO has to be the VP of Sales, at least until there’s consistent revenue.” He suggests that founders should be the ones hustling to make the first 10, 20, or even 100 sales. Only then can you confidently hand off the sales function.
When Should You Hire Salespeople?
When do you step back and bring in salespeople? The answer varies depending on the nature of your business, but there are some telltale signs that signal it’s time to scale your sales team.
1. You’re Too Busy to Sell
If your calendar is packed with meetings, investor calls, and strategic planning, and sales are falling by the wayside, it’s time to consider hiring. As the founder, your time is better spent on high-impact activities. Your energy should go toward scaling the business, improving the product, and leading your team. If you’re bogged down in sales calls, you won’t have the bandwidth for growth.
Bringing in salespeople allows you to focus on building the company and solving bigger problems. Let them take over the day-to-day grind of finding and converting leads.
Your Sales Process Is Proven and Repeatable
There’s a big difference between figuring out your sales process and refining it. Once you’ve ironed out the kinks and reached a stage where your sales strategy is predictable and scalable, it’s time to delegate. If you know how many leads convert into customers and can reliably forecast revenue based on sales activities, you’re ready for a team.
A good rule of thumb is to have a clear sales funnel and a strong track record of closing deals before handing off sales to someone else. Without this foundation, you’ll end up wasting money on salespeople who struggle to gain traction.
You’ve Got Marketing in Place
This is a critical piece many entrepreneurs overlook. Salespeople need leads to work with, and without a solid marketing strategy driving demand, they’ll be shooting in the dark. Before bringing in sales reps, ensure you’ve got marketing channels in place that consistently generate qualified leads.
Whether it’s content marketing, paid advertising, or inbound strategies, your salespeople should have a steady flow of leads they can nurture and close. If marketing is still in its infancy, hiring salespeople will be premature and ineffective.
💡 Pro Tip: Build your sales pipeline by hiring offshore marketing specialists. This cost-effective strategy can give you access to skilled talent while saving up to 70% on overheads, allowing you to scale your marketing efforts faster.
You’re Ready to Scale
Hiring salespeople makes sense when your business is ready for serious growth. If you’ve nailed your product-market fit, built a consistent sales pipeline, and you’re looking to scale aggressively, then it’s time to expand your team. Outsourcing sales representatives can help you take the next step by handling more customers, increasing conversion rates, and expanding into new markets.
Hire remote sales talent to save up to 80% on overheads while securing top-tier talent to fuel your growth.
Why Timing Matters? Too Soon vs. Too Late
Now that you know the signs, let’s discuss timing. Getting the timing right can make or break your decision to hire salespeople.
Hiring Salespeople Too Soon
This is a common mistake, especially for business founders who are eager to offload sales responsibilities. But hiring salespeople too early can backfire. You’ll end up burning through cash without seeing returns if the sales process isn’t ready.
Worse, you might lose good talent because they’ll be frustrated by the lack of leads and the unclear strategy.
Before pulling the trigger, make sure you have a steady stream of leads, a repeatable sales process, and the ability to support new hires with training and resources.
Not Sure When to Hire Salespeople?
Hiring Salespeople Too Late
On the flip side, waiting too long to hire salespeople can be equally damaging. If your business is growing and you’re turning away leads because you can’t handle the volume, you’re leaving money on the table.
At this point, hiring a remote sales team can accelerate growth, allowing you to capture more opportunities and close more deals.
The sweet spot is when your business has achieved enough momentum that sales reps can step in and scale your efforts. At this stage after hiring salespeople, you should be working on the business, not in it.
Takeaway – The Right Time for Hiring Salespeople
Hiring salespeople is one of the most critical decisions you’ll make as a new business owner. It’s tempting to bring someone in early to lighten your load, but timing is everything. Get your marketing and sales process in place first, and don’t rush the decision.
When you’re ready, don’t overlook the power of offshore sales talent. Pavago has helped countless small businesses hire top-tier offshore salespeople who have gone on to transform their teams and accelerate growth. If you think it’s time to scale your business, we’re here to help.
Consider Offshore Hiring with Pavago – Scale Smarter, Not Harder
When the time does come to hire salespeople, there’s an additional layer of strategy to consider: offshore recruitment. You might be thinking, “Isn’t it more efficient to hire locally?” Not necessarily. With a global market at your fingertips, hiring offshore sales talent can be an affordable and efficient way to grow your team without breaking the bank.
Pavago specializes in helping small businesses like yours tap into the top 1% of offshore sales talent. Offshore hiring allows you to bring on skilled professionals from places like Pakistan and Latin America at a fraction of the cost of local hires. Our sales reps are highly trained, culturally aware, and able to help you scale without the massive overhead.
Offshore hiring is a strategic decision in which you get the same level of skill and expertise while stretching your budget further. It’s a win-win for any entrepreneur looking to scale smartly.
