Throughout the years, I have seen talented salespeople enter this industry with an eye on becoming a million-dollar producer. They work hard early on, have some customer wins, and see their sales increase. By years two and three, they become much smarter regarding the nuances of this industry. They see sales continue to progressively grow, they love their customers, and they’re making some good money.
Typically between $500k and $750k in annual sales, there will be a point where a hard charging salesperson will find themselves spending most of their time being reactive and tied down to administrative work. This only results in time away from being with customers and selling.
The salesperson is then faced with a difficult decision: Do I take a risk and absorb the financial hit by investing in hiring an inside salesperson so I can focus on growing my business? Or do I just put it off and grind away?
For some, grinding away may be the only option due to personal financial realities. However, anytime a salesperson spends virtually all of their time reacting, they run the risk of no longer being proactive. This leads to being unable to service growing accounts and no time to prospect for new business. Typically, this is a recipe for eventually losing business.
The most successful salespeople that I’ve seen are those that invest by hiring inside salespeople so they can focus on selling. Is it a short-term financial hit? Yes. Is it hard to find good inside salespeople? Yes. Is it time consuming to train? Yes. However, you need to be spending most of your time on revenue related activities if you want to grow and fulfill your financial aspirations.
The beauty of this industry is the strong demand for branded merchandise, and the opportunity to become a multi-million-dollar producer is there. At Boundless, the common denominator of our most successful salespeople is that as they grow, typically in $750K increments, they are adding an inside salesperson. We encourage this by implementing a cost sharing program, allowing that salesperson to continue business—be it new buyers within existing accounts or prospecting for new business. As a result, high performing salespeople do not have a ceiling.
At the end of the day, if your business is growing and you want it to scale, you need to do what you do best and that is selling. Who better to place a wager on than yourself?
