A healthy top line can hide weak economics underneath it. Underperforming reps absorb compensation, leads, management time, and opportunities while a few top producers keep the overall revenue number looking strong.
Hiring more people can make that exposure more expensive. If the real cause sits inside the existing sales organization—people, territories, discounting, measurement, or the system itself—more headcount can mean more money going out without enough coming back in. Another $60M company had all 16 salespeople below quota before those same 16 moved to roughly 10% above it.
Doug C. Brown brings the operator’s perspective behind these numbers: sales teams where revenue looked healthy while the economics underneath told a different story. For a CEO, the question isn’t simply whether the team is selling—it’s whether those sales are actually making the company money. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://megaphone.fm/adchoices">megaphone.fm/adchoices</a>

A healthy top line can hide weak economics underneath it. Underperforming reps absorb compensation, leads, management time, and opportunities while a few top producers keep the overall revenue number looking strong.

Hiring more people can make that exposure more expensive. If the real cause sits inside the existing sales organization—people, territories, discounting, measurement, or the system itself—more headcount can mean more money going out without enough coming back in. Another $60M company had all 16 salespeople below quota before those same 16 moved to roughly 10% above it.

Doug C. Brown brings the operator’s perspective behind these numbers: sales teams where revenue looked healthy while the economics underneath told a different story. For a CEO, the question isn’t simply whether the team is selling—it’s whether those sales are actually making the company money.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

$60M in Revenue Hid a Sales Team Losing Money

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