Why 16 Top Salespeople Could Cost You Millions

Hiring 16 top salespeople can look like a growth decision. It can also become a multimillion-dollar mistake. More sales headcount does not automatically mean more productive sales capacity. A sales hire that fails costs far more than salary. The business also loses the revenue and profit that seat should have produced, then carries that lost capacity while replacing the person. The exposure compounds when CEOs hire before knowing how many productive seats the revenue target actually requires—or whether the sales process, opportunity, compensation structure, operations, and guardrails can support top producers. One biotech company was paying PhD salespeople $140,000 base salaries, while some had gone more than 14 months without a sale. That makes the question before the next sales hire more consequential than whether you can find another top producer: does the business actually need that salesperson, and is the company built for that person to produce? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices