How Our Client Transformed Their Enterprise Sales Team
Why More Sales Reps Didn’t Mean More Revenue—And What Fixed It
One of our clients went on a hiring spree. Revenue was growing, the market was strong, and they had aggressive expansion targets. With a seasoned executive team in place, they set out to build an Enterprise Sales team that would drive client acquisition.
A year later, they had assembled a team of sharp reps—reps who could carry a conversation with a rock. They focused on hunting new business, winning new logos, and aggressively building pipeline.
The only problem? Revenue wasn’t growing.
Their team was in constant motion—meetings, discovery calls, and pipeline reviews. On paper, the activity looked great. But after two and a half years, the numbers told a different story. Revenue remained flat. Eventually, the financial music stopped, and leadership had to make urgent changes.
Despite all the hiring, they were burning cash faster than they were bringing in profitable business.
The Turning Point
Today, they have a smaller team of Enterprise reps who outproduce what their entire sales force once struggled to deliver.
What changed?
In the simplest terms: discovery.
The pipeline was filled with deals that never should have been there—low-probability opportunities that wasted time and resources. The team was chasing activity metrics instead of real revenue drivers. More reps meant more deals in the CRM, but not enough actual business.
What They Did Differently
- Tighter Qualification Criteria – They stopped tracking pipeline volume and focused on conversion rates. Reps had to justify why each deal was worth pursuing.
- Discovery Became a Priority – If a deal didn’t have clear business pain, a compelling event, or an engaged economic buyer, it didn’t belong in the pipeline.
- Better Sales Coaching – Instead of adding headcount, they invested in fewer, stronger reps. More coaching, better deal strategy, and larger, higher-quality wins.
- Alignment Between Sales & Leadership – Leadership enforced strict deal qualification standards, preventing reps from wasting time on bad opportunities just to stay “busy.”
The Result: Less Headcount, More Revenue—Here’s How
Fewer reps. More revenue.
By focusing on the right opportunities, their top performers now produce more than the entire team did at peak headcount.
Hiring more reps may seem like the easy answer to driving new business—but it’s often an expensive mistake.
Instead, refining the sales process, tightening qualification standards, and prioritizing quality over quantity led to real, measurable growth.
Hiring sprees are exciting, but they don’t always lead to results. In the end, it wasn’t about more reps. It was about the right reps, doing the right things.
