How do you know when it’s time to hire a sales consultant?
While everyone’s reasons for hiring a sales consultant will vary, it doesn’t mean you’re abandoning current strategies or minimizing the work your team has done so far.
When you hire a sales consultant, you’re setting your sales team (and your business) up for even better results with a more efficient process, workflow, and tool stack.
How do we know? Because we talked to some of today’s top SaaS and startup sales consultants.
Let’s dig into what they said about:
- When to hire a sales consultant: 10 reasons you may need one
- Want to benefit from a sales consultant? Avoid these 7 key mistakes
When to Hire a Sales Consultant: 10 Signs You May Need One
Your sales organization may be sending out clear signals that mean you need help immediately. Are you listening to the signs?
Here’s a post from a top LinkedIn voice, Hannah Ajikawo. She says:
So, instead of waiting for everything to break down, look for early warning signs.
We asked some of today’s top sales consultants about the challenges their clients commonly face when they contact them. Here are 10 common challenges they see in their clients.
1. Your Sales Message is Inconsistent or Weak
How does the sales team feel about your message? How do customers respond to your reps' descriptions of your product? Are they excited? Confused?
If your overall sales messaging needs clarity or a fresh look, this is a good time to work with a sales consultant.
Here’s how Michael Halper of SalesScripter explains it:
Michael has his clients go through a series of questions, such as:
- What are your benefits?
- What are the pain points that you solve?
- What are good questions you should ask prospects?
- How are you different from the competition?
- What’s a quick example of someone that you’ve helped?
Organizing these thoughts into a clear messaging strategy allows small business owners and startup founders to easily create cold call scripts or cold email templates.
Josh O’Brien of RevShoppe adds this idea:
A sales consultant can help you clarify your message and implement it with the right technology.
2. You’ve Hit a Limit with Scaling
We’re all rooting for the hustlers: Startup founders who are scaling fast and doing a lot of the work themselves.
If this is you, congrats! But you may be starting to notice something that Kevin Ramani mentions:
Scaling startups will often reach a point where they simply can’t grow anymore without help. If you’re still reluctant to start hiring for essential sales roles (e.g., VP of Sales), working with a sales consultant can help you pinpoint the most efficient path forward.
But Kevin adds:
Seeking sales mastery? Start your journey with comprehensive sales manager training insights from our article.
3. Churn in Your Sales Pipeline is Increasing
If you’ve started to build a sales team with a clear process and pipeline, churn is a bad sign.
Mor Assouline talks about a common thread that may be causing this:
If you’re seeing this sign, you might consider hiring a sales consultant that will help your reps set up better processes for prospecting, discovery, and demos.
4. You Have Some Pieces of the Process but Need Help to Put Everything Together in an Effective Way
Jake Dunlap of Skaled works with companies to develop tactical advice and workflows for sales operations.
Here’s what he says about the companies he works with:
Remember what we said at the beginning: you don’t need to wait until the ship is sinking to look for help.
5. Your Process isn’t Getting Predictable Results
One month, you exceed your targets by 100 percent. You increase your target for the quarter, thinking it’s an upward trend. Then, the next month, you miss your target by more than half.
Sound familiar?
As Mark Colgan of Yellow O says:
When your results aren’t predictable, forecasting can feel like throwing darts in the dark. This is a point where many startups and SMBs will turn to a sales consultant for help.
6. You’re a Startup Fresh off the Press and Want to Scale Fast
If you’re a startup founder building your first sales org and trying to scale quickly, getting the help of a professional who’s been through the process before can make all the difference.
Alberto Nodale is now a sales consultant, but at one time he was a startup founder in that exact position. Here’s what he says he learned:
Scott Leese also specializes in helping startups grow their first sales teams, having helped various companies go from $0 to $25M in ARR.
Here’s his advice:
Getting a consultant to help you set up the right foundation for your sales org can make all the difference for an early-stage startup.
7. Your Lead Generation Process is Leaky
As Jake Dunlap says:
Of course, having more leads doesn’t necessarily mean more revenue. If you’re generating more leads but not seeing improvements down the line, now is the time to reach out to a sales consultant and help fix your process.
When you hire an experienced sales consultant, they can help you smooth out your process with the right technology and workflow to generate more revenue from new leads.
8. Your Sales Org is Falling Behind the Trends
Do you feel like your team is having trouble keeping up with the trends? Something that may be causing issues for your team is the switch to remote selling.
Iain Swanston of Klozers has noticed this:
If your team is still struggling with remote sales, now is the time to get them the help they need.
Jake Dunlap has also seen changes in the buying process, and sales teams have been slow to adapt.
9. Your Sales Team Doesn’t Understand Their ICP
Who are you selling to? If your team can’t answer that question clearly, you need help building an ideal customer profile.
10. Your Sales Team Has a High Turnover
If you find yourself constantly having to replace good talent on your team, that’s a clear warning sign that something is wrong with your sales team structure, culture, or process.
A sales consultant that works specifically with small teams can come in and help you identify problems, and find creative solutions to keep your employees motivated and happy.
Want to Really Benefit from a Sales Consultant? Avoid These 7 Key Mistakes
If you’ve decided it’s time to hire a sales consultant, you’re on the right track to getting the help your team needs.
For the process to run smoothly, look out for these red flags or obstacles that could slow down your progress:
1. Working with Someone Who Treats Your Business as One-Size-Fits-All
Every business is unique, and any good sales consultant will recognize that.
As Jake Dunlap says:
2. Going in with no Clear Expectations
When asked what mistakes companies commonly make when they hire a sales consultant, Mor Assouline said:
3. Telling Your Consultant Exactly What to Do
While not having any expectations isn’t good, the other extreme can also cause problems for a sales consultant.
Mark Colgan says: “The biggest mistake is just telling the person what you want them to do. Often I work with companies that say they want to increase net new leads or meetings booked each month. And I’ll say, great, but let’s look at your funnel. Let’s look at your sales process. Because if there are errors and problems there, you’re just putting more water into a leaky bucket.”
When you prepare and set up your expectations, don’t narrow your field of vision to the one area you think needs to change to make improvements. Otherwise, you may end up rejecting help that will get you to the goals you want to achieve.
4. Assuming You Can Figure it out on Your own
Mark Colgan also saw this problem:
Jake Dunlap adds:
5. Allowing Sales Managers to Feel Threatened by a Sales Consultant
How do you stop this from happening when bringing on a sales consultant? Talk to your sales manager. Be transparent. Help them buy into the idea of getting outside help to boost results. Don’t leave them wondering about their own standing within the business.
6. Choosing a Consultant You Don’t Have Chemistry with
7. Letting the Motivating Die Right After the Sales Consultant Leaves
It may be easy for the team to feel motivated while a sales consultant is there helping them along, but it’s the job of sales leaders to keep that momentum going after the sales consultant’s job is done.
Ready to Hire a Sales Consultant?
If you’ve seen the warning signs that your sales organization needs external help and have prepared to avoid common mistakes, you’re ready to hire a sales consultant.