First establish whether it is the rep or the territory, because firing someone who was handed a dead patch teaches the team that the number is rigged. Compare their activity, conversion and pipeline coverage against the team median. If activity is fine and conversion is broken, coach. If activity is broken, it is usually over. Give one clear written plan with a date and specific numbers, not a vague improvement conversation, and then hold the date. Lemkin's rule is not to let it run past one sales cycle. Handle the exit generously and the team reads it as standards, not fear.
4 hand-picked resources, 4 link-checked. Pick how you want to dig in.
Why we picked it Ten specific, named mistakes rather than principles, including hiring a VP of Sales too early and letting a bad rep linger past one sales cycle. It is the fastest way to avoid the errors almost every first-time founder makes.
On SaaStr by Jason Lemkin 30 min listen
Open saastr.com →Why we picked it Names the two ways founders get the timing wrong, scaling too early and scaling too late, and walks the progression from founder selling to pods to a real team. Useful precisely when you are deciding whether it is time.
From Founding Sales by Peter Kazanjy 35 min read
Open foundingsales.com →Why we picked it 365 B2B companies surveyed on ramp, tenure, attrition, activity and comp. When you want to know whether your ramp is slow or your attrition is normal, this is the reference everyone quotes.
From The Bridge Group Report, 20 min read
Open blog.bridgegroupinc.com →Why we picked it Stripe's Chief Business Officer on building a written sales operating model (leads, conversion, deal size, win rate, cycle) so you can diagnose whether a miss is the rep or the model. The missing step in most handoffs.
From SignalFire by Sadasia McCutchen with Jeanne DeWitt Grosser 14 min read
Open signalfire.com →How hiring and ramping gtm people reads from a different seat.
The same ground, over in Co-founders, team & legal, our Starting Up track.
