Does Your Sales Team Need Adjusting?

By Ken Cheo

Sizing Your Sales Force for Long-Term Success

Now that Q1 results are in, it's a good time to step back and ask a fundamental question: is your sales force the right size?

Last Month we conducted a webinar on territory management.  Let’s say you have allocated your territories in such that you expect each salesperson has a reasonable opportunity to bring in $2 million in revenue for the year.  After Q1, you notice that some reps are tracking well above their $2M targets. This would cause you to wonder if there are unrealized opportunities in some of your territories.

Or, perhaps you're coming off a post-COVID growth surge and questioning whether it's time to pull back.  The economy has leveled off and maybe the productivity of your sales team is no longer optimized.

Sales force sizing deserves serious attention. It affects not just your company's bottom line, but your customers' experience and your salespeople's engagement.

The cost of getting it wrong — in either direction

A sales force that's too small means customers aren't being served properly, reps are overworked, and your company is leaving opportunities on the table — often handing market share directly to competitors. But a sales force that's too large creates its own problems: salespeople become an annoyance to customers rather than a resource, productivity drops, and your cost of sales drifts out of alignment with industry standards.

Morale suffers in both cases. Overworked reps burn out. Under-challenged reps disengage. Either way, turnover follows — and turnover is one of the clearest signals that your sales force isn't sized correctly.

Sizing needs change as your business evolves

The right sizing strategy for a new, growing business looks very different from what works for a mature one. Early-stage and high-growth companies require meaningful investment in their sales teams. Without it, they miss growth windows, cede market share, and allow competitors to build the customer loyalty that's very difficult to recapture later.

And yet, new and growing businesses tend to be too conservative. It's not uncommon for a company's sales force to be operating at only 60% of its optimal size. The company that sizes right — that commits to capturing early market opportunity — is the one that emerges as the market leader as competition intensifies.

Sales leaders often view the risk of hiring too many salespeople as greater than the risk of having too few. If the forecast isn't realized, downsizing is unpleasant and could damage morale. The team hits their conservative goals for sales and profit, the salespeople are paid well, morale is high and everyone feels good.  What is not getting consideration is significant revenue and profit are lost.  That reduces the long-term strength of the business.  It has a permanent impact on the company's ability to grow sales and reach peak market share.

For more mature businesses, modest upsizing may still be appropriate, especially if sales leaders were overly conservative during the growth stage, but some mature businesses need to downsize slightly as products mature and markets get more competitive. At this stage, working smarter often drives more profit than adding headcount — and with the rapid advancement of AI and sales technology, there are more opportunities than ever to improve efficiency and effectiveness without expanding the team.

Five tests to find the right size

So how do you actually know if your sales force is the right size? There are five practical tests that can give you the insight you need.

1. Customer surveys and market coverage analysis. Gather qualitative feedback from customers and pair it with a quantitative look at how well you're covering the market. A useful benchmark: if 80% of your revenue comes from just 20% of your customers, your sales effort is far more concentrated than the market likely warrants. That's a signal you may need more people going after a broader customer base. Conversely, if your sales are less concentrated than the market average, you may have too many reps chasing low-potential accounts.

2. Selling activity analysis. Use sales force surveys, call reporting data, and manager observations to understand how your reps are actually spending their time. Map the activities required to adequately service existing customers and pursue new ones, then assess whether your current headcount can realistically do both.

3. Morale and turnover tracking. As noted, turnover is a leading indicator of sizing problems. Monitor it closely — it's one of the most honest signals your organization will give you.

4. Competitive intelligence. Watch what your competitors are doing. If they're reducing sales staff, that may signal a market contraction worth heeding. If they're expanding, you may need to follow to protect your position.

5. Financial and break-even analysis. Run the numbers. A well-constructed break-even analysis will tell you whether your current sales force size is generating a return that justifies its cost — and where the optimal sizing range actually lies.

The bottom line

Sales force sizing isn't a one-time decision — it's an ongoing strategic lever that needs to be revisited as your company, your market, and your competitive landscape evolve. The companies that get this right don't just hit their numbers today; they build the foundation for sustained growth and market leadership over time. Use these five tests as your starting point, and don't be afraid to make the call that positions your team — and your customers — for long-term success.