Our VP of Sales has been incredibly successful leading our local sales team, but as we expand nationally and target enterprise clients, the seat now requires sophisticated enterprise sales cycle management. How do we determine if they can scale with the seat or if we need to hire over them?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

To determine if your VP of Sales can scale with the business, you must assess their GWC™ against the future requirements of the seat, not their past performance. A leader who is phenomenal at managing local, transactional sales may not have the capacity to navigate complex, multi-million-dollar enterprise sales cycles.

Start by updating the roles of the VP of Sales seat on your Accountability Chart to reflect the new enterprise focus. Define the exact measurables this seat must hit, such as enterprise pipeline value, average contract size, and sales cycle length.

Next, evaluate their conative and behavioral fit. Managing an enterprise sales team requires high-level strategic planning, complex contract negotiation, and long-term relationship building. If their natural method of operation is highly transactional and quick-paced, they may feel deeply frustrated by the slow, methodical nature of enterprise sales.

If your assessment shows they do not GWC the newly defined seat, you must hire a seasoned enterprise sales leader. However, do not simply fire your loyal VP of Sales. If they are a perfect core values fit, look for another seat where they can excel, such as leading your high-performing local sales division. This keeps their valuable institutional knowledge and relationships within the company while ensuring your leadership team has the enterprise capability it needs to scale.