Sales Organization and Talent

Sales organizations and sales roles are often legacies of the past, sometimes cobbled together with replications of practices from competitors and bolt-ons to address spot issues with customers. To create the optimal customer experience and drive productivity from your sales organization, you should design your organization and talent from the customer up.

Customer buying criteria and processes create a foundation on which to build the sales process and the roles that will work within that process. A sales role is more than a job. It’s comprised of multiple factors including the sales strategy it pursues, the product portfolio and customer segments it covers, and its sales process requirements to perform the function.

Once you’ve defined the correct sales roles, it’s critical to determine the type of talent, or the breed that you need, in each of those roles in terms of capabilities and characteristics. For example, defining a Doberman business development role and stocking it with lap dogs won’t drive the performance you’re looking for. Developing your sales team, aligned to the right roles, through training and coaching is essential to respond to an evolving competitive environment and changing customer demands. According to SalesGlobe research, 48% of companies report a positive return on their investment in coaching and development, when done correctly and consistently.

SalesGlobe can help you build your sales organization and roles, create customized performance models for talent, and build your sales talent action plan to assess, develop, and recruit a high-performance team that drives growth.

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Why Sales Organization Design Matters

Customer buying criteria and processes should form the foundation on which you build your sales process and the roles that operate within it. When your organization is designed around how customers make decisions, rather than internal convenience, you eliminate friction, reduce redundancy, and accelerate deal velocity.

Most sales organizations evolve organically over time. Roles get added to solve short-term problems. Coverage models get inherited from predecessors. Territories get drawn based on geography rather than opportunity. The result is a structure that no longer matches the market, and a team that's working harder than it should to hit its numbers.

SalesGlobe takes a different approach. We help you step back and redesign your sales organization with clear-eyed analysis of your customers, your competitive environment, and your growth objectives.

Defining the Right Sales Roles

A sales role is more than a job title. It's comprised of multiple factors: the sales strategy it pursues, the product portfolio and customer segments it covers, and the sales process requirements needed to perform the function effectively.

We work with you to define each role based on what it actually takes to win in your market. That includes:

  • Role clarity: Eliminating ambiguity around responsibilities, coverage, and handoffs between roles
  • Coverage model design: Aligning roles to customer segments, geographies, and product lines based on opportunity, not tradition
  • Capacity analysis: Determining how many of each role you need to achieve your revenue targets
  • Role economics: Ensuring each role generates enough value to justify its cost within your go-to-market model

Matching Talent to Roles: The Right Breed for the Job

Once you've defined the correct sales roles, it's critical to determine the type of talent, the breed, that you need in each of those roles in terms of capabilities and characteristics.

Think of it this way: defining a Doberman business development role and stocking it with lap dogs won't drive the performance you're looking for. Every role requires a specific set of skills, behaviors, and motivational drivers. Getting the match right is the difference between a team that hits quota and one that consistently falls short.

SalesGlobe builds customized performance models for each role that define:

  • The specific competencies and behaviors required for success
  • The characteristics that differentiate top performers from average ones
  • Assessment criteria to evaluate current talent against the model
  • Recruiting profiles to attract the right talent from the market

Developing Your Sales Team Through Coaching and Training

Developing your sales team, aligned to the right roles, through training and coaching is essential to respond to an evolving competitive environment and changing customer demands.

According to SalesGlobe research, 48% of companies report a positive return on their investment in coaching and development, when done correctly and consistently. The key phrase is "correctly and consistently." Most organizations invest in training events rather than sustained development programs. The former creates a temporary spike; the latter creates lasting capability.

Our approach to sales talent development includes:

  • Skills gap analysis: Identifying where your current team falls short against the performance model for each role
  • Coaching frameworks: Equipping sales managers with repeatable processes to develop their teams
  • Training program design: Building programs tied to specific competency gaps, not generic content
  • Performance measurement: Tracking the impact of development investments on sales outcomes

How SalesGlobe Helps

SalesGlobe can help you build your sales organization and roles, create customized performance models for talent, and build your sales talent action plan to assess, develop, and recruit a high-performance team that drives growth.

Our engagements typically include:

  • Sales organization assessment: Evaluating your current structure, roles, and coverage against your market and growth objectives
  • Organization redesign: Building a customer-up structure with clearly defined roles, territories, and reporting relationships
  • Talent performance modeling: Creating role-specific profiles that define what good looks like
  • Talent action planning: Developing a roadmap to assess, develop, and recruit the team you need

Frequently Asked Questions

1What is sales organization design?
Sales organization design is the process of structuring your sales team, including roles, reporting relationships, coverage models, and capacity, around how your customers buy rather than how your company has historically operated. Effective organization design starts with understanding customer buying criteria and processes, then builds the sales roles and team structure needed to serve those customers and drive revenue growth. At SalesGlobe, we call this designing from the customer up.
2How do I know if my sales organization needs to be redesigned?
Common signs that your sales organization needs redesign include: declining win rates despite increased activity, unclear role boundaries leading to internal conflict or customer confusion, coverage gaps where high-value accounts lack dedicated attention, and a structure that was inherited rather than intentionally designed for your current market. If your organization evolved organically over time rather than being built for where you're headed, it's likely time for a redesign.
3What does SalesGlobe mean by "the right breed" for a sales role?
Every sales role requires a specific combination of skills, behaviors, and motivational drivers. We use the concept of "breed" to describe the talent profile that matches a role's requirements. For example, a business development role that requires aggressive prospecting and cold outreach needs a different type of person than an account management role focused on relationship depth and retention. Getting the breed right means matching the talent profile to the role's demands, not just filling a headcount.
4What is a sales talent performance model?
A sales talent performance model defines the competencies, characteristics, and behaviors that differentiate top performers from average performers in a specific sales role. SalesGlobe builds customized performance models for each role in your organization. These models serve as the foundation for assessing current talent, identifying skills gaps, designing targeted development programs, and recruiting new hires who fit the profile for success.
5Does sales coaching actually improve performance?
Yes, when done correctly and consistently. SalesGlobe research shows that 48% of companies report a positive return on their investment in coaching and development. The key distinction is between one-time training events (which create temporary improvement) and sustained coaching programs tied to specific role competencies (which build lasting capability). We help organizations design coaching frameworks that equip managers with repeatable processes to develop their teams over time.
6How long does a sales organization redesign take?
The timeline depends on the scope and complexity of the engagement. A focused role definition and coverage model redesign can typically be completed in 6 to 8 weeks. A comprehensive organization redesign, including role design, talent assessment, performance modeling, and an implementation roadmap, generally takes 10 to 16 weeks. SalesGlobe works as an independent third party alongside your leadership team to ensure the design is practical, data-driven, and ready for implementation.
7What industries does SalesGlobe work with on sales organization design?
SalesGlobe has designed sales organizations and talent strategies across technology, SaaS, telecommunications, wireless services, professional services, information services, staffing and recruiting, and cloud and managed services industries. Our cross-industry experience allows us to bring proven frameworks while customizing every engagement to your specific market dynamics and competitive environment.

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