How to Build a Sales Team

About this video

This is a coaching conversation with Johnny Clark, CEO of Locate a Locum, who describes his company as a SaaS-enabled marketplace helping healthcare organisations manage temporary and permanent staff. Clark says the business is close to five years old, has about 35 employees and about 2 million ARR, and serves very large pharmacy accounts in the UK and Ireland. His first question is how to hire and manage an account manager for a major pharmacy chain. Martell advises hiring from the customer’s industry rather than requiring a tech background, because the value is speaking the pharmacy’s language, managing expectations, and coordinating resources. The ideal hire, in his framing, is an ex-salesperson who no longer wants a sales quota — they bring relationships and industry knowledge and can also surface new deals. He says an account manager can typically handle two to $3 million of business, so an account worth about half a million a year implies roughly four to five such accounts per manager, with pay tied to retention and expansion as if the manager owned a book of business. His Executive Business Review flow is offered as the meeting structure. On Clark’s second question — expanding from pharmacy into wider healthcare — Martell advises waiting until roughly 15 to 20% penetration of the current addressable market, setting a clear revenue unlock target first. He argues growing the existing market is usually three to four times easier than starting a new one, and that most companies fail from indigestion — too many markets, pitches, and motions — rather than from a lack of opportunities.

Key takeaways

• For enterprise account management, hire people who know the customer’s industry and language, not only people from tech.
• Former salespeople who want to leave quota-carrying sales can be especially strong account managers because they bring relationships and commercial instincts.
• Size the role by book value: Martell cites two to $3 million per account manager, with compensation linked to retention and expansion revenue.
• Keep customer success activities such as onboarding and activation distinct if the account manager’s job is specifically account growth.
• Delay adjacent-market expansion until about 15 to 20% penetration of the current market, and set a data-based unlock target instead of deciding on emotion.

Episode details: published July 11, 2022 · 17:22 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Dan Martell’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

← Previous: Building a Saas Prototype With No Money · Next: Email Marketing Strategies For B2B SaaS Companies →

All Dan Martell videos · Dan Martell profile · Dan Martell (official site)