Sadly, this is the thought process for over 75% of companies. They believe that if something isn't selling enough, you need more bodies to sell it.

Adding bodies to achieve something quicker works in construction. If you need to build a new building quickly, you can add more people to the job. That is one way to get the job done.

Another way could be to have a better process or strategy to ensure quicker development. But throwing people at the problem seems easier.

When something isn't jumping off the shelves, there is a reason. Now it doesn't have to be an exact input that is the culprit. Lack of luck could be a reason that insinuates there is no logical reason.

One of the reasons something does not sell itself is that it does not solve a specific pain. Another reason could be that there is little awareness around the need.

Few reasons why your product isn't selling revolve around what salespeople control. Very few times does a product not sell because it's being sold ineffectively. If this is the case, I would argue it's more about positioning than sales tactics.

The lesson: If your marketing is off (wrong), sales can't do anything to sell more products quantifiably.

Sales could go door to door to raise awareness, but that's not scalable. Instead, better messaging leading to solid positioning would do more to raise awareness.

While I'm not suggesting disregarding (or disrespecting) the sales role, I am urging a new perspective. Or, maybe a realigning of priorities and what leads to true success.

Throwing fuel on the fire (hiring more salespeople to sell a lousy product) will not help. Going to the root of why the fire is there and addressing that will bring more significant ROI.

And I see that task as being a core objective of marketing. Make selling easier.

🧠 // JO