The Chicken or the Egg: Should You Hire a Salesperson Before or After Leads Roll In?

Hey, it’s Kayvon Kay,

I had a conversation recently with a business owner that made me stop in my tracks.

He was stuck.

His marketing was generating some leads, but not enough to justify hiring a salesperson.

“Kayvon,” he said, “I want to bring someone on, but what’s the point if I don’t have enough leads yet?”

I couldn’t help but laugh—not at him, but at how common this mindset is.

Because here’s the thing: waiting for leads to come in before hiring a salesperson is like waiting for rain to plant seeds.

It’s backwards.

The Misconception About Leads and Sales

Most business owners think leads come first and salespeople follow. It feels logical, right? No leads, no one to sell to.

But let me tell you what I’ve seen time and time again:

The right salesperson doesn’t just close leads—they create momentum. They turn lukewarm inquiries into red-hot deals. They take half-baked opportunities and turn them into recurring revenue.

If you’re waiting for leads to “justify” hiring, you’re leaving money on the table.

The Power of a Sales-First Mindset

Let me break this down with an example:

My client, Sarah, runs a B2B software company.

For years, she focused on perfecting her marketing funnel. She wanted every ad, email, and webinar to be dialed in before even thinking about hiring a closer.

By the time leads finally started trickling in, her team was so overwhelmed that they couldn’t follow up fast enough. Calls were missed, deals slipped through the cracks, and those precious leads dried up faster than they came in.

Now compare that to another client, Jason.

Jason runs a consulting firm. Instead of waiting for leads, he brought in a skilled salesperson early. This closer didn’t sit around twiddling their thumbs—they proactively reached out to prospects, nurtured relationships, and even helped refine the marketing message to better resonate with potential clients.

Within six months, Jason’s business had doubled.

Not because of marketing… but because he invested in sales before the leads were overflowing.

When to Hire: The Real Question

The question isn’t, “Do I have enough leads to hire?”

The question is, “What’s stopping me from creating enough opportunities to justify the hire?”

A great salesperson doesn’t just work leads—they build pipelines. They:

• Proactively prospect and identify opportunities.

• Close deals that wouldn’t happen otherwise.

• Provide insights to refine your messaging and offers.

Waiting until your lead flow is “ready” often means missing the boat entirely. By the time you feel “ready,” your competitors have already snapped up the clients you were too slow to serve.

The ROI of a Salesperson

Let’s do the math.

If you bring in a salesperson earning $5,000 per month and they close just one $10,000 deal, they’ve already paid for themselves.

If they’re proactive, they’ll often uncover opportunities you didn’t even know existed, creating revenue streams you hadn’t tapped into.

And the best part? While your marketing machine ramps up, they keep the wheels turning.

Are You Ready to Scale?

Here’s the reality: If you’re serious about growing your business, you can’t afford to wait.

 Sales drive revenue, and revenue fuels everything else.

Ask yourself:

• Are you waiting for perfection before taking action?

• Do you want to react to opportunities—or create them?

• What’s the cost of not having someone focused on closing deals every single day?

Because the truth is, leads don’t create salespeople. Salespeople create sales.

It’s time to stop waiting for rain and start planting seeds.

To your success,
Kayvon Kay