How to Build a Scalable Sales Team for Your Agency

Most agency founders make the same mistake when hiring their first salesperson: they expect magic.

They assume one hire will instantly fill their pipeline and close deals like a pro. But when that doesn’t happen, they think:

• "Salespeople just don’t work for agencies."
• "No one can sell like I do."
• "I’ll just handle sales myself."

Sound familiar?

That’s why so many agencies stay stuck in founder-led sales. The key to growth isn’t hiring a salesperson and hoping for the best. It’s building a sales system that scales.

Let’s dive into the step-by-step roadmap to building a predictable, scalable sales machine with a strong sales team structure.

Step 1: Your First Hire – A Senior BDM (The Founder’s Sales Clone)

The founder can’t run sales forever. But before stepping back completely, you need the right first hire to fit into your agency’s sales team structure.

Common Hiring Mistakes:

• Hiring someone too junior – they take too long to ramp up.
• Hiring someone too senior – they resist learning your sales process.

The Ideal First Hire:

A Senior BDM with 2-3 years of experience who is:

• Adaptable (can learn and apply your agency’s sales approach).
• Competent (can close deals within six months).
• Results-driven (compensation is tied to performance).

The Goal:

→ Get them to 70% of the founder’s effectiveness within 6-12 months.

At this stage, the founder still helps close big deals but isn’t managing every conversation.

Sales teams with structured onboarding programs see a 50% increase in quota attainment (source).

Step 2: The Second Hire – Another BDM (Never Rely on One Closer)

Most agencies make one of the biggest mistakes here: stopping at one BDM.

Then, when that BDM leaves, sales dry up overnight.

The Rule: Never rely on just one closer.

Your second hire should be another BDM to create redundancy in your sales team structure.

• BDM #1 helps train BDM #2 (but the founder still oversees mentorship).
• BDM #2 follows the same onboarding process.
• Both BDMs should be self-sufficient within 6-12 months.

Now, if one BDM leaves, sales continue.

Step 3: The Third Hire – SDR (Fueling the Pipeline)

BDMs should not waste time chasing unqualified leads.

They should be:

• Closing deals.
• Running high-value conversations.
• Moving prospects through the pipeline.

That’s where an SDR comes in.

A Sales Development Representative (SDR) should be your third hire. Their job:

• Qualify inbound leads and book meetings.
• Source outbound leads.
• Fill the BDMs’ calendars with quality prospects.

Companies that use SDRs see 67% higher revenue growth (source).

The Long-Term Play:

→ Your SDRs should eventually become BDMs.

Once an SDR proves they can generate meetings and leads, promote them to BDM and hire another SDR underneath them. This ensures a constant pipeline of new closers within your sales team structure.

Step 4: The Fourth Hire – Sales Manager (Scaling the Machine)

Once your agency has:

→ Two BDMs closing deals. → An SDR fueling the pipeline.

The next step? Scaling without breaking your sales team structure.

Enter: The Sales Manager.

Most agencies mess this up by expecting the Sales Manager to also sell.

Wrong.

A Sales Manager doesn’t sell. Instead, they:

• Coach and train the sales team.
• Review sales calls and refine strategies.
• Optimize conversion rates and win bigger deals.

Sales teams with regular coaching from managers perform 26% better (source).

This hire removes the founder from sales completely. The only time they get involved? Key enterprise deals.

Who Should Be Your Sales Manager?

• Promote a high-performing BDM (if they have leadership skills).
• Hire externally (if you need fresh expertise).

Step 5: Scaling Beyond the Core Sales Team

Once your core team is in place (BDMs, SDRs, Sales Manager), it’s time to scale strategically.

Partnerships SDR (Expanding Revenue Streams)

• Focuses purely on referral partnerships.
• Books meetings for the founder or BDMs to build strategic alliances.

For agencies that rely on partnerships, this role is a revenue unlock.

Team Leads for BDM & SDR Teams

As your team grows, BDMs and SDRs need structure.

• Team leads oversee quality, training, and performance.
• They function similarly to a Sales Manager but stay hands-on.

A well-defined sales team structure ensures that as the business scales, your sales operation remains efficient and organized.

The Proven Blueprint for Scaling Sales

Most agencies scale the hard way. They either stay stuck in founder-led sales or hire without a plan.

Here’s the blueprint for a sales system that runs itself:

→ Step 1: Hire a Senior BDM to replace the founder in sales. 

→ Step 2: Hire a second BDM to avoid dependency on one closer. 

→ Step 3: Bring in an SDR to keep the pipeline full. 

→ Step 4: Hire a Sales Manager to coach, optimize, and scale. 

→ Step 5: Add referral SDRs and team leads as the team expands.

If you’re serious about scaling your agency without bottlenecks, you need a sales team structure that operates like a machine. Follow this playbook, and you’ll build a sales engine that runs predictably, profitably, and without relying on you.

Got questions on sales team structure, blueprint for scaling sales, or anything else?

Say hello and we’ll lock in a time to chat through

Cheers,

Was