You just finished your mid-year review pouring over the details of all of your KPI stats. At the end of the process, always the critical KPI is whether you're on the plan you committed to back in January!
Whether you're on exactly on your sales plan or on either side of where you should be, the talent market of what we see in Greater Boston plus the seasonal calendar math of what it takes to hire, onboard and move to what we call "full ramp speed", says that it makes a lot of sense to add to your sales team right now!
- First, there's tremendous sales, marketing and product management talent on the street...at least here in Greater Boston. The reasoning seems to be everything from SaaS layoffs and AI efficiencies to an overpopulation of talent especially in young sales talent both as BDRs and AEs and in product management roles.
- If you were to launch a search for a salesperson of any type on September 1st, most probably that person is not being hired until the end of October, which provides you with two solid months of onboarding positioning that person perfectly for your January sales meeting kickoff. This hire isn't a Q4 revenue play; it's a Q1 setup play. Plus, the very fact that you are hiring will not only bring needed support to the rest of the team, there's the added benefit of new energy that new sales hires always bring to an existing team!
- Added proven talent from the outside at the "A" level additionally positions you to make better decisions regarding your C+/B- player that you've been reluctant to change given the phrase that we hear all the time of "yes, I should let him go, but some revenue is better than no revenue". The problem with that concept is that very rarely do "C+" level salespeople become consistent solid "B" players, let alone "A" level contributors. Add to that the fact that you are sending a message to the rest of your salespeople that you are willing to accept marginal performance. Definitely not the message that you want to send at this time of the year with two tough quarters in front of you.
This weekend sometime before the barbecue on Sunday, take 30 minutes and score everyone on your team on a 1-5 scale. I just did this yesterday in a very difficult management situation in a struggling company that I am very involved with and was surprised by the result...which made my decision regarding this person much easier and definitely more immediate.
I always want to make these weekly blogs very tactical and hopefully of immediate value to my readers, so since we're discussing hiring new talent, here's two opportunities where it may be that you can provide connections. The first is an exciting marketing leader position that just opened yesterday at one of our customers.
The second opportunity is on the opposite side of the table with two of my very best grad student alums who are both looking for product management positions. These are two exceptional individuals! A+ students who excelled in my own course, and both are recent grad students in our Master's in Engineering Management Program.
1. Marketing Manager Position: MGX Marketing & Communications Manager
MGX is a primary Derby Management customer where we work with the senior management in building sales and marketing processes. Great company! Superb culture! Exciting growth! Click Here!
2. Two superb Product Management Candidates you should call Monday!
Abhishek Verma .
- MS in Engineering Management candidate at Tufts; brings 5 years of experience across product and analytics, with a combination of marketing strategy thinking and hands-on AI product execution.
- Knows how to take products to market: led a comprehensive GTM strategy engagement for WellAware, an AI-powered IoT platform, conducting competitive research and vertical analysis across industries and delivering positioning and market entry recommendations.
- Understands the full funnel: designed and launched an ML-driven sales model that drove 15% conversion uplift and built a lead scoring algorithm that increased qualified lead.
Shisher Jamadagni
- Turn ambiguity into clear product direction bringing structure to unclear problems by combining customer research, competitive analysis, and product requirements. At KAON Interactive, this helped translate complex AI concepts into actionable PRDs and move the team 20% faster.
- Tie product decisions to business impact. I care about building experiences that improve both the customer journey and the business. At DAMSR, I led a B2B website redesign and AWS migration that increased lead conversions by 20% and improved site performance by 40%.
- Bring a growth and GTM lens to product work. I’m comfortable working across product, analytics, marketing, and GTM strategy. At Cognizant, I A/B tested segmented campaigns that reduced CAC by 25% and automated reporting workflows that delivered insights three times faster.
So, that's it for this Friday's blog which I'm writing today from my house in the tiny town of Winhall, VT, where the summa' color is already telling me everything about timing. Like clockwork, the giant maple tree out by the studio across the driveway will show its first fall color with a few fall leaves sometime over the next 7 days. It's just the natural seasonal rhythm...exactly the same as occurs each quarter as our sales calendar unfolds.
Have a great day selling!
Jack is a Managing Partner of Derby Management, a strategy consulting firm, and founder of the Derby Entrepreneurship Center at Tufts University, where he has taught for 20 years. Every semester is significantly updated, with heavy emphasis in 2026 on AI in Marketing & Sales. At Derby Management, Jack and his team architect and build business strategies focused on sales and marketing processes, tools, and technology platforms.
www.derbymanagement.com | Derby Entrepreneurship Center at Tufts