Dear SaaStr: I’ve Got 4 Sales Reps. Should My VP of Sales Have Their Own Quota?
Maybe. But not much beyond that.
If you only have 4 AEs, then it’s reasonable for your Head of Sales to carry a small quota—at least temporarily. At this stage, they’re likely still acting as a “player-coach,” which is common in the earlier phases of scaling. But even then, their primary focus should be on hiring, onboarding, and enabling those AEs to succeed, not on closing deals themselves.
Here’s the key: the Head of Sales should only carry a quota after the first quarter or so if it’s absolutely necessary to hit your revenue goals, and even then, it should be a short-term arrangement if you are scaling.
Their role is to build the team and the processes that will scale revenue, not to be the top closer. If they’re spending too much time on their own deals, they’re not doing the job you really need them to do—recruiting, training, and driving performance.
At 4 AEs, you’re still in the early stages of building out your sales engine. The Head of Sales should be focused on:
- Hiring 2-3 more AEs to get to at least 6-8 reps, which is where you start to see more predictable patterns in performance.
- Ensuring the current AEs are hitting quota. If they’re not, the Head of Sales needs to figure out why—whether it’s a lead flow issue, a training gap, or something else.
- Establishing repeatable processes for pipeline management, forecasting, and deal closing.
If they’re doing all of that well, they shouldn’t have much time left to carry a quota. And if they’re not doing those things, you’ve got a bigger problem than whether they’re closing deals.
Having said that, I strongly believe today it’s incredibly helpful for a new VP of Sales and even a CRO to “carry a bag” for a quarter or even two. To close a quota or at least a half quota when they start at least.
If they don’t they never seem to really learn the product. And the world is just too competitive today for that.
And I’d be wary of any VP of Sales that pushes back here. Too many today just want to be managers, and not really … sell.
The bottom line: a Head of Sales with 4 AEs can and perhaps should carry a small quota for a relatively short time, but not beyond that. If you are growing at least.
The sooner they can transition fully into a leadership role, the better for your long-term growth. If you’re relying on them to close deals because the team isn’t performing, focus on fixing that first.
If you’re worried about justifying their cost, remember: a great Head of Sales will more than pay for themselves within a couple of quarters by improving team performance and scaling revenue. If they’re not doing that, the problem isn’t whether they have a quota—it’s whether they’re the right hire
