Dear SaaStr: Should You Hire Sales Reps in Pairs To Test Them?
Ideally, yes.
Yes, you absolutely should hire sales reps in pairs, especially early on.
Here’s why:
When you hire just one sales rep, you won’t learn anything. Not for sure.
If they fail, you won’t know if it’s because your product isn’t ready, your sales process is broken, or if they’re just not a good fit. They’ll likely blame your product or lack of leads, and you’ll be left guessing. On the flip side, if they succeed, you still won’t know why. Is it their skill? Is your product selling itself? Or are they just good at closing a specific type of customer? You need a second rep to compare and contrast.
At EchoSign, I made the mistake of hiring just one rep initially. He was great—smart, eloquent, and customers loved him. But I didn’t learn anything about scaling sales until I hired a second rep.
That’s when I started to see patterns, understand different customer segments, and figure out what worked and what didn’t. It was a game-changer.
Hiring in pairs also gives you redundancy.
Sales reps leave more often than you think, even from great jobs. If one rep doesn’t work out, you’re not starting from scratch. Plus, it creates a bit of healthy competition, which can drive performance.
So, even if it feels expensive or risky, hiring two reps is the smarter move.
It’s not just about testing them—it’s about testing your process, your product-market fit, and your ability to scale. If you’re bootstrapped or tight on cash, remember that good sales reps are accretive. If they’re closing deals, they’re making you money. And if they’re not, you’ll know quickly and can course-correct
More here in our classic SaaStr post on the topic:
