Sales Rep Hierarchy
The Sales Rep Hierarchy is our proprietary framework for identifying which of four distinct rep profiles belongs in each seat. Most businesses hire based on energy and interview performance. We hire based on behavioral wiring.
The question it answers
What does this sales role actually require to succeed in it?
Use it when
You’re about to post a sales job.
A rep who interviewed well hasn’t built pipeline in six months.
Nobody on your team is earning over $100K in total compensation.
It’s the wrong tool when
Lead flow, the offer, or management is the real gap. Fix that first since no rep type survives it.
You want a Closer but there’s no lead flow to feed one.
Level 1
Support+
Customer service reps who can also take an order. They handle incoming calls, answer questions, and close the easy ones. If nobody on your team is earning over $100K in total compensation, you probably have a team of Support+ reps.
Level 2
Farmer
Relationship builders. Excellent at managing existing accounts, keeping clients happy, and finding natural upsell opportunities. What they won’t do is go find new business.
Level 3
Hunter
Hunters prospect. They make the calls no one else wants to make, build their own pipeline, and generate new opportunities from scratch. The engine of growth for most small businesses trying to scale.
Level 4
Closer
They don’t prospect, they close. Rare and expensive, and most small businesses aren’t ready for one because the infrastructure to feed them has to already be in place.
Where owners get it wrong
They post a generic “sales rep” job, interview candidates who sound enthusiastic, and end up with a Farmer in a Hunter role. The rep isn’t bad, they’re just in the wrong seat with unrealistic expectations to fill.
What you walk away with
A precise written target before sourcing begins, and a concrete definition of success before anyone is hired: every current rep mapped against the four profiles, the target profile for the open seat, and a 30/60/90 day Success Scorecard.
Related frameworks
Find out where every rep on your team sits.
The Sales Team MRI maps your whole team against the Hierarchy. Free for $2M to $20M businesses.
