Hire a salesperson.
Add someone to handle sales, so the team has more time to follow up with customers.
Business example · Entirely fictional
Enquiries are not becoming orders. Should you hire a salesperson?
A small business owner wants to hire someone to improve sales. Before committing to the salary, the owner checks whether missed follow-ups are the real problem. Follow this fictional example to see how BSI helps the owner choose an approach, test it and put it into practice.
This is a made-up business example, not a real customer story or an app screenshot. All people, dates and numbers are invented. It does not promise results.
“Get more orders” is a goal. A strategy explains why orders are getting stuck, what you will change, why that change might help and how you will test it. It also sets out the work to do and what can wait. Sankalpa is the browser app that guides you through this work using the seven-stage BSI method. This example deals with one sales problem.
The problem
Why are enquiries not becoming orders?
A small business that sells services to other businesses receives enquiries from likely customers. Many conversations stop before an order is placed. The owner plans to hire a salesperson, believing the team needs more people. Before taking on another salary, the owner checks where these conversations are getting stuck.
Fix follow-up first.
Assign each enquiry to one person and record the next step and due date. Check whether the existing team can do the work.
Are enquiries getting stuck because the team is too busy, or because no one knows what to do next?
The owner checks the previous 12 enquiries. Only three have a next step with a date. That does not yet explain why orders are slow, but it shows a gap worth investigating.
Why hiring might help
Will another salesperson solve the problem?
“We need another salesperson because our team does not have enough time to follow up.”
This might be true. But the team may also be missing follow-ups because no one has been assigned the enquiry, or the next step is unclear.
What would suggest hiring can wait?
The existing team follows up on time after each enquiry has a person responsible and a next-step date.
What would suggest the team needs another person?
Follow-ups are still missed even when responsibilities and dates are clear, and the records show more work than the team has time for.
The owner decides to test whether better follow-up can be done by the existing team. This test cannot prove that sales will grow or that a new hire would succeed.
The two-week test
What can the team try before hiring?
For two weeks, the existing team uses one shared list of enquiries. They track the next 12 enquiries from likely customers. If fewer than 12 arrive, they use the actual number and allow for that when reviewing the test.
Make follow-up clear.
- Assign each enquiry to one person.
- Write down the next step and its due date.
- Set aside 30 minutes each workday for follow-up.
- Aim to reply within one business day.
The same team, for two weeks.
- Keep the offer, prices and advertising budget the same.
- Record missed follow-ups and time spent.
- Wait until the test ends before committing to a hire.
- Review the list at the end of each week.
How will the owner judge the test?
Can the team record a next step and date for at least nine of the 12 enquiries? Can they complete follow-up on time for at least eight, using the time set aside?
These numbers are made up for this example. In a real test, choose measures that fit your own problem and workload.
What the fictional test showed
What happened during the two weeks?
In this made-up example, 12 enquiries arrive and the team records the following.
| What was recorded | Previous 12 enquiries | 12 enquiries during the test |
|---|---|---|
| Reply within one business day | 4 of 12 | 10 of 12 |
| Next step and date recorded | 3 of 12 | 9 of 12 |
| Follow-up completed on time | 2 of 12 | 8 of 12 |
| No next-step date recorded | 9 of 12 | 3 of 12 |
The team used the 30 minutes set aside for follow-up on eight of ten workdays. Three potential customers asked for more technical information. One follow-up was overdue, and three enquiries still had no next-step date.
What does this tell the owner?
The existing team recorded next steps for nine enquiries and followed up on time for eight. That meets the test’s targets and gives the owner a reason to continue this process before hiring.
What does this still not prove?
These are two small groups of different potential customers. The test does not prove that the shared list caused the improvement, that the business will never need a salesperson, or that orders or revenue increased.
What to do next
What will the owner do now?
Improve follow-up before hiring.
“We will focus on the enquiries we already receive. Assign each to one person, record the next step and date, and set aside time each day for follow-up. Answer the technical questions that keep coming up. Hold off on hiring and extra advertising while we check whether this helps conversations move forward. Consider hiring again if the work still takes more time than the team has.”
This strategy explains the problem the owner will address, the changes to make and what will wait. The small test gives a reason to continue. It does not provide a final answer about hiring or prove higher sales.
- Continue: one person responsible for each enquiry, clear next steps and daily follow-up time.
- Check next: which technical questions are stopping potential customers from moving forward?
- Consider hiring again: if the records show that the team still lacks time after following the agreed process.
The action plan
Who will do what, and by when?
In Sankalpa, you work through the BSI stages to develop your strategy. AI helps prepare an action plan, which you adjust and confirm. You carry out the work, record what happens and review it each week. Venkat’s first 30-minute review follows two full implementation weeks, an action log and two weekly reviews. His second review lasts 20 minutes at Day 90. This is how the fictional owner could organise the work.
| What to do | Who does it | When | What to record |
|---|---|---|---|
| Set up the enquiry list and assign responsibilities | Business owner | Day 1, 12 October | Each enquiry, person responsible and next step |
| Run the two-week follow-up test | Existing coordinator | Days 1 to 14, 12 to 25 October | Follow-up dates, time spent and missed actions |
| Review each week’s work | Owner and coordinator | 18 and 25 October | Counts, missed actions and unanswered questions |
| Prepare for the first personal review | Participant | After two full weeks and the required records | Action log, two weekly reviews and test records; book through the programme |
| Answer repeated technical questions | Business owner | Day 30, 10 November | Questions asked, information provided and customer responses |
| Check whether the team has enough time | Owner and coordinator | Day 60, 10 December | Follow-up records, overdue actions and time needed |
| Prepare for the final review | Participant | Day 90, 9 January 2027 | What changed, what did not, and what to continue or change |
What should the team ask each week?
What did we plan to do? What did we actually do? What do the records show? What is still unclear? What should we change or test next?
Record your programme work and request personal reviews inside Sankalpa. Use Customer Care for account and programme support.
Free worksheet or BSI Sankalpa?
The worksheet is free to reuse. You can keep your own copy, use a screenshot or ask your own AI for ideas. If you can test those ideas and follow through on your own, that may be enough for you.
| Free starter worksheet | BSI Sankalpa |
|---|---|
| Starter questions to think through a problem. | All seven guided BSI stages for one challenge. |
| You keep your own copy and organise your records. This website does not save your answers. | Your worksheets, plans and progress stay together in your account. |
| Use your own AI if you wish. The worksheet does not generate advice or plans. | Six completed AI plan versions, including revisions. You adjust and confirm the plan. |
| You arrange your own tests, actions and follow-up. | A 90-day programme to test and implement your strategy, with an action log and weekly reviews. |
| No personal review included. | Two scheduled personal reviews with Venkat Murthy. |
You are paying for the guided programme and Venkat’s reviews. The first review lasts 30 minutes and follows two full weeks of implementing your confirmed plan, with an action log and two weekly reviews at least seven days apart. The second lasts 20 minutes and takes place at Day 90. Appointments are arranged for mutually available times.
₹19,999 + GST, paid once for 90 days. Total payable: ₹23,598.82 including 18% GST. You still do the work. There is no guaranteed business result, automatic renewal or ongoing personal WhatsApp coaching.
Try this with your own problem
What problem do you need to solve?
Use the blank worksheet to write down the problem, what you might change, how you could test it and who will do the work. Take the quiz to see how your challenge and readiness to act match Sankalpa.