Building and scaling a sales team is crucial for long-term growth, but it requires intentional decisions on who to hire, what to pay them, how to onboard and train them, and more. A top-down and bottom-up approach can be effective in promoting the value of a product to an organization, while a pod model can create focused tight-knit groups that comprise team members playing different roles. Hiring sales people who are passionate about the company and its mission is essential, as is finding individuals who can blend art and science in their sales approach. A compensation model that leverages results-based incentives can provide tremendous upside for growth and allow CEOs to truly leverage their people. Aligning compensation to how a buyer buys and determining the base salary and variable split are also critical components of building an effective sales team. An onboarding process that incorporates different learning styles and preferences, as well as training reps for effectiveness rather than just efficiency, can help ensure long-term success.