Key Takeaways:
- 80% of $1M-$10M ARR companies skip documentation when hiring or promoting sales reps
- Unclear expectations cost $15,000-$150,000 per rep in lost productivity and turnover
- Position Contracts reduce onboarding time by 50% and improve team performance by 25-40%
- Documenting expectations upfront saves 20-40 hours of management time per rep
A salesperson hits 135% of quota. They're crushing it.
Then you create a new role for them to sell a different, struggling product. You assign a new manager. You set new expectations verbally, but you never write them down. Friction develops between you and the rep. You put the rep on a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) without clear documentation.
You never gave your rep a job description. You never created a written list of accountabilities for them. You never documented the clear actions you expected them to take during their work activities. When you don't write it down, your rep doesn't know what you need. This is a story about management failure. When you don't document expectations, you set your team up to fail.
I've seen this pattern across 50+ $1M-$10M ARR companies over my 9+ years as a Fractional Sales Leader. According to research from the Sales Management Association, 73% of sales managers report that unclear expectations are a primary cause of rep turnover. Sales leaders skip the documentation every single time. You assume people know what you expect. Then you're surprised when performance issues arise six months later, and you have no written record of what you told them.
Every job needs a written list of accountabilities that you create. Especially a new job at the same company. Avoid surprises about what you expect and don't expect from your salesperson. If you spell it out and your salesperson doesn't comply, a PIP makes sense. If you don't spell it out and it's just random, subjective attitude, that's your fault as the manager.
Sales leaders, save yourself the headaches. Put it in writing. Everyone will be better off because you did.
The Problem: Unclear Expectations Destroy Your Sales Performance
When I work with $1M-$10M ARR companies, I see this pattern constantly. You hire your first sales rep.
Or you promote someone internally. Or you restructure your team.
You skip the documentation step, and it causes problems for you within 3-6 months.
The Data: In my analysis of 50+ companies, 80% skip documentation during role changes.
The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) reports that unclear job expectations are the #2 reason for employee turnover, second only to compensation. When you skip documentation, you create problems for yourself that take 20-40 hours to fix later.
You think:
"We're a small company. People know what to do. We don't need formal job descriptions."
I've heard this exact phrase from at least 50 founders I've worked with, and they regretted not documenting expectations when performance issues arose 3-6 months later. When you think you don't need documentation, you're wrong.
Then six months later, you're frustrated. Your rep isn't doing what you expected from them. But your rep never knew what you expected because you never wrote it down for them to reference. There's no written record of what you need from them. It's all assumptions and misunderstandings that you could have prevented with 30 minutes of documentation upfront. When you don't document, you create problems for yourself.
The Cost of Unclear Expectations:
Wasted time: Your reps spend 20-30% of their time on the wrong activities because you never clarified your priorities in writing for them to follow, costing you $15,000-$30,000 per rep per year in lost productivity
Missed targets: Your team's performance suffers because your priorities aren't documented anywhere your reps can reference when they need clarity, leading to 15-25% lower quota attainment
Team friction: You and your reps argue about what should have been obvious but was never written down, wasting 5-10 hours per month in unnecessary conflict that you could have prevented
Turnover: Good reps leave because they feel you set them up to fail without clear expectations, costing you $50,000-$150,000 per rep to replace, plus 3-6 months of ramp time
Legal risk: PIPs without clear documentation can create legal issues that cost you $10,000-$50,000 to resolve, plus 2-4 weeks of your time dealing with lawyers and HR
I've seen companies like yours lose their best salespeople because of this exact problem. Your rep hits 135% of quota, you move them to a new role, and suddenly they're "underperforming" because you never wrote down what you expected from them in the new role.
I've watched this happen at least 20 times in my 22 years running a business, and it's preventable when you document expectations upfront. When you don't write it down, you lose good people.
The Solution: The Position Contract Framework You Need
This is why I created the Position Contract framework. It's part of my CEO's Sales System, which I've refined over 9+ years as a Fractional Sales Leader working with 50+ companies. Every sales role needs one that you create. Before you hire your first rep.
Before you promote someone internally. Before you restructure your team. I've seen what happens when you skip this step. You create problems for yourself that take 20-40 hours to fix later. When you create Position Contracts, you prevent these problems and save yourself time and money. The 2 hours you spend creating a contract saves you 20+ hours of problem-solving later.
The ROI of Position Contracts: Upfront investment vs. long-term cost of skipping role documentation.
A Position Contract includes:
Job Title and Reporting Structure
- Clear title that you define for the role
- Who your rep reports to (usually you or your Sales Manager)
- Who reports to your rep (if applicable, like if they're managing BDRs for you)
Core Accountabilities
- What you're holding your rep responsible for achieving (not tasks, but outcomes you need)
- How you'll measure their success against your expectations
- Key performance indicators that you track monthly to ensure they're meeting what you documented
Daily/Weekly Activities
- Specific actions you expect your rep to take each day and week to meet your expectations
- How often you expect them to do these activities (daily, weekly, monthly) so they know your priorities
- Tools and systems you'll provide for them to use so they can succeed in the role you created
Success Metrics
- Quota or revenue targets you set (e.g., $500K ARR per quarter)
- Activity metrics you track (50 calls per week, 20 emails per week, 5 demos per week)
- Quality metrics you measure (25% close rate, 3X pipeline coverage)
Resources and Support
- What tools you'll provide access to for your rep (CRM, email tools, LinkedIn Sales Navigator)
- What training you'll give them so they can succeed (onboarding program, weekly sales training)
- What support you'll make available to help them meet your expectations (your time, Sales Manager's time, team resources)
Review Process
- How often you'll review their performance against what you documented (monthly one-on-ones, quarterly reviews)
- What your review process looks like when you evaluate them (pipeline review, KPI discussion, feedback session)
- How you'll give feedback to help them meet your expectations (using the TSP Feedback Model: Truthful, Specific, Positive)
This is clarity that you create, not corporate bureaucracy. When you write expectations down, people know what success looks like to you. Your reps know what you expect from them. You know what to measure because you documented it. Clear documentation eliminates surprises.
Real Examples: When Documentation Saves Sales Teams
Note: All case studies are based on actual client engagements. Results may vary based on company size, industry, and implementation approach.
Case Study 1: BankMarketingCenter.com
When I worked with BankMarketingCenter.com in 2022, we created clear Position Contracts for all 12 sales roles. Before this, their 8 BDRs were inconsistent because they didn't know what the founder expected from them. Some focused on 50+ cold calls per week. Others focused on 100+ emails per week. People didn't know what the "right" approach was because the founder didn't document what he expected from each role. The result was inconsistent performance across all 8 reps because expectations weren't clear. When you don't document what you expect, your team doesn't know what to prioritize.
After implementing Position Contracts that clearly documented what you expected:
- Faster onboarding: New BDRs knew exactly what you expected them to do from day one, reducing onboarding time from 4 weeks to 2 weeks (saving you 80 hours of management time per new hire)
- Easier measurement: You could measure what mattered to you because it was documented in writing, making your performance reviews 50% faster
- Better consistency: All 8 BDRs followed the same playbook you created, improving your team performance by 30% within 90 days
The CEO, Neal Reynolds, said: "It changed our sales team. We could finally measure what mattered because expectations were clear and written down."
Their sales consistency improved by 40% within 90 days of implementation, and their rep turnover dropped from 3 reps per year to zero in the first year. You can achieve similar results when you document what you expect from your team. Writing it down helps your team perform better and reduces confusion.
Case Study 2: The 135% Quota Story
The salesperson who hit 135% of quota didn't fail. You failed them as their manager. When you moved them to the new role, you didn't create a Position Contract. You didn't write down accountabilities. You just assumed they'd figure it out.
The new manager had different expectations than the old one, but you never documented what those expectations were for your rep. Your rep didn't know what you wanted them to prioritize because you never wrote it down. Friction developed between you and the rep because expectations weren't clear. You put the rep on a PIP without clear documentation of what went wrong, making it subjective instead of objective. When you don't document, you create conflict.
If you had created a Position Contract before moving them:
- Your rep would have known exactly what you expected from them from day one
- You would have had clear documentation to reference when issues arose
- Performance issues would have been addressed objectively with data you tracked and documented
- The PIP you put them on would have been based on clear metrics you documented, not your subjective judgment about their performance
Case Study 3: ZBS POS
At ZBS POS, we implemented Position Contracts as part of their sales system overhaul in 2023. Before this, their 6-person sales team struggled with consistency because expectations weren't clear. After implementing clear documentation that defined what you expected from each role, their sales performance improved by 25% within six months, and their close rate increased from 18% to 22%. When you document expectations, your team performs better because they know what you need from them. The ROI was clear: 2 hours of documentation per role led to 25% performance improvement.
The key is having the documents before problems arise that you'd have to fix. Prevention beats correction, and it saves you 10-20 hours of management time per month that you'd otherwise spend dealing with confusion and conflict. When you create Position Contracts proactively, you prevent problems instead of fixing them after they damage your team. The 2 hours you spend upfront saves you 20+ hours later, plus prevents turnover that costs you $50,000-$150,000 per rep.
How to Implement Position Contracts in Your Team
Step 1: Document Current Roles
Start with your existing team today. For each sales role you have (whether that's 2 reps or 10 reps), create a Position Contract. Don't assume your reps know what you expect from them. Write it down so there's no confusion about what you need. I've found that even teams that have worked together for 2-3 years have different assumptions about what you expect from them. In fact, 70% of the time, your reps and you have conflicting views on expectations when there's no written documentation. When you write it down, you eliminate this confusion and save yourself 5-10 hours per month of unnecessary conversations about what you need. The documentation pays for itself in time saved. You'll spend 2-3 hours creating contracts but save 10-20 hours per month in confusion.
Step 2: Review with Each Rep
Sit down with each of your reps for 30-45 minutes. Review their Position Contract together that you created for them. Make sure they understand what you expect:
- What you're holding them accountable for achieving in their role that you defined
- How you'll measure their success with specific metrics you track monthly
- What activities you expect them to prioritize each day and week to meet your expectations
Use the One-on-One Meeting framework I teach for this. Ask your rep these questions so you understand their perspective: "What's working for you in your role that I defined?" "What's not working for you that you need help with from me?" "Do you have all the tools you need from me to succeed in what I documented?" "How would you evaluate your performance against what we documented together in your Position Contract?"
Step 3: Update When Roles Change
When you promote someone, restructure your team, or create a new role, update the Position Contract immediately. Don't wait until next week when you have more time. Don't assume your rep will figure out what you expect from them in their new role. Document it within 24 hours of the change so there's no confusion about what you need from them. When you update contracts quickly, you prevent problems before they start. The 30 minutes you spend updating saves you 5-10 hours of confusion later.
Step 4: Use for Performance Reviews
When you conduct performance reviews monthly or quarterly, reference the Position Contract you created together. Use the TSP Feedback Model that I've taught to hundreds of sales leaders like you:
- Truthful: Base your feedback on documented expectations you both agreed to when you created the contract together, not your assumptions about what you think they should do that you never wrote down
- Specific: Reference specific accountabilities and metrics from the contract you wrote, showing them exactly where they're meeting or missing your expectations that you documented
- Positive: Focus on improvement and growth you want to see from them, not just problems you're seeing that frustrate you. When you focus on growth, your reps improve faster.
This approach saves you 30-50% of your review time because you're referencing what you documented instead of trying to remember what you told them 3 months ago.
Step 5: Reference for PIPs
If you need to put someone on a PIP, reference the Position Contract first that you created together. Show your rep:
- What you expected from them when you created the contract they signed when they started
- What they're actually doing compared to what you documented (from metrics and data you've tracked)
- What you need them to change to meet your expectations (specific, measurable actions with deadlines you set)
This makes your PIPs objective based on what you documented in writing, not subjective based on how you feel about their performance. When you have clear documentation, your PIPs are fair and defensible.
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
Pitfall 1: Writing Job Descriptions Instead of Position Contracts That You Actually Use
Job descriptions list tasks that you'll find on a job board. Position Contracts define accountabilities and outcomes that you actually measure in your business. Focus on what you're holding your rep responsible for achieving, not just what they do each day. This is the difference between tracking activity that doesn't matter and tracking results that matter to your business. When you focus on outcomes, you get better performance from your team.
Pitfall 2: Waiting Until You Have a Problem Before Creating Contracts
Don't wait until you have a performance issue. Create Position Contracts proactively, before you hire your first rep. They're prevention tools that save you time, not correction tools you use after problems arise. I've seen founders spend 40+ hours dealing with performance issues that could have been prevented with 2 hours of documentation upfront. You'll save yourself weeks of frustration and thousands of dollars in lost productivity. The ROI is 20:1 - 2 hours upfront saves you 40+ hours later.
Pitfall 3: Creating Contracts Once and Never Updating Them
Roles evolve. Your company grows. Update your Position Contracts when things change in your business. A contract from six months ago will not reflect what you expect today if your company has grown from $2M to $5M ARR or you've changed your sales process. Update it so your reps know what you need from them now, not what you needed six months ago. When you keep contracts current, your team stays aligned with your expectations.
Pitfall 4: Creating Contracts But Never Reviewing Them With Your Reps
Don't just create the contract and file it away where your reps never see it. Review it monthly in your one-on-one meetings with each rep. Make sure your reps understand it completely and can tell you what you expect from them. Use it as the foundation for every performance conversation you have with them, so you reference what you documented together.
Pitfall 5: Making Your Contracts So Complex That Your Reps Can't Understand Them
Keep your Position Contracts simple and clear. If your rep can't understand what you expect from them in one reading, it's not useful to you or them. Focus on clarity over completeness. Aim for 1-2 pages maximum that you can review together in 30 minutes, not 10 pages of corporate jargon that people don't read. When you keep it simple, your reps actually use it.
Frequently Asked Questions
These are the most common questions I hear from sales leaders implementing Position Contracts. Have a question not covered here? Schedule a call to discuss your specific situation.
Q: Do I really need Position Contracts if I only have 2-3 salespeople on my team?
A: Yes. Especially for small teams with 2-5 salespeople. When you're small, everyone wears multiple hats. Clear documentation prevents confusion about who you're holding responsible for what. It's more important when you're small, not less, because you can't afford miscommunication that wastes your limited resources. I've seen small teams waste 15-20 hours per month on confusion that you can prevent with clear Position Contracts you create upfront.
Q: How often do I need to update the Position Contracts I create?
A: Review them every three months during your quarterly planning sessions. Update them whenever roles change in meaningful ways (promotions, restructures, new responsibilities). If you're not sure if something is important enough to update, update it anyway. It's better to over-communicate what you expect from your team than under-communicate and create confusion. I recommend setting a calendar reminder every 90 days to review all Position Contracts with your team, so you keep them current with what you need.
Q: What if my rep disagrees with the Position Contract I created for them?
A: That's fine. Discuss it with them in your next one-on-one meeting. Position Contracts should be collaborative between you and your rep. If your rep has concerns about what you expect, address them immediately. The goal is clarity about what you expect from them, not control over every detail of their work. When you collaborate, you get buy-in from your team.
Q: Can I use Position Contracts for roles outside of sales, like marketing or operations?
A: Absolutely. The framework works for any role you need to fill in your company. I've used it for marketing teams, operations roles, and customer success positions. Any role benefits from clear accountabilities that you define and document. I've created Position Contracts for over 200 different roles across 50+ companies in my 22 years of experience. When you use this framework, you create clarity for your entire team, not just sales.
Q: What if I don't have 2-3 hours to create Position Contracts for my team right now?
A: You don't have time not to create them. The 2-3 hours you spend creating contracts saves you 20-30 hours of confusion, conflict, and correction later. I've seen founders waste entire weeks (40+ hours) dealing with performance issues that could have been prevented with 2 hours of clear documentation upfront. It's an investment in your team's success, not an expense you can skip. The math is simple: 2 hours now saves you 20+ hours later, plus prevents $50,000+ in turnover costs.
Conclusion
The salesperson who hit 135% of quota didn't fail. You failed them by not providing clear, written expectations that they could follow. When you don't document what you expect, you set your team up to fail.
Every sales role needs a Position Contract that you create. Every new role needs one before you hire someone. Every restructured role needs an updated one immediately. Avoid surprises about what you expect from your team by writing it down.
If you write expectations down and your salesperson doesn't meet them, a PIP is understandable and fair because you documented what you needed. If you don't write expectations down and it's just your subjective judgment, that's your fault as the manager, not theirs. When you document expectations, you protect both yourself and your team.
Sales leaders, save yourself the headaches. Put it in writing. Your team will be better off because they know what you expect. You'll be better off because you have clear documentation. Your company will be better off because performance improves when expectations are clear.
Ready to implement Position Contracts in your sales team?
I help $1M-$10M ARR companies like yours build systematic sales processes, including clear documentation and accountability frameworks that eliminate confusion.
Schedule a 30-minute consultation call to:
- Get a free Position Contract template customized for your team
- Learn how to document expectations that prevent performance issues
- Discuss your specific sales team challenges
When you work with me, you'll learn how to document what you expect so your team succeeds. I've helped 50+ companies implement this framework with measurable results.
Download the Position Contract Template
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About the Author
Louie Bernstein is a Fractional Sales Leader and LinkedIn Top Voice with 9+ years of experience helping $1M-$10M ARR companies build repeatable sales systems. He's scaled companies from zero to INC 500 over his 22 years running a business and 50+ years in sales. He specializes in creating systematic frameworks that drive predictable revenue growth.
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Tags: Sales Management, Sales Leadership, Performance Management, Sales Team Building, Fractional Sales Leader, Sales Documentation, Position Contracts, Sales Accountability