Building the Modern 10x Rep

Traditional sales culture identified a “10x Rep”. The 10x rep is a rare unicorn. They close 10x more revenue than their peers. They work longer hours, make more calls, and out hustle their counterparts. They charm every room and have an insane rolodex. They attack with curiosity and dig to find value and product fit. If you’re lucky you’ll find one of them in your org. If you’re blessed, you’ll have two or three. 

The traditional 10x rep? They’re still out there. But the most successful organizations are finding ways to make every seller operate like a 10x seller. How? 

You’re going to expect me to say AI. Admit it. 

The truth is, embracing AI will put you on the fast track to success. Mostly. 

But more important than the tools you’re adopting to seed AI throughout your organization is how you’re putting those tools to work to make your sellers and your system better. 

In 2025, the 10x Rep embodies a mindset of efficiency. They use AI to automate their busywork. They prepare for meetings using real time intelligence, account history, and their own intuition. They review their pipeline and account plan with curiosity, prioritizing intentionally. They see themselves as a strategist as much as a closer. 

The best thing about a 10x Rep today? Anyone can be one. It starts with mindset and it ends with tools. And when you can scale that mindset across a team and an organization? That’s where revenue transformation emerges. 

Redefining 10x: From Outlier to Operating Model 

In today’s SaaS world, the numbers aren’t encouraging. It’s not even an 80/20 rule anymore across high and low performers. It’s worse. 

Just 14% of sellers generate 80% of revenue, and they’re the ones leveraging social selling at a rate 3x that of their peers. 

The modern 10x Rep isn’t superhuman, but they do know how to engage with an informed buyer audience. They stay keyed into the market, they have identified a strong ICP, and they use that context to stay curious about who they’re selling to. 

It’s less about having the “it” factor and more about efficiency, preparation, and buyer engagement. Even the automated touches feel personalized because a 10x Rep knows everything about their targets. 

Are these reps working less because of AI? No.The hours are still there, but the output per hour is radically different. These sellers don’t use AI to replace effort. They use AI to focus their efforts into activities that they know will deliver ROI. 

The 10x Rep preps with intent, plans with precision and prioritizes like a management consultant. 

The Specifics: How the Best Reps Work Today

The name of the game is efficiency. The 10x Rep is a time maximizing machine. In fact, the numbers don’t lie: 72% of top reps’ time is spent on high value selling activities, which means they translate much more of their time into dollars, 3.2x more revenue per hour than their peers. 

10x Reps move quickly, attacking targets with strategic curiosity. With focused discovery, deals qualify faster and move through the funnel more efficiently. They spend 20 - 30% less time in stage, have 2 - 3x faster sales cycles, and close at 1.5 - 2.2x higher deal sizes. 

AI can equip sellers at every stage of the cycle with key insights on buyer personas, procurement processes, security documentation, and other important deal line items. It can remove the manual work of adding this info to CRM, even drafting and sending follow up emails using context from recent calls. 

Good reps review their calls to improve their approach. 10x Reps use their calls to keep deals moving. 

Doing more with less means your sellers are expected to hold larger bags. Knowing who to prioritize selling to is just as important as closing. The best reps use AI to identify buying signals, narrow in on ideal personas, and build buying groups quickly. It’s not about knowing who’s next, it’s about knowing who they are and how they buy. 

Closing Still Matters

We can’t skim over the close. 

10x Reps balance deal execution with GTM awareness. They recognize buyer patterns, handle objections, differentiate from competitors and keep the team aligned. They stay engaged after the close to make sure the handoff sticks. 

AI can facilitate follow-ups, automate success check-ins, and ensure closed customers realize value early. In a previous life, a rep may have been hesitant to remain engaged after a sale due to lack of bandwidth. 

Now? Let the AI handle post sale ops, and the reps keep selling.

Let’s be honest: the best reps aren’t more talented, they’re just less distracted. 

It’s in the Way That You Use it 

We’ve talked a lot about the things AI can do at a high level to make your sellers better, but you can’t just hand someone a Ferrari without teaching them how to drive. 

An estimated 95% of all AI rollouts fail to reach a tangible ROI. 

Why? Because the tech gets adopted without the behavior change.

New tools have to be embedded into the daily workflows. That means AI fluency, training, and reinforcement. Real success comes when tech becomes second nature, not just another tab in a browser for a seller to bounce between.

Lean into the metagame, especially in coaching and enablement. Let your AI tools find the gaps and fill them. 

Building a team of 10x Reps

10x is scalable. It doesn’t have to be a one off unicorn. It’s a system, and it’s trainable.

• Run AI PoCs to automate prep, scoring, and follow-up. 
• Use accessible enablement materials that are searchable by AI. 
• Let AI feed leaders coaching and performance metrics to keep reps away from costly PiPs. 
• Give sellers tools that encourage efficiency and keep them focused on selling.
• Find an ICP and key signals, and use AI to narrow it and run down target buyers. 

Remember, don’t deploy before you’re aligned. Ensure processes and feedback loops are in place first. Deploy second. Scale third. 

Reinforce mindset over motions. Tools help, but mindset builds consistency. 

You’re not looking for 10x Reps, you’re building them systematically and repeatably. 

Mindset Matters Most

Reps aspiring for 10x performance should start with the right mental model. 

The numbers show that reps with simplified, aligned sales motions are 4.5x more likely to hit targets and report 37% higher job satisfaction. 

That means that all things equal, these steps and the 10x mindset will lead to success. 

It’s about putting in the time, leveraging tools, keeping reps doing the right things, and allowing them to keep selling. 

In 2025, being a top performing rep isn’t about being the best closer, it’s about being the best operator. Curious, context driven, and engaged.

Final Word: You Can Build Unicorns

Everyone is capable of 10x performance when the system supports it. Every rep deserves that opportunity.

The old playbook: out-hustle, out-call, outlast, is gone. 

The new mindset is here and it’s built on curiosity, context, and leverage. 

Work smarter and harder. Mindset first, systems second, tooling third. 

Unicorns are rare. Building them? That’s possible and repeatable. Build the framework and the 10x will follow.