Jason M. Lemkin argues that enterprise sales success starts with targeting the mid-market, not mega-corporations. Focus on $30,000–$50,000 deals and hire reps who've closed that size. Shift from pitching features to building business cases for line-of-business owners.
Chapters
Yeah, I think it starts with having the right ICP. So when we say enterprise, you immediately go to the 20,000-person company. And for us, enterprise was mid-market and the lower enterprise segment. And so you're looking for reps who have done these deals, let's say $30,000 to $50,000 deal sizes, have a handful of years of experience doing that. And the big key that we needed to find and transition our org to was team members who had experienced value selling. Often you'll inherit an org of very well-intentioned, smart, scrappy people who are selling features and functions because of your PLG roots. It's, "Hey, just show 'em the product, get 'em into the product, they'll convert." Selling to a different buyer, a line of business owner, a key business stakeholder in these larger organizations takes a completely different motion. You have to talk about business value and be able to make a business case for the value that your solution creates for their organization.