Sales-led growth

Some products are too complex, too expensive or too risky for a buyer to self-serve into. A person in the conversation can answer objections that a web page never could. Sales-led growth tends to produce larger and more predictable contracts, and closer customer relationships, than a self-serve model.

The cost is that it needs skilled people and real sales infrastructure. Without proper qualification and prospecting, reps spend their time on deals that were never going to close.

• Build prospecting first: a clean target list, clear fit criteria and real research on each account.
• Set up one consistent discovery and qualification process, so every rep judges fit the same way.
• Put the basics of sales operations in place before hiring more: a CRM, a forecasting habit and simple reporting.
• Let reps shape the pitch to what each prospect cares about instead of reading one script.
• Track sales velocity by rep and segment, to see whether the process or the person is the bottleneck.

In sales-led growth, a person is the main way customers are won. Reps research accounts, reach out, run discovery calls, handle objections and negotiate contracts. The product and website support that conversation but do not replace it.

It is usually contrasted with product-led growth, where the product sells itself through a free plan or trial. Neither is better in general. The right one depends on what is being sold.

• Hiring reps before the process exists. Without a defined target list, discovery process and CRM, new reps invent their own and results cannot be compared.
• Using it on a product that could sell itself. A £20 a month tool cannot pay for a rep's time. Check that average deal size covers the cost of a sales conversation.
• Letting every rep qualify differently. The forecast then rests on opinions.
• Judging reps on activity alone. Calls made say little about deals that will close.
• Having no plan for who prospects. If reps both prospect and close, one of the two usually gets dropped.