01Strategy
Where to play and how to win
- Which self-serve accounts look like sales deals
- A separate offer and price for the larger buyer
- Positioning for each, tested in real conversations
Vertical software, 20 to 50 people, recently funded
From self-serve to a first sales team
Thousands of customers signed up on their own. Now the first salespeople start, with no playbook.
An example drawn from companies at this stage, not a client story.
The situation
Two first-time builds at once. Sales and marketing both start from zero. New reps prospect cold while buying signals sit in product data.
You might recognize it
- Most revenue came from self-serve sign-ups and word of mouth.
- The sales leader and first reps arrive in the same quarter.
- A larger buyer is showing up, with a longer process.
The number to watch
Pipeline created by sales, by source
It shows whether sales finds revenue self-serve would have missed.
How we would run it, end to end
02Design
The operating system behind the number
- Product signals scored and routed to a rep within the hour
- Stages with entry and exit criteria, so the forecast means something
- Territories and a first comp plan
- The CRM set up once, connected to product data
03Execution
Run it, measure it, keep what works
- Weekly lists of accounts showing buying signals
- Outbound and follow-up in your voice
- Talk tracks, demo scripts and battlecards for the first reps
- The Monday brief: pipeline by source and ramp by rep
The first 90 days
Weeks 1 to 2
Founders and first hires interviewed. Product and CRM data read. The scoring model drafted.
Weeks 3 to 6
Scoring and routing live. Playbook and cadences in the reps' hands.
Weeks 7 to 12
Forecast reviewed every week. What works stays. What does not is cut.
What Monday looks like
SampleMonday briefWeek 8
The number: Pipeline created by sales, by source
What moved
- Product signals sourced 18 accounts. Up from 11 last week.
- Stage 2 to 3 fell to 22 percent. Demos run long. A 20-minute format is in test.
This week
Route large-buyer sign-ups to the enterprise rep, not the queue.
What you keep
A lead flow, a sales process, a comp plan and a forecast.
Functions it touches
Sound familiar? Tell us what's stuck and we'll bring what we found.