Enterprise: selling top-down to big accounts
Enterprise is the account-led motion. Complex deals, a lot of stakeholders, long cycles and big contracts. What wins here is trust and process.
Its the heaviest of the three motions, by far. One deal can easily take a year, so only a big contract can carry that. Lets look at how it works and what it really costs you.
How enterprise sales works
You have many buyers, security reviews, procurement. You win with trust, with references and with knowing how to move through the organisation. And you count in quarters, not in days.
Important: you dont sell to the techies. You sell to leadership. Enterprises buy to optimize processes and to make the org more efficient. It works today already, but it could be better or cheaper. So your case is built on ROI, on many stakeholders and on trust.
Where enterprise enters the funnel
Enterprise is top-down. You start at the very top, with named accounts and execs, and then you orchestrate the whole way down.
- ▸Awareness through events, referrals and analysts
- ▸Interest through an exec intro or an inbound RFP
- ▸Consideration is the security and solution review
- ▸Activation is a pilot or a proof of value
- ▸Purchase goes through procurement and an MSA
- ▸Retention is CSM, QBRs and expansion
The channels behind enterprise
- ▸Events and conferences. Expensive, but high trust for the big accounts.
- ▸LinkedIn for reach and demand gen in B2B.
- ▸Demos and webinars to show the value live.
- ▸Partnerships and channel, so you borrow the distribution and the credibility of someone else.
- ▸Lifecycle email, the workhorse when it comes to retention.
Why the price floor is so high
Enterprise starts at around $50k+ per account per year. High five figures and up.
The cycle runs over quarters with security reviews, pilots and procurement, and all of this is expensive long before the first dollar comes in. Only a big contract pays that back. A small deal could never carry the weight of this motion, thats just how it is.
New market or existing market?
In a Red Ocean the budgets and the category exist already, so account-led works fine. You only fight for the share.
In a Blue Ocean it is heavy, but possible. Top-down can build a category with analysts, events and exec evangelism. But you should expect a long and expensive way until the demand is there.
Can you actually pull off enterprise?
Only tick what you honestly have today. Not what you hope to have in a year:
- ▸You have the connections to even get into the big accounts.
- ▸You have the money for a professional product, not just an MVP.
- ▸You can pay for security, compliance and the lawyer costs that come with it.
- ▸You can survive a 12 to 14 month sales cycle before the first customer pays.
- ▸You have the cash to wait that long without any revenue.
Test it before you build
Enterprise lives on access and trust. So check if you even get into the room before you build anything. Without these pieces enterprise becomes a money pit very quickly. Better start lighter and earn the right to move up-market later.
- ▸Ask the people you know for a warm intro to the real user or buyer in a target enterprise. If nobody wants to make the intro, the demand is not there yet.
- ▸Get one real call with that buyer and let them describe the pain in their own words. If they cant, or it is just not a priority for them, there wont be a contract.