How can startups sell to enterprises? Enterprise GTM is often the most crucial aspect of any startup’s sales motion. Winning these high-value contracts can make or break a company. However, enterprise sales is time, labor, and capital intensive—and startups are often under equipped to handle the challenges that occur when selling to the enterprise. 

Salesforce Ventures has 15+ years of experience helping startups with their enterprise sales motion, meaning we’re highly qualified to support startups as they build out this crucial function.

In our inaugural Startup Enterprise GTM Report, we surveyed sales leaders at 180+ startups to understand what modern startup enterprise sales looks like and how founders can navigate this process and win deals. 

A few key insights:

• Founders should build and lead the enterprise sales motion. Founders typically scaled their teams by hiring experienced AEs willing to take on expansive roles (e.g., sales prospecting, lead qualifying, etc.). Founders didn’t step back from this role until hitting $5M ARR.
• Founders should demand more from their sales team. With ACVs, ARR growth, sales productivity, AE headcount, and pipeline coverage all trending up, it’s reasonable for founders to increase sales quotas and attainment to capitalize on these favorable market conditions.
• The climate is friendlier for incumbents vs. early-stage startups. Improving sales conditions have not impacted early-stage startups as positively as later-stage startups to date.