At ElevenLabs, closing an inbound deal isn't the end of the sales motion; it's the beginning. Once the initial MSA is signed, the sales team immediately launches an outbound effort, using the internal credibility of the first deal to target every other relevant team within that new customer's organization.

Getting a partnership deal done requires more than a good pitch; it requires an internal advocate. Leaders should leverage their network to identify and cultivate a champion inside the target company. This person is critical for navigating internal bureaucracy and pushing the deal over the goal line, as "there's a million ways for deals to die."

Avoid pursuing prosumer and enterprise motions simultaneously. The optimal sequence is to first build massive bottoms-up love and brand trust with individual users. This creates internal champions within target companies, providing crucial momentum and turning a cold B2B sale into a pull-based motion.

Directly approaching large organizations is often ineffective. Instead, emulate Slack's growth model by getting individual employees to use and love the product. This creates internal champions who advocate for wider organizational adoption, pulling the product in rather than pushing it from the outside.

Enterprise deals often stall because the large buying committee isn't aligned. A mutual action plan (MAP), ideally in a shared digital sales room, gets everyone on the same page by outlining the necessary steps for the deal to close, preventing delays and confusion.

In complex enterprise sales, don't rely solely on your champion. Proactively connect with every member of the buying committee using personal touches like video messages. This builds a network of allies who can provide crucial information and help salvage a deal if it stalls.

Nathan May built a $1M ARR business with a private, invite-only newsletter for just a few hundred key decision-makers. Instead of mass marketing, he manually invited high-value targets via LinkedIn, using social proof (mentioning their peers) to build trust and generate high-ticket sales.

Top decision-makers are often inaccessible. Instead of direct outreach, use a "multi-threading" approach by building relationships with 5-10 other people in their organization. These internal advocates can provide intelligence and eventually carry your message and credibility to the ultimate decision-maker, bypassing their usual defenses. This lengthens the sales cycle but is essential for large deals.

In a competitive deal, the winning vendor is often the one everyone at the decision table already knows and trusts. Use platforms like LinkedIn to build broad visibility and credibility across the organization, not just with your main contact. When decision-makers are familiar with your content and value, you become the default, trusted choice.