The goal of networking shouldn't be to find your next customer. Instead, strategically identify and connect with potential referral partners. One such partner can become a center of influence, introducing you to hundreds of ideal customers, far outweighing the value of a single transaction.

Even successful PLG companies like Figma eventually burn through their early adopter market. To avoid hitting an asymptotic growth curve, they must proactively build a traditional outbound sales team to tackle the enterprise market before the PLG engine stalls. Don't wait until you need it.

For a service business with more demand than capacity, flip the sales model. Instead of you doing the work to secure funding or partners to onboard a new client, make it a requirement for the client to secure those resources for you. This leverages their desperation and turns your prospects into your sales team.

To effectively serve SMBs, B2B marketers must evolve their approach from collaboration ('do it with them') to automation ('do it for them'). SMB owners are not marketers and lack the time and staff to manage complex tools. The most valuable service is one that simplifies complexity and leverages technology to execute marketing tasks on their behalf, empowering them to achieve more with minimal direct involvement.

A one-size-fits-all sales role fails in consumption models. Success requires segmenting the team into specialized roles—new business acquisition, customer onboarding, and account management—each with distinct incentives aligned to their specific function, from initial sign-up to value realization and expansion.

Instead of constantly chasing new leads, businesses can find immense growth by deepening existing relationships. A tech company ignored a referral partner for two years, but two follow-up meetings later generated $11.2 million, demonstrating the untapped potential within current networks.

Instead of chasing quantifiable but often misleading metrics like MQLs or pipeline attribution, focus on qualitative feedback from sales. Successful brand marketing means the sales team enters 'warm rooms' where customers are already familiar with and receptive to the company, eliminating the need to start from zero.

Instead of failing with hard-to-reach C-suite targets, new reps should engage easier-to-access, adjacent personas (like insurance brokers). These conversations serve as low-stakes training, rapidly building the specific industry language and knowledge needed to credibly approach senior decision-makers.

In a B2B supplier or distributor model, success depends on going downstream. You must understand not only your direct partner's business drivers and KPIs but also the needs of their end-customer. This allows you to align strategy across the entire value chain.