Playbook / Lessons / Expand: new markets

Do not give away free consulting to win a bigger customer segment

Morrissey recounts that at Segment, selling to a very broad customer base meant enterprise use cases that fit the product poorly, too much sales spending on a broad upmarket segment, and a glut of one-off feature requests. Free consulting offered to close enterprise deals turned into free support and was carved out of contract value, and enterprise churn was higher. He advises defining the product's value framework and the ideal enterprise customer before signing enterprise deals.

“We often gave away free consulting to enterprise customers to help us close deals.”— Joe Morrissey, Getting Ready to Move Upmarket, Sep 2022

Do this

Write down who exactly the higher-value customer in the new segment is, who owns their budget and what support they expect, before you promise free consulting or custom work to close a deal.

More in this pack

• Prove demand abroad before you staff an overseas office
• Stay in your first location for the first few years
• Recruit local partners like customers with a filtered list and outreach
• Expand into a client niche close to the one you already serve

Get your plan

All steps · Trust · Pricing