Getting Sales More At-Bats

The job of marketing is to give your sales team more at-bats.

Here's what I mean.

Let's say that your total addressable market (TAM) is 15,000 businesses.

Conservatively, 5% of your TAM is actively shopping for a replacement to their current solution.

15,000 x 5% = 750 sales transactions

Wouldn't you like to get every one of the 750 opportunities in front of your sales team?

Of course!

What are the chances that all 750 of them will...

1/ think of your brand/product because you're top of mind?

2/ add you to a short list of providers to vet further?

3/ reach out to your sales team?

Bottom line: If your sales team isn't getting enough at-bats, it's time to re-examine your marketing plan.

Why?

Great marketing ensures that your brand and product are top of mind and the preferred choice when your buyers go to market.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many businesses in a total addressable market are typically actively shopping at any given time?

Around 5%, conservatively. In a TAM of 15,000 businesses, that translates to about 750 real sales opportunities available to be captured at any given moment.

What determines whether those 750 opportunities actually reach a sales team?

Whether the brand is top of mind, gets added to a shortlist of providers being vetted, and actually gets reached out to. All three depend directly on the strength of marketing, not sales effort alone.

What does it mean if a sales team isn't getting enough at-bats?

That marketing isn't effectively capturing the businesses already actively shopping within the TAM, a signal that the marketing plan needs re-examining rather than assuming sales simply needs to work harder.

What's the actual job of marketing, according to this framing?

To ensure the brand and product are top of mind and the preferred choice when buyers go to market, directly translating into more real opportunities landing in front of the sales team.

What's the practical takeaway if a sales team consistently feels short on opportunities?

Re-examining the marketing plan first, since a shortage of qualified at-bats usually traces back to marketing not effectively capturing the segment of the market that's already actively shopping.