Insights — Channel Creation & New Revenue Streams — 3 min read
Test B2B Demand Before You Hire a Sales Team
The most expensive way to find out there is no demand for your new B2B channel is to hire a full-time sales team. There is a better, leaner way to get the data you need.
In short
Before hiring a sales team, you must test B2B demand through a lean 'Opportunity Engine' approach. This involves manual outreach to a small, targeted list of potential buyers to see if your value proposition resonates. The goal is to secure 'indicators of intent'—requests for quotes, trial orders, or deep discovery meetings—before committing to a permanent salary. This evidence-based approach ensures that when you do hire, you are giving the salesperson a proven model to execute, rather than a problem to solve.
When a business decides to 'get serious' about B2B, their first instinct is often to hire a Sales Manager or a Business Development Representative. This is frequently the wrong move. Hiring a person before you have a validated proposition, a clear target segment, and a proven sales message is just outsourcing the risk of failure.
A sales person is an accelerant; they are not a strategist. If you haven't yet proven that businesses want to buy what you are selling, a new hire will spend their first six months 'getting to know the market' on your payroll, only to potentially tell you what you could have found out in two weeks of testing.
The cost of the premature hire
A mid-level B2B salesperson in the UK costs significantly more than their base salary when you factor in NI, pension, commission, and management time. If they fail because the market doesn't want the product, you haven't just lost the money; you've lost the time you could have spent refining the channel. A lean test might cost a few thousand pounds; a failed hire costs tens of thousands.
How to run a lean demand test
| Step | Action | Success Metric |
|---|---|---|
| Segment | Identify 20-30 'Ideal' B2B accounts. | Clear list of targets. |
| Hypothesise | Write a specific B2B value proposition (not your B2C one). | A 'pitch' that addresses a business problem. |
| Outreach | Direct, personal outreach via LinkedIn or email. | A response rate above 5%. |
| Discovery | Hold 15-minute 'problem/solution' calls. | Buyer confirms the problem exists. |
| Close the Test | Ask for a small commitment (e.g. a sample order or a pilot). | Real commercial intent (not just 'that's interesting'). |
What you are really looking for
You aren't just looking for sales; you are looking for 'friction'. If every buyer says the product is great but the price is wrong, or the lead times are too long, or they already have a supplier they love, you have discovered the 'commercial reality' of the channel. This data is far more valuable than a salesperson's vague report that the 'market is tough'.
When to push the 'Hire' button
You are ready to hire when the founder or a senior leader can no longer keep up with the volume of qualified B2B enquiries. At this point, you aren't hiring someone to find the path; you are hiring someone to walk the path you've already cleared. This is the difference between a speculative gamble and a disciplined investment in growth.
Could your business support another route to revenue?
Evans Channel Creation identifies, validates and builds additional revenue channels from capabilities a business already has — B2B to D2C, D2C to B2B, product to service, recurring revenue or partners — and says so plainly when a channel should not be built. Programme from £1,995 + VAT per month over six months.
Related services