• by Michael Baer , July 2, 2025

Nearly all B2B companies, especially early-stage and growth companies, are hyper-focused on their sales pipeline—driving leads, chasing meetings, firing off outbound, creating proposals. It’s all hands on deck, all the time.

But there’s a problem: too often all the activity is not repeatable because there’s no system nor strategy guiding it.

Instead of building a long-term growth engine, most teams settle for scattered tactics and bursts of energy—a constant scramble following whichever leads you end up with, regardless of their product-prospect fit. Too often this results in inconsistent momentum, unclose-able leads, wasted time and resource—and lots of missed opportunity.

What a Real Growth Engine Looks Like

Think of a real engine. It takes thought and effort to design. Sure, that takes time to build. But once it’s up and running, it continues to run in the direction you’ve defined.

That’s what a true growth engine does for your business. It generates consistent, focused momentum across sales and marketing so your growth doesn’t depend on pulling rabbits out of hats, or running 100 mph, 24/7. And it ensures that your efforts drive you in the direction you want to go, not where the wind blows you.

Strategy First. Activity Second.

Research from Harvard shows that founders with documented business plans are 16% more likely to succeed than those without one. Sales teams with a formalized strategy grow 18% faster than those without. And according to CoSchedule, marketers who document their strategy are 313% more likely to report success.

Contrary to what many leaders may think, success doesn’t just come from doing. It comes from deciding what to do—and how best to do it—before you start.

What Goes Into a Real Growth Engine

This isn’t just a sales play—it’s a collaborative commitment to develop purposeful, systemized growth. Here’s what it includes:

A defined target persona and journey map. If you can’t name your best-fit customers in detail, you’ll waste time chasing the wrong ones. And it’s important to document their path to purchase, identifying conversion points along the way.

Positioning that resonates. Craft a clear, compelling value proposition that addresses your customers’ needs and insights—and then make sure your messaging is aligned across all channels, from email to landing pages to sales decks.

Marketing that builds awareness and demand. Go beyond awareness and lead gen, using thought leadership content to attract and build the trust needed with the right buyers before they enter your pipeline.

Outbound that’s systematic and scalable. Codify your outreach strategy—messaging, cadences, sequences, etc. Create playbooks and tools so success doesn’t rely on one person’s hustle—or luck.

Cross-functional coordination. Marketing shouldn’t hand off “leads” and disappear. Product, marketing and sales teams should share goals—and coordinate messaging and narrative through conversion and beyond.

Yes, building a growth engine takes time. And, yes, you could move faster today by just doing more stuff. You’ll find plenty of leaders who want to leap into tactics, hire some more sales reps, send a bunch of messages, and just hope and pray for results. But that’s not an engine—that’s whack-a-mole.

You’ll go further—and, ultimately, faster—if you build a strategic, repeatable system first. Without it, every lead is harder to earn and harder to close. Every campaign is guesswork feels disconnected. Every team member charts their own course and speaks their own narrative.

With it? You scale smarter. You build momentum. And you stop reinventing the wheel.

So, if you want more predictable growth, start by designing the machine that drives it. Then turn the key—and let the engine do what it’s designed to do.