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Dear Quota Team, 
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I’m a fairly new hire at a small company, as is the rest of our sales team. In fact, this is the first time they've ever had a sales team (yes, you read that right). The entire environment is aimed at marketing for exposure and not revenue. We currently have zero methods for getting inbound leads. We as a team are pressing the importance of inbound leads -- and qualified leads at that -- but it feels like it's going nowhere. We've been told by management to "stay in our lane," so to speak. How can we go about convincing them that while we're happy to cold call all day, the quick wins they're looking for are going to come from the right leads? I don't know if I've asked this correctly but I am feeling stuck. Thanks!
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Frustrated in New York City 

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Dear Frustrated,
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As you’re realizing, there are upsides and downsides to being part of a company’s first sales team. Unfortunately, it looks like one of those upsides: being able to shape the direction of the sales organization, doesn’t actually exist for you. In fact, it sounds like the people who run your company want to run it like a big organization, rather than a scrappy, nimble upstart, which is what it is. The “exposure” marketing approach makes us think that whoever is in charge of marketing came from a large corporation, and not from another startup. 

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Brand awareness is a good thing, but if your leadership doesn’t focus on filling the sales funnel, sooner or later there won’t be anything left to be aware of. So in that regard, you’re right for being frustrated. If marketing dollars are being spent, they should be spent driving revenue, unless there’s some bigger strategy at play that you haven’t been told about.  

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You asked how you can go about convincing leadership to invest into driving leads. You also said that you’ve been told to “stay in your lane,” which isn’t a great sign. The way we see it, you have three options: stay and keep pushing for change, stay and accept it, or move on. 

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If you’re going with option 1, you should take the following approach: invite your manager out for a cup of coffee, somewhere away from the office. If you’re remote, ask if you can hop on a quick call to chat. Try to make it as informal as possible, and make sure you don’t put too much pressure on them. Let them know what’s on your mind, and make it clear that you believe that making these changes would be in the company’s best interests, not just your own. Depending on your manager’s response, you should have a good idea of what comes next. 

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Option two isn’t a terrible play, as long as you can make the most of it. If you’re able to close deals without any support whatsoever, you’ll build skills and confidence that you can take with you to your next role, and through the rest of your career. There’s nothing quite like making a deal from nothing to show yourself that it’s possible, and if you can self-motivate and bring in revenue, your suggestions are much more likely to be taken seriously by the rest of the company. 

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Finally, you can always move on. Companies can’t hire enough salespeople these days, so it won’t be hard for you to find something new. And there’s a good chance that if your company doesn’t switch course and figure out how to get the sales team closing deals soon, the choice to leave will probably be made for you. Good luck!