Mastering sales is both a science and an art crucial for startups and established enterprises alike. This was the core focus of the recently concluded B4B Revenue Labs, sponsored by AWS, a high-impact event that convened the sharpest minds in sales leadership, business growth, and revenue generation.
Hosted in Lagos, Nigeria, this full-day workshop provided a platform for business owners, startup founders, and sales leaders to learn, network, and exchange groundbreaking ideas on revenue acceleration and business growth.
How business can build a scalable sales engine
From all the conversations held, one core truth stood out: sales isn’t about luck, it’s about building a structured, repeatable system that consistently generates revenue.
According to Napa Eze-Onwusah, the convener of Revenue Labs and founder of B4B Partners, a strong sales engine consists of several interdependent components that drive revenue. They include:
- Lead Generation & Qualification – Identifying and attracting high-potential customers.
- Sales Process & Strategy – Mapping out a structured, scalable approach.
- Sales Tools & Technology – Leveraging tools, automation and analytics.
- Sales Team & Enablement – Equipping teams with the right skills and resources.
- Sales Messaging & Communication – Crafting compelling narratives.
- Pipeline Management – Keeping deals moving efficiently.
- Metrics, KPIs & Revenue Tracking – Measuring and optimizing performance.
- Customer Retention & Relationship Management – Fostering long-term loyalty.
When any of these components fail, sales become inconsistent and unpredictable. To solve this, startups and sales teams need to develop a well-documented sales playbook, empower their team through coaching and mentoring, and create repeatable processes that drive predictable outcomes.
Read also: Inside Olu Akanmu’s two years at Opay as President and co-CEO
Key Takeaways for Startup Founders and Sales Leaders
- Understand Your Market
Many companies overlook the importance of truly understanding their market. Tayo Sowole of Thrive Consulting framed it perfectly: Instead of selling to every and anyone, you need to define their Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) by asking: Who specifically are you trying to serve? What are their pain points? Why would they choose you over the endless alternatives? This isn’t a one-time exercise; it’s a continuous process of customer interviews, data analysis, and staying ahead of industry trends. Once your ICP is clear, the next step is crafting your Unique Value Proposition (UVP).
- Understanding What Traction Means
Many founders assume traction means product adoption alone. While this matters, investors evaluate traction through multiple lenses, as discussed by Amaka Okechukwu Opara of WEAV Capital and Olúwatóyìn Emmanuel-Olubake of Novastar Ventures. They emphasized that true traction includes:
- Customer validation – Active users, engagement, and retention.
- Revenue consistency – Sustainable, not just sporadic growth.
- Market penetration – Ability to capture and expand within your target market.
- Operational efficiency – A scalable business model with strong unit economics.
Startups that want funding must showcase a predictable, repeatable revenue model, not just a great product.
- Relationships Drive Sales
“Great salespeople are relationship builders who help their customers win.” In Deji Maculay, Director at Truthware Solutions’ view, salespeople must shift from being mere vendors to becoming partners invested in their client’s success. It’s about building trust, understanding their challenges, and co-creating solutions.
- The Partner Matrix:
Using a simple matrix, Olu Akanmu, Ex-CEO Opay Nigeria, highlighted the four different types of relationships founders and salespeople can have with their clients. In his chat with Nkem Nweke, Managing Partner at Nesi, he mentioned that when you have:
- Low personal and low business relationship → You’re an outsider.
- High personal and low business relationship → You’re just a friend.
- High business and low personal relationship → You’re a vendor.
- High personal and high business relationship → You’re a partner. (This is the sweet spot)
To achieve product virality and sustained growth, businesses must:
- Optimize their onboarding and activation processes. 50% of opportunities are lost due to onboarding friction.
- Track their retention metrics and be curious enough to dig into your data.
- Leverage referrals. Happy customers are your best salespeople.
- Use automation to simplify product adoption and usability, ensuring the least digital native can comfortably use your solution.
- Tech is an Accelerator, Not a Magic Wand:
We all love the promise of shiny new tools, especially in sales. But Chinedu Ossai, Founder of Revwit issued a caution: “A CRM without a playbook, team enablement, and a process is useless.” Think of it this way: Would you give a Formula 1 car to someone who hasn’t learned to drive? Before investing in fancy software, businesses must first nail down their sales process, train the teams, and create clear value propositions. Only then can technology truly amplify efforts.
- Data Is Your Compass:
You can’t improve what you don’t measure. Paul Dakum, Data Solutions Architect, underscored the importance of data-driven decision-making, demonstrating how businesses can track key metrics based on: customer data, behavioral data, and sales performance. By properly collecting and analyzing these data, leaders can refine their sales strategy and optimize revenue growth.
- You Need a High-Performing Sales Team
Unini Campbell, CCO at Budpay, captured the essence of building a high-performing team as you build your product. In her words, “Great sales teams don’t just sell. They solve problems, build trust, and create partnerships that outlast transactions.”
To build a winning sales culture, organizations need: open communication, ownership and accountability, resilience, teamwork, and continuous improvement.
A final sales leadership conversation featuring Damilola Olokesusi (Shuttlers), Boye Oshinaga (Gradely), Isoken Aigbomian (Moniepoint), and David Ekefre (CloudPlexo), addressed the most common challenges founders face, including underperformance, retaining top talent, and creating synergy across sales, marketing, product, and customer service teams for unified business success.
In conclusion, sales is a system, not luck
There wasn’t a single “favourite session” at Revenue Labs. Each session and discussion contributed a crucial piece to the sales mastery puzzle. Organized by B4B Partners in collaboration with AWS, CloudPlexo, and the American Business Council, B4B Revenue Labs proved to be an invaluable learning experience for startup founders and sales leaders alike.
Written by Stacy Ketiku, Programs Manager, B4B Partners
