Sales leaders in private equity-sponsored, mid-market businesses grapple with limited resources – lean teams, tight budgets, and accelerated ROI timelines. At the same time, they face dual pressure: acquiring new logos while penetrating existing accounts. Effective commercial organizations use a number of strategies to balance these dual priorities and execute effectively.

Penetrating Existing Accounts Is More Cost-Efficient Than Acquisition

Cost considerations drive many PE-backed firms toward penetrating existing accounts over acquisition. The Harvard Business Review has noted that "acquiring a new customer is anywhere from five to 25 times more expensive than retaining an existing one". Increasing retention by just 5% can boost profits by 25% to 95%. (Harvard Business Review, Forbes).

Land-and-Expand

When targeting new logos, mid-market commercial leaders typically lean into the “land-and-expand” model. First, win a small footprint, then extend usage or volume, or upsell offerings over time. This approach reduces risk and smooths resource allocation. A study of B2B SaaS companies, for example, found that acquiring new logos costs $1.13 for every $1 of revenue, whereas upselling/cross-selling costs just 27 cents (Bessemer Venture Partners).

PE Pressure and RevOps Enable Efficiency

Firms are expected to scale rapidly without proportional resource expansion. Integrating go-to-market functions – sales, marketing, customer success – via a RevOps model helps surface expansion opportunities promptly, enhance operational efficiency, and grow EBITDA.

Use Metrics to Drive Decisions

Effective sales leaders rely on data and metrics to achieve disciplined and profitable growth. Examples include order intake, backlog, gross margin by customer, and sales conversion rates, which ensure teams focus on high-value opportunities.

Efficiency metrics like customer acquisition cost (CAC) and sales cycle length highlight where resources can be optimized, while share of wallet and repeat order rates track expansion within existing accounts.

Private equity sponsors emphasize visibility and accountability, so sales leaders use these metrics (along with dashboards, scorecards, etc.) to align sales resources with strategic goals – maximizing revenue, margins, and enterprise value within tight investment timelines.

In conclusion, PE-backed, mid-market sales leaders thrive by being disciplined and strategic. They prioritize account penetration where possible, use land-and-expand while pursuing new logos to maximize ROI, integrate GTM functions for efficiency and scalability, and rely on data to guide resource allocation.