Sales & GTM Diligence for B2B Portfolios

A point of view

What I usually find.

By the time sales are off-track, the people inside the company are too close to the problem and can't tell you why. The founder or head of sales' read is optimistic, the team's is anecdotal, and there are mixed signals that blend together pipeline problems, hiring problems, process problems.

What I find is rarely exotic:

The founder, or the first rep, has a key-person dependency in sales cycles.
A sales process exists that people talk about but no one follows.
Pipeline that's a wishlist, not a forecast backed up by client behaviour.
Sales hires who looked good on paper but aren't ramping.
Qualification is surface-level so closing is weak.

It isn't bad luck; it's what a sales org looks like when revenue outgrows the way it was first built. Not all of it is worth fixing right now, so my first job is finding out what's actually limiting success, then implementing the fixes so you get back to growth.

Who I am

I'm Ben J. Abbey.

I spent 22 years carrying a number in B2B tech sales and 10 years in leadership, most visibly building SADA's Canadian business from a standing start to the highest-transacting Google Cloud partner in the country. After, I moved into a North American leadership role where I helped lead the entire company's GTM transition. Since leaving SADA in early 2025 I have diagnosed and rebuilt 36 B2B sales engines for companies from $500K to $10M in revenue.

I know what breaks and how to fix it because I've run it, not just advised on it.

How it works

The Sales Engine Diagnostic.

Typically a fund introduces me to a company that should be selling more than it is. I run the Sales Engine Diagnostic: a fixed-scope, two-to-four-week investigation of how the company actually sells to uncover what is structurally broken, in what order to fix it, and what it is costing the model.

I tell you what is actually wrong, including if it's fixable in-house or if it needs hands-on work from me.

In diligence, or when a company's growth stalls

The diagnosis, fast and fixed-scope, before capital or more time is added. You get truth and the order of operations for fixing sales.

When you want it rebuilt, not just diagnosed

I embed and fix what the diagnostic found, then hand back an engine that properly runs. Often I'll embed for a period of time afterward to make sure the fix holds.

For funds that want a standing partner across the portfolio, that is a longer conversation.

A diagnosis

What it looks like in practice.

Tracktile · venture-backed SaaS for food-production planning and compliance

The CEO, Jordan Rose, had hired an SDR and was sure the next move was to promote the rep and hand sales off. The problem was that there was nothing concrete to hand over: no discovery and qualification system, no real sales process, and no plan for the org that this rep would join. I built the discovery motion and the sales playbook, designed the org around it, then trained the rep who took it over. Finally, I embedded directly as an advisor and fractional Chief Revenue Officer to ensure what we built continued to operate.

7% → 37%win rate, within a quarter

H1 2026 > all of 2025new revenue closed

Passetto · analytics and advisory for GTM and finance leaders

The co-founder running sales, Carolyn, was sure the reason they weren't closing was that she was not a career salesperson. She was wrong because she simply had no process. There was no discovery, no filter for ICP fit, no selectivity: they pitched everyone without knowing why the prospect would buy. I added discovery before any pitch, installed frame control and sales fundamentals, ensured every meeting books the next one, and codified how they sell so it was repeatable.

3×more good-fit ICP meetings

4×win rate

60% shortersales cycle (3 meetings, not 8)

SADA · Google Cloud partner, moving from resale to services

Google was reshaping the partner program and resale margin was drying up so SADA had to sell services or stall. The services motion existed, but it was not consultative and it carried real delivery risk. I rebuilt the services sales process and trained the whole company on it. We closed major enterprise logos. Even with these headwinds, under my leadership, SADA became the highest-transacting Google Cloud reseller in Canada, while becoming a top services and SaaS ecosystem partner.

Low 6 → high 8 figuresCanada revenue, before my North American promotion

#1 in Canadahighest-transacting Google Cloud partner, against a shrinking program

References

Feedback on my work.

As a technical founder leading enterprise sales, I knew I had gaps. Ben pointed them out with empathy and rigor, and pushed for structural fixes so they would last. I feel far more confident in my sales process now.

Shaunak Chatterjee Technical founder

Ben is a force of nature. He single-handedly launched our Canadian market, going from individual contributor to Country Managing Director in record time. He built a high-performing team and exceeded revenue targets.

Tony Safoian CEO, SADA

The work Ben did to redefine our pitch, pipeline, process, and playbook directly contributed to us being recognized as one of the fastest growing companies in the western United States.

David Yunger Founder, Vaital

Research

The field notes.

These are the diagnostic tools I use with operators, the same lens I bring to a company you own. Read them to see how I think about a sales org from the inside. No email required.

Cover of The Six Patterns Between $500K and $10M

The Six Patterns Between $500K and $10M Field notes from 36 engagements. The six structural failures, in the order to fix them. Download PDF

The Six Signals How to tell a real sales fix from activity that only looks like progress. Download PDF

I take a few engagements at a time, and only when the diagnosis says the work is worth doing.

Not every sales problem is worth fixing. Part of the job is telling you which ones aren't.

Meet with Ben

Sales is off at one of your companies. No one inside can clearly explain the reasons.