1. SEEDS, NETS,
AND SPEARSLead PHILOSOPHY BY AARON ROSS

2. Who is aaron ross?
Author of best-selling sales
book, PRedictable revenue,
Aaron ross is a leading mind in
sales.
At salesforce.com, Aaron made a
name for himself creating a
scalable business model that
helped the business bloom into
one of the top software
companies in the world.

3. THE PROBLEM
the key to creating sales growth
isn’t hiring perfect sales reps or
process.
It’s creating a predictable,
scalable pipeline for your reps.
An outbound prospecting team
can help achieve this goal. WIth
quality prospecting, your reps
will have a much higher chance
of closing deals.

4. WHAT DOES IT TAKE?
For great prospecting, lead
classification is a keystone:
Aaron ross Uses three different
categories, based on how they’ve
been a contacted.
These categories are: Seeds, Nets,
and spears.
Word of mouth
Marketing
outbound sales
Seeds:
NETS:
SPEARS:

5. 1. SEEDS
Seeds are LEads that have been
created through word of mouth,
primarily from prior
relationships or as referrals.
SEEDS ARE THE BEST LEADS YOU CAN
GENERATE.
THE Good:
Highly profitable, deals close
quickly. Impacted by great
customer service
The Bad:
You can’T Grow them, you just
have to be patient. Often
associated with relationships of
the founders which is
unscalable.

6. 2. nets
Nets are leads you’ve gotten
through your Inbound marketing
effort: SEO, SEM, SOCIAL,
Webinars, VIDEO, blogs, etc.
You’re casting a wide net with
all your content, so this is
quantity over quality.
THE Good:
marketing programs can be
scalable and can pick up virally.
Leads that come to you are
already showing interest.
The Bad:
Many leads aren’t qualified, so
conversion rates can be low.

7. 3. SPears
Spears Are Leads that your sales
reps and BDR’s have reached out
to directly, commonly from lists
gen and basic prospecting.
Specific and targeted, spears
focus on quality over quantity.
THE Good:
Predictable results, often
pinpointing specific executives.
You get to pick who you call.
The Bad:
Not profitable for small deals or
customers Hard to scale
exponentially and can affect
headcount and culture heavily.

8. Takeaways
The three types are complementary.
While seeds are great leads, they don’t generate enough revenue
scale strongly. Nets are great leads but often take a long
gestation period to mature. spears provide a great balance of
quantity and quality and are often recommended to balance the
other two
+ + =
predictable,
scalable
revenue

9. takeaways
what makes this a great analogy?
Seeds, nets, are all necessary for a well rounded sales process.
Realizing and quantifying each lead before handing them off to
the sales team will make their selling more effective.
Regardless of company size, this process can help streamline
your sales engine.
+ + =
predictable,
scalable
revenue

10. see and try the sales tool that
everyone is talking about
SIncerely, Salesloft
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