Insights from our London Launch Pad workshop in partnership with the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade).
Expanding your business internationally is one of the most exciting — and challenging — steps in a company's growth journey. At a recent London Launch Pad workshop hosted in partnership with Austrade, Rick from Sales Force Europe shared decades of experience helping tech companies scale from their home markets into Europe and beyond.
Before diving into expansion strategies, Rick made one thing clear: "Everybody is a salesperson." Your elevator pitch should answer three simple questions in 10 seconds: What do you do? Who do you sell to? What problem do you solve? Your entire network is part of your sales ecosystem, making introductions and opening doors to new opportunities.
Before you consider international expansion, ensure you have a strong home market foundation with referenceable clients, proven revenue and clear sales processes. Ideally you're generating between £1-5 million in revenue — proving people are buying what you're selling and that your company has matured beyond founder-led sales.
You should know exactly which verticals are your sweet spot. If you have 10 clients across four different verticals but five are in one specific industry, that's your focus area for international expansion. You also need professional sales and marketing infrastructure: dedicated salespeople, business development representatives (BDRs) and a marketing function that includes both product marketing and digital marketing.
The most critical — and most overlooked — aspect of international expansion is understanding your sales metrics in your home market. As Rick emphasized, "Nobody documents their plan. They just want to talk it through."
Your CRM should meticulously track lead sources, conversion rates, outbound performance, sales cycle length and time in each stage. Once you understand these metrics, you can apply them to new markets. For example, if generating £1 million in your home market required 20 new clients at £50,000 average contract value, 60 proposals, 180 SQLs, two full-time BDRs, one sales representative and 6-8 months to ramp, you'll likely need the same structure in a new European market.
International expansion is expensive. From boots on the ground to generating revenue typically takes 12 months if you're lucky. Expect first deals to close in months 6-8 and break-even around months 12-18. Budget for digital marketing, outbound lead generation teams, sales management and sales representatives — plus entity setup costs, employment costs, travel expenses and the opportunity cost of resources diverted from your home market.
A critical mistake is launching your sales team before establishing a digital presence in the new market. Replicate your Google AdWords investment in the UK three to six months before putting people on the ground. When prospects search for solutions and don't find you, they'll think you don't exist or aren't committed to the market.
The digital landscape is shifting rapidly. Organic and paid Google traffic is declining as more people turn to AI tools like ChatGPT for research. If you're not seeding AI platforms with content about your services, potential customers won't find you.
Before entering a new market, thoroughly research your competition and positioning. If you're number one, you'll need to invest in evangelization. Number two means someone else has done the evangelization — you just need to show why you're different. Number three or four means you're behind and will need strong positioning or should target underserved segments.
If the UK market looks saturated, consider using London as a hub to target English-friendly markets like Ireland, the Nordics or the BeNeLux region.
Having a European team — particularly local language speakers — significantly reduces risk in the eyes of potential customers. For a typical £1 million revenue target in a new market, you'll likely need two BDRs (one can cover multiple English-speaking markets), one sales representative (potentially slightly more senior for the first hire) and local language speakers for France, Germany, Spain and Italy.
English works well for the UK, Ireland, Nordics and BeNeLux. But don't put a team in London expecting to successfully target France, Germany, Spain or Italy without local language capability.
Document your strategy: Create a three to four page sales plan covering your elevator pitch, target verticals, ideal customer profile, value propositions by job role, company size targets, existing customer proof points and channel strategy. This should be a living document you reference and update regularly.
Knowledge transfer: If hiring your own team, consider embedding yourself or a senior sales leader with the new market team for three months. This intensive period is invaluable for training on product and positioning, understanding why customers buy and building team culture.
Stay flexible: Market feedback from your new region is gold. Pricing that works in Australia might be too expensive or too cheap for Europe. One client took two years to adjust their pricing based on market feedback, losing numerous deals. When your team says the market is responding differently, listen quickly and adjust.
Track everything: From day one, your CRM should track every activity — source of every lead, conversion at each stage, length of sales cycles, reasons for losses and competitive intelligence.
Give it time: International expansion takes time. Expect six to 12 months for first revenue, 12-18 months to break even and 24+ months for sustainable growth. One client in Italy took five years to close their first major deals but stayed committed because they could see consistent progress.
Despite Brexit, the UK remains an excellent entry point for Europe. The UK ranks third globally for AI innovation, British companies are generally more open to new technology, UK reference clients carry weight across Europe and there's a strong ecosystem of third-party services to support international expansion.
The flip side is high competition, requiring laser-focus on your target vertical and clear differentiation.
Lack of focus: Trying to be everything to everyone is a recipe for failure. Pick your vertical, dominate it, then expand.
Underinvestment: Don't hire a half-time salesperson and expect £1 million in revenue. If you have a real revenue target, back it with real resources.
Ignoring metrics: Flying blind without documented metrics from your home market means you can't replicate success elsewhere.
Moving too fast on senior hires: Don't start by hiring an expensive GM of Europe who will spend six months learning about your product within the local context in order to start building a strategy. Hire your first salesperson (slightly more senior than typical), embed yourself with them, add BDRs, then layer in management once you have traction.
International expansion is complex, expensive and time-consuming — but also incredibly rewarding. The companies that succeed prepare thoroughly with documented strategies and known metrics, invest appropriately in resources and time, stay flexible and responsive to market feedback, maintain focus on specific verticals and ideal customers and give markets adequate time to develop.
Whether you choose to build an internal team, work with a third party like Sales Force Europe or take a hybrid approach, the fundamentals remain the same: know thyself, know your market, invest appropriately and give it time.
Interested in learning more about expanding your business into Europe? Sales Force Europe has been helping companies scale internationally for over 20 years. Contact us to discuss your expansion strategy.
