Qohash’s Playbook: How to Build Enterprise Sales Process Before Channel Partnerships
Most cybersecurity startups rush to channel partnerships before they’re ready. In their eagerness to scale, they skip a crucial step: proving they can sell their product themselves. Qohash took a different approach.
In a recent Category Visionaries episode, CEO Jean Le Bouthillier shared how his company built a repeatable enterprise sales process before pursuing channel partnerships – a strategy that has driven their 75% year-over-year growth.
The Enterprise-First Challenge
Qohash made an unconventional choice from the start. “We started with enterprise accounts first,” Jean explains, “and so it’s really daunting if you’re launching a new product to find a launch customer, and you’re going to go deploy across 50,000 users from day one. Very difficult and a lot of risk for the customer.”
This enterprise-first approach forced them to confront sales complexity early. “I underestimated the difficulties of enterprise cybersecurity sales,” Jean admits. “All the different politics steps, the third party vendor management… my advice to me in the past would be to take it seriously and get the right people in place early.”
Building Trust in a Post-COVID World
The landscape has only grown more challenging. “Cybersecurity buyers are basically overwhelmed,” Jean notes. “They don’t want to be talking with the next 100 startups that have a shiny object. They want to be talking to trusted advisors that have been with them for a while, where they know they’re going to get an unbiased opinion.”
This reality shapes Qohash’s approach to channel partnerships. Jean frames the central challenge: “Why would a channel partner bring your new unproven product to market? You have to sell it directly first. You have to demonstrate you can sell it. You have to have a sales process for the channel partners to decide to take it on.”
The Direct Sales Proving Ground
Instead of viewing direct sales as a stepping stone, Qohash saw it as a laboratory for developing their go-to-market strategy. This period allowed them to:
- Perfect their sales process
- Build reference customers
- Understand true sales cycles
- Optimize customer acquisition costs
- Create repeatable playbooks
Only after mastering these elements did they approach channel partners. The payoff? “Channel partners have access to a much vaster pipeline of qualified opportunities where they have trust, credibility and attention,” Jean explains. “And these are the three things a startup can’t buy, no matter how much capital it raises.”
Managing the Channel Transition
The shift to channel partnerships brought new challenges, particularly around customer advocacy. “We are lucky that we have some customers that have given us the authorization to publish case studies, in some cases videos,” Jean shares. “But it has happened to us a few times where we’ve done the case study, we’ve done the video, and at the last minute, the risk department won’t allow it to be published.”
This reinforced the importance of having a strong direct sales foundation. When customer references are hard to secure, channel partners need other evidence of your sales capability.
The Future of Distribution
Today, Qohash is focused on efficiency alongside growth. They’ve “slowed down a little bit in terms of spending” to prioritize “reduction of our customer acquisition cost, reduction of the sales cycle, CAC payback.”
This disciplined approach extends to their channel strategy. Rather than pursuing every potential partner, they’re building deeper relationships with partners who understand their value proposition and target market.
For founders following Qohash’s path, the message is clear: resist the temptation to outsource sales too early. As Jean’s experience shows, the work of building a direct sales engine isn’t just preparation for channel partnerships – it’s the foundation for sustainable growth in enterprise markets.