One thing I've learned is that the sales process is a continuum. Things that work well in multi-million dollar deals are totally inappropriate in sub 5k deals.

One thing I've learned is that the sales process is a continuum. Things that work well in multi-million dollar deals are totally inappropriate in sub 5k deals. The trick is getting the right amount of "touch" for the right types of deals. One way to do this is to segment the salesforce. From there, you can attack different sized opportunities with different levels of engagement and investigation. Freemium represents this process taken to one logical extreme where you have zero-touch and rely on marketing from the web site and pure virality. Next up might be limited email marketing/sales. Then phone, then phone and outside sales. At the very high end, you are talking about regional field sales as well as face-to-face visits with your companies leadership up to an including the CEO.