John Duvenage.
Founder SMB Growth Startegies.
More Than 40 Years of Creating, Advancing, and Winning B2B Sales Opportunities
I've spent more than four decades selling complex B2B technology solutions and helping companies turn sales opportunities into new customers.
Along the way, I've learned that predictable new customer growth rarely comes down to one thing.
You need to pursue the right companies.
You need to create conversations with the right buyers.
You need to turn those conversations into qualified opportunities.
And once an opportunity exists, you need the strategy and discipline to keep it moving through a complex buying process and ultimately win the business.
That's the work I've been doing throughout my career.
From Programmer to Enterprise Sales
My career didn't start in sales.
I began as a computer operator and programmer in South Africa, working for National Cash Register (NCR) and later as a COBOL programmer for one of its clients.
After serving as a medic in the South African Army, I was recruited by Pfizer as a medical representative in Cape Town.
That move changed the direction of my career.
I later moved to Australia, where I taught computer programming before joining Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) to market and sell technology solutions.
Eventually, I moved to the United States and spent decades selling and helping organizations evaluate complex enterprise software solutions, including ERP, Supply Chain Management, Product Lifecycle Management, financial management, manufacturing, procurement, CRM, and other business-critical technologies.
Along the way, I've worked with startups, growth companies, and industry leaders including Oracle, Agile Software, Arena Solutions, and Centric Software.
What 40+ Years of Enterprise Selling Taught Me
Products change.
Technology changes.
Markets change.
But many of the reasons important B2B sales opportunities are won or lost haven't changed nearly as much.
The right target accounts have to be selected.
The right executives have to become engaged.
Business problems have to be important enough to solve.
Business impact has to justify action.
Buying groups have to be understood.
Economic buyers have to become involved.
Decision processes have to be uncovered.
And every meaningful sales conversation needs to lead somewhere.
Miss enough of those pieces and even a great product can struggle to win.
Get them right consistently and new customer growth becomes far more predictable.
$19.4M in First-Year Net-New Revenue
Since starting SMB Growth Strategies in 2010, I've worked with B2B companies at different stages of growth and with very different sales challenges.
Across 28 B2B companies, that work has contributed to $19.4 million in first-year net-new revenue.
But the number itself isn't what matters most to me.
What matters is what I've learned from decades of working on real opportunities — from identifying the company worth pursuing to creating the first conversation, navigating the buying process, and ultimately winning the business.
That's the experience I bring to every engagement today.
How I Work Today
I work directly with B2B software companies that want to improve one or more of the three things that matter most to new customer growth:
Create more qualified sales opportunities.
Advance the right opportunities through the buying process.
Win more high-value new customers.
Sometimes that means working hands-on with a lean company to identify target accounts and create qualified opportunities.
Sometimes it means working alongside a founder or salesperson on a handful of important live deals.
And sometimes it means working with sales leadership and an established sales team to improve how opportunities are qualified, advanced, and won across the organization.
The level of involvement changes.
The objective doesn't.
Create. Advance. Win.
I don't believe companies need more sales theory for the sake of sales theory.
They need better decisions and consistent execution where revenue is actually won or lost.
That's where I do my best work.
I bring more than 40 years of enterprise B2B sales experience to the table and work directly with the people responsible for winning the business.
No junior consultants.
No handoffs.
No generic playbook dropped on your desk to implement after I leave.
Real companies. Real opportunities. Real sales decisions.
If your company wants to create more qualified opportunities, improve how important deals are advanced, or win more high-value new customers, let's have a conversation.