Tot: From Product-Led to Revenue Machine
How we built the GTM infrastructure for one of Italy's fastest-growing fintechs. 9 months embedded, from zero CRM to a structured commercial engine.
An excellent product, ready for the next step.
Tot is one of the fastest-growing Italian fintechs, recognized by Sifted among the most accelerating European startups and winner of the first prize at Mastercard for Fintechs Italy. Founded by Doris Messina and Bruno Reggiani, Tot is an all-in-one business banking and admin platform for Italian SMEs, freelancers, and micro-businesses.
A powerful product-led acquisition machine, with strong retention and a product genuinely loved by its users.
The product was already strong. What was missing was the commercial infrastructure to unlock the next phase of growth.
Many active customers hadn't fully adopted high-value features. Those who did expressed significantly higher value. There was already a recurring profile of the "ideal Tot customer", defined by legal form, spend patterns, and product usage, but no system to act on it.
The next step was building a GTM infrastructure capable of directing time and resources toward the highest-potential opportunities: a commercial CRM, a sales process, dedicated account executives, and a segmentation model to guide priorities.
Phase 1: Foundation
The first 90 days. Understand before you build.
Reading the data: the entire customer base under the lens
The first deliverable was a complete assessment of the existing customer base: a deep dive into product usage data across thousands of active accounts. We uncovered clear patterns: who the highest-value customers were, which product behaviors predicted higher ARPU, and which profiles recurred most among high-potential accounts. In parallel, competitive intelligence on public reviews and market feedback helped validate Tot's differentiating messages.
Segmentation: knowing who deserves attention
From the data, we defined 3 operational tiers and 4 buyer personas built on real usage patterns. We also established the first PQL (Product Qualified Lead/Account) rules to determine when an account warranted AE intervention.
The key concept: Tot's PQL isn't "a person to call." It's an account already using the product in a way that signals high potential, but not yet fully expressed.
The decision brain: CRM choice
Tot had no dedicated commercial CRM, entirely consistent with a product-led growth phase. After a targeted evaluation, we chose Attio: lightweight, fast to implement, natively account-centric, and well-integrated with the existing stack. Intercom kept doing what it does best (conversations, support, behavioral signals). Attio became the "sales decision brain": scoring, prioritization, and allocation of human time. Inside Attio: synced product data, PQL scoring on three dimensions (economic potential, plan/product mismatch, intent signals), and operational views to guide the AE's work.
Finding the right Account Executive
We supported Tot through the entire recruiting process: job description and scorecard definition, sourcing and initial screening, roleplay based on real Tot prospect scenarios, and final evaluation support. Then a structured four-step onboarding: product deep dive, shadowing on real calls, script and objection training, first autonomous calls.
Phase 2: Scale
Months 4 to 9. From installed system to producing system.
Playbook: transforming how the team sells
No structured account prioritization
Redefined sales routine: open Attio, check top PQLs, prep calls with real data, use the playbook, log, close
Unclear what was a good opportunity vs. a support request
Different scripts for different clusters, built on real usage data
Objections handled instinctively
Recurring objections mapped with standardized responses, then personalized in delivery
Conversations driven by the customer, no clear framework
Optimization framing, never aggressive selling: every contact started from real account data
Four structured commercial flows
Upsell existing base
Customers with strong usage signals and expansion margin. Consultative conversations to increase product adoption.
Dormant reactivation
Customers who had opened Tot but hadn't fully adopted it. Targeted outreach on 'return to life' signals.
Onboarding recovery
Structured contact process for those lost mid-onboarding. A guided second chance, with a human on the other side.
Outbound net-new
Lists built on validated buyer personas. Targeted, not massive outreach with distinct messages per segment.
Key results
What changed after 9 months of embedded work.
Before and After
When we leave, the system stays. We don't.
After 9 months, Tot was left with everything it needed to keep growing independently.
The system was built inside Tot, with the Tot team, using Tot's tools. When Propellant left, the work stayed in the team's day-to-day operations.
Recognize your situation?
If at least three of these sound familiar, you're probably in the right moment for a call:
- You have a validated product with paying customers, and feel there's still a lot of potential to unlock
- The founder still closes most deals (or no one actively does)
- Your pipeline is unpredictable, or simply doesn't exist
- You're about to hire your first AE but don't have a system to put them in
- You have a PLG model that works, but it's time to add a structured sales layer
- Your CRM is half support tool, half notes app, or still a Google Sheet
Or email us directly: lando@propellant.studio / marco@propellant.studio