Nikita Balanov on Enterprise Sales, Trust, Cold Calling, and the Rising Sales Community in Estonia

In this episode of Startup Sales Talks, Dom meets with Nikita Balanov, Head of Baltics at Brite Payments and former Enterprise AE at Deel. Nikita is one of those sales operators who has literally done it all — B2C, B2B, shopping mall kiosks, early tech, hypergrowth SaaS, enterprise deals, and community building. That mix gives him perspective that many salespeople miss. He knows the old-school grind, the startup speed, and the enterprise complexity. And because he’s seen sales from every angle, he understands one core truth: the basics never change, but the way you apply them must.

From kiosks to enterprise deals — how range builds a better seller

Nikita’s path cuts across industries and business models. He sold internet sticks back when prepaid data was “cutting edge,” worked in classic B2C, transitioned into SaaS, and then stepped into enterprise sales roles where cycles stretch across quarters and involve ten or more stakeholders. What he learned over fourteen years is simple: the fundamentals of sales don’t disappear. They just scale with the environment.

B2C is speed and volume. SMB is clarity and value. Enterprise is strategy, patience and alignment. Startups sit somewhere in between — full of energy, optimism and flexibility, but also full of unpredictability. The trick is adjusting your behavior to the buying culture and decision structure of each segment. The core skill remains the same: know who you’re selling to, know what they care about, and adjust accordingly.

Why enterprise selling is psychology, architecture and timing

When Nikita talks about enterprise deals, he describes them as a different creature entirely. You’re not selling to one person. You’re selling to a system. That means tailoring the message for each stakeholder, mapping the political structure, identifying champions, understanding blockers, navigating CFO logic, and keeping alignment across levels.

He starts at the top whenever he can. A CEO reply like “Talk to my team” becomes leverage. The door opens faster. The internal champion feels supported. The conversation holds weight. If you start low and try climbing upward, the process drags or dies quietly. Enterprise deals move when the right people are involved early and the narrative stays consistent.

Startups: high energy, fast momentum, instant connection

Selling to startups is a different kind of fun. Nikita calls it one of his favorite segments. Startups have enthusiasm. They have urgency. They love new ideas. If you bring value and energy, they lean in. But energy alone is never enough. If the startup leader feels hype without substance, the deal collapses instantly. The perfect balance is passion backed with real business impact.

Old-school sales methods are making a comeback

Nikita is one of the first to say it openly: calling is back. While email and LinkedIn became crowded with automation, generic sequences and AI-written outreach, the phone became quiet again. And that silence turned into opportunity. At Deel he saw cold calling outperform digital outreach simply because no one else was doing it.

Calling stands out. It creates emotion. It builds trust faster. And if you do your research and speak clearly to a problem the buyer actually has, the hit rate increases dramatically. Nikita sees this trend growing because everyone else is hiding behind tools. Human contact now feels like a luxury — and it converts.

AI cold calling: almost here, almost banned

Nikita mentions the wave of AI calling tools that briefly appeared, becoming dangerously good at mimicking natural speech. Some were blocked by regulators before they spread, and others are limited to low-stakes use cases. He believes AI might handle small-ticket volume sales in the future but won’t replace human reps in enterprise cycles. Those calls rely on emotional intelligence, unstructured dialogue and nuance that machines can’t replicate yet.

Building a sales community in Estonia — Perform8

One of the most interesting parts of Nikita’s work is Perform8, the sales community he co-founded in Estonia. It started because he noticed something missing. There were communities for founders, developers, marketers — but salespeople had nowhere to share ideas, failures, tactics or trends. And with so many professionals stuck repeating old habits, he wanted a space to help people grow.

Perform8 now hosts monthly offline events, practical topics like discovery skills, cold calling breakdowns, new tools and anti-hype discussions. The community grew rapidly, counting around one hundred members in a few months. The long-term vision is to expand across the Baltics and bring in international experts to raise the bar for local sales talent.

Solving the Baltic talent shortage — think bigger than borders

Estonia, like Lithuania, doesn’t have endless pools of commercial talent, especially at the enterprise level. Nikita sees two solutions. One is remote-first hiring. Tools like Deel, Brite Payments and similar platforms made it easier to onboard talent from anywhere without learning every country’s labor laws.

The second is bolder: elevate Baltic salespeople to global roles. Too many companies default to hiring US or UK-based sellers for high-level positions. Nikita believes Baltic talent is just as capable — and often better. But they need visibility, community support and more platforms to demonstrate it.

Trust, honesty and the human side of enterprise deals

Nikita’s philosophy on enterprise trust is refreshing. No tricks. No over-engineered hacks. No manipulation. Just act like a normal human who respects the buyer’s time and responsibilities. Make the message clear, relevant and logical. Show you understand their environment. Be honest about what your product can or can’t do. Executives see through gimmicks immediately — and they value directness more than anything.

He also warns against letting your internal champion “sell” on your behalf. When a deal goes to the board and the seller isn’t present, tiny unanswered questions can kill the whole opportunity. Always ask to join board discussions or at least prepare the champion so thoroughly that they can handle objections. But ideally, be in the room.

Decision-making is never one person — figure out the structure

Sometimes the CFO is central to the decision. Sometimes they’re barely involved. Sometimes the CEO delegates everything. Sometimes a committee votes. The only way to win enterprise deals is to map the decision structure early and tailor your path accordingly. Otherwise you’re navigating blind.

Learning through people, not noise

Nikita’s learning philosophy goes against modern trends. Instead of drowning in LinkedIn content or generic books, he prefers real conversations. Meet practitioners. Listen to experts in person. Invite people for coffee. Attend events. Ask for honest opinions, not polished advice. His own community Perform8 exists partly because he wanted to learn from others without the noise.

The lesson that changed how he views his career

Nikita ends with a message many sellers need to hear: don’t stay stuck in the same role, same environment, or same company for years hoping something will magically change. If the mountain doesn’t move to you, move to the mountain. Switch teams. Explore partnerships. Try a new segment. Change companies. Even a wrong move teaches you what the right one looks like.

Sometimes the biggest career progress begins with leaving a place where you stopped growing.