A Go To Market strategy is a Management Technique, not a role and certainly not a Technology
A go-to-market (GTM) strategy is a plan that details how an organisation can engage with customers to convince them to buy their product or service and to gain a competitive advantage. A GTM strategy includes tactics related to pricing, sales and channels, the buying journey, new product or service launches, product rebranding or product introduction to a new market. GARTNER
Many products are created when business owners create a product that addresses a persistent issue they personally face. Since the value is clear to them, they frequently believe that the market will easily understand it and that adoption will occur rapidly and extensively. This assumption often leads new entrepreneurs to place a lower priority on their GTM strategy, which can be a critical oversight.
Further, defining your GTM strategy can help with;
A well-defined GTM strategy enables you to foresee obstacles, grasp market trends, and mitigate the risks linked to introducing a new product.
A GTM strategy offers a framework for making informed decisions based on data, enabling swift responses to shifts in the market and customer input.
A clearly outlined strategy brings together marketing, sales, and product development teams, ensuring that all are focused on the same objectives and enhancing efficiency.
Elevates Impact
By employing a focused and strategic approach, a GTM strategy enables you to optimise your resources, ensuring your launch achieves maximum impact.
The sales department isn’t the whole company, but the whole company better be the sales department | Philip Kotler
For Technology and Supply Chain SMEs wanting to grow bigger and launch a new product or service, a Go-To-Market (GTM) strategy can be invaluable for guiding scaling activities.
The GTM should, at a minimum, define:
Generally, there are three main situations where you'll need a GTM strategy refresh as an existing business. You'll either be:
For more information on defining your growth plan and launching new products or services, visit Least cost growth model which covers Ansoff's Matrix.
There are several stakeholders in an organisation who should be contributing to the GTM Strategy. However, the GTM Strategy should be owned by the CEO and driven by everyone.
In the past the research and messaging were managed by marketing and this formed the basis of the GTM. However, things have changed in the B2B Sales space and sales leaders (and Product Managers) will likely take a bigger role in contributing to ICP, Value Propositions, Pricing and Packaging and Competitive Intelligence from the field.
The next steps can include:
1. Creating your ICP (ideal customer profile) in detail
2. Spelling out your Value Proposition to solve the business problem (product-market fit).
3. Developing counter-competitive messaging based on real-world competitive research.
4. Aligning digital Content to the stages of the buyer's journey for each persona.
5. Assessing specific competition and broader market and economic conditions.
Once your initial GTM Strategy is complete, you can use it to tweak your Sales & Marketing Plan, update the Sales Playbooks and Sales motions and the mix of Inbound and Outbound. The GTM may trigger the need to review Pricing and Packaging and Sales Enablement assets such as Presentations, ROI calculators, testimonials and case studies.
It's all about lining up behind the buyers' journey- start to finish or, better still- lead to customer.
A good way to check if your GTM is complete is to imagine a new salesperson starting at your company. The GTM should answer all of their questions so they understand who they should be selling to and why customers will buy.
GTM Top Tip
Regardless of how distinctive a product's features or appearance may be, it must address a fundamental issue to achieve success. If the problem is vague or lacks significance, the product will seem irrelevant, no matter its functionality. Likewise, if the product targets the wrong issue, it will not attract buyers. Conduct thorough research to ensure there is a market and that the product delivers value to its intended segments.
Many startup founders are intensely focused on developing innovative products. This ambition is commendable, but for these products to succeed, they must perform well in the market. Achieving market success requires a well-crafted and effectively executed GTM strategy, which is an essential component of the overall plan.
and
When defining your product offering, it's crucial to remember that each customer will have varying expectations, and your company must be prepared to meet them all. To achieve this, marketers should predict these expectations prior to launching a new product.
According to Philip Kotler’s Five Product Levels model, there are different ‘layers’ to a product’s value:
1. Core product: what your product is at its most basic form.
2. Generic product: the necessary characteristics, attributes and qualities that the product must have to function.
3. Expected product: what customers normally hope and expect to receive by purchasing it.
4. Augmented product: the ‘added value’—what customers usually see as the unique and differentiating brand benefits that come with the product.
5. Potential product: what the product might be in the future.
Within five years, if you’re in the same business you are in now, you’re going to be out of business - Philip Kotler
A sales Go-To-Market (GTM) strategy is a blueprint detailing how a company will introduce its products or services to the market and connect with its target audience.
This involves developing strategies for product positioning, pricing, distribution channels, marketing, and sales activities to enhance growth and profitability.
A go-to-market sales strategy is a subset of a broader GTM strategy. While a GTM strategy encompasses all facets of launching a product or service, a GTM sales strategy specifically targets the sales team's role. In a sales-driven approach, your team actively engages with prospects to convert them into customers.
Sales managers and directors typically craft this strategy, outlining how to identify prospects, manage leads and propose methods for closing deals. This strategy is then presented to the CEO or COO for integration into the overall GTM strategy.
A sales-centric go-to-market strategy should also outline your sales team's current structure, helping you evaluate the available channels and determine which are best suited to your plan. This might include inside sales, Field Sales, Channel Sales, AEs, Full Cycle Sales Reps and sales tools you may have at your disposal.
Will your sales be conducted via your website, an app, or a third-party distributor? This information should also be included in your Sales GTM strategy document.
The primary distinction between a GTM strategy and a sales GTM strategy lies in the level of planning and detailed actions, and tasks.
A GTM strategy is a comprehensive plan that encompasses the entire process from marketing a product to delivering it to the customer, including pricing, positioning, production methods, and promotional activities.
In contrast, a Sales GTM Strategy focuses solely on the sales component, detailing who the customer is and the methods used to sell to them.
Listed below are the top reasons why B2B firms create and implement a Sales GTM Strategy;
Launching new products. When a company introduces a new product, a comprehensive sales GTM strategy can accurately target the market and boost initial sales performance.
If your GTM needs a refresh please get in touch. Our expert GTM specialists are available for a quick chat to answers any of your GTM questions or to workshop defining your GTM Strategy with you.
Contact us using this meeting link to set up an obligation free 30 minute consultation
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