Go to market launches are critical for most companies. They can be a real revenue driver but if not executed correctly, can be extremely costly.
Professor Clayton Christensen from Harvard School of Business School claims that each year an approx. of 30,000 new products are released into the market for customers to use. At the same time, almost 95% of them tend to fail.
Why do so many products entering a new market fail? There could be a number of reasons including: poor communication, unclear goals, and lack of resources. By putting together an all-star go-to-market team, you can ensure that you are set up for success.
In this blog you will gain insight into what a GTM team looks like, helpful tips to boost productivity within your go-to-market process, and technology you can use to align your teams and launch new products successfully.
What is a Go-to-Market Strategy?
Simply put, a go-to-market strategy is a plan outlining how a company introduces and promotes its products or services to their ideal customer, considering factors like the best marketing channels, sales methodologies, and pricing strategies to guarantee the product’s ongoing success. It involves coordinated efforts to make the product available and appealing to customers in the most effective and competitive way.
Find out more here: Crafting a Winning Go-to-Market Strategy
Who is on the Go-to-Market Team?
A GTM team has a lot of moving parts. It requires multiple stakeholders from different teams coming together to execute an overall strategy in order to bring a product or service to market. It’s a difficult task and there’s a lot to consider. Below are the teams and individuals that can typically form a GTM team.
Marketing Team
The marketing team is responsible for creating awareness, generating demand, and strategically promoting products to the target market. Structure this team correctly and you’ll be able to feed your sales reps qualified leads both before and after the launch.
Here are some of the roles the marketing team will assume:
- Creating and communicating the overall identity of the brand
- Outlining buyer personas and creating value propositions that speak to your buyer
- Conducting thorough market research to make sure teams are communicating to their target customer
- Carrying out various marketing campaigns including digital, in-person / virtual events, etc.
Here’s what your marketing could look like:
Marketing Manager
Responsibilities: Develops and executes the marketing strategy, including positioning, messaging, and promotional campaigns. Works closely with the sales team to generate demand and create brand awareness.
Product Marketing Manager
Responsibilities: Conducts the relevant research to craft a product strategy or create a product story accurately. Works closely with product and marketing to develop buyer personas, product messaging and positioning, and driving the overall vision of the product.
Content Marketing and Communications Specialist
Responsibilities: Creates compelling content for marketing materials, sales collateral, and communication channels. Ensures consistent messaging across all touchpoints.
Demand Generation Specialist
Responsibilities: Focuses on lead generation and creating demand for the product. Develops and executes campaigns across various channels to attract and nurture leads.
Digital Marketing Specialist
Responsibilities: Manages digital marketing efforts, including online advertising, SEO, social media, and email marketing. Works to increase online visibility and engagement.
Events Coordinator
Responsibilities: Plans and executes events such as product launches, trade shows, and webinars. Facilitates opportunities for direct engagement with customers and partners.
Channel Manager
Responsibilities: Manages relationships with distribution partners, resellers, and other indirect sales channels. Develops strategies to maximize channel effectiveness and revenue.
While this list is not exhaustive, it’s a good starting point for any team, company size (enterprise to startups), or industry (SaaS).
Sales Team
The sales team is tasked with taking marketing generated leads and converting them into customers. Sales reps should receive regular training and coaching on the products they are selling, the messaging being communicated, and the sales strategies being used.
Here are some of the responsibilities for your sales team:
- Lead generation including identifying and qualifying leads
- Customer retention and relationship building
- Communicate product vision
Here are some of the roles the sales team will assume:
Sales Manager
Responsibilities: Leads the sales team in achieving revenue targets. Develops sales strategies, identifies key markets, and facilitates effective communication between sales and other departments.
Sales Development Rep (SDR)
Responsibilities: Focus on outbound prospecting and lead generation. SDRs qualify leads and set appointments for the sales team.
Account Executive (AE)
Responsibilities: Responsible for managing and closing deals. AEs work directly with potential customers, guiding them through the sales process.
Sales Operations Manager
Responsibilities: Oversees the operational aspects of the sales process, including data analysis, process optimization, and coordination between sales and other departments.
Product Team
The product team develops the product and communicates the key elements of it. They are in charge of the development roadmap, testing, and ensuring the all the bells and whistles are finally tuned when it’s time to launch.
Here’s what the product team will work on:
- Determining and communicating overall product vision
- Creating a strategy for ongoing product development
- Defining competitive advantages in terms of features
Here are some of the roles the product team will assume:
Product Manager
Responsibilities: Oversees the entire product life cycle, defines the product strategy, and ensures alignment with market needs. Collaborates with various teams to bring the product to market effectively.
Sales Enablement Team
The sales enablement team helps increase your sales rep productivity by providing reps with the necessary tools, content, and training to successfully sell the product. Sales enablement collaborates closely with product, sales, and marketing to ensure reps are well prepared for any customer conversation.
Here’s what the sales enablement team will work on:
- Create and curate relevant and compelling sales collateral that resonates with the buyer’s journey
- Develop training programs and onboarding processes to ensure sales reps are well-versed in product knowledge, sales techniques, and company processes.
- Provide coaching and support to sales teams, helping them refine their sales techniques, overcome challenges, and continuously improve their performance.
- Facilitate communication between different departments, ensuring that sales and marketing are updated on product updates, marketing campaigns, and other relevant information.
Here are some of the role(s) the sales enablement team will assume:
Sales Enablement Manager
Responsibilities: Equips the sales team with the necessary tools, training, and resources to effectively sell the product. Develops sales playbooks, training programs, and ongoing support.
Customer Success Team
The customer success team plays a pivotal role in ensuring customer satisfaction, retention, and long-term value for a company. Their primary focus is on building positive relationships with customers and helping them derive maximum value from the products or services.
Here’s what the customer success team will work on:
- Onboarding new customers to the product
- Build and nurture strong relationships with customers
- Develop and implement retention strategies so that customers continue to see value and remain loyal to the brand.
Here are some of the role(s) the customer success team will assume:
Customer Success Manager
Responsibilities: Focuses on post-sales activities, ensuring customer satisfaction, retention, and upselling opportunities. Gathers customer feedback and collaborates with product and marketing teams to improve offerings and customer experience.
The effectiveness of a GTM team relies on collaboration and seamless communication between these roles. Each member plays a vital part in executing the overall GTM strategy and ensuring the successful launch and growth of the product or service.
5 Tips for a Productive Go-to-Market Team
A productive go-to-market (GTM) team is crucial for the successful launch and sustained growth of a product or service. Here are some tips to create a more productive environment for your go-to-market team:
Clear Strategy and Objectives
Start by establishing a clear, well-communicated, and well-defined go-to-market strategy with specific objectives. Without a roadmap on how you will communicate what success will look like, and who is responsible for what, how will your team know if they’re making an impact. Take time to understand what metrics or KPIs are important to your team and show that you are obtaining your goals. Here are some ideas to get the ball rolling:
- Customer Acquisition Cost: The average cost to get a new user aboard.
- Marketing Qualified Leads (MQL) to Sales Qualified Leads (SQL) Ratio: Ratio of MQLs to SQLs, indicating the quality of leads passed from marketing to sales.
- Customer Lifetime Value: Predicted total revenue a customer is expected to generate throughout their relationship with the company.
- Sales Pipeline Velocity: Average time it takes for a lead to move through the sales pipeline.
- Monthly Recurring Revenue: Predictable and regular revenue you generate from customers on a monthly basis.
- Revenue Growth: Percentage increase in overall revenue attributable to the go-to-market strategy.
- Customer retention Rate: Percentage of customers that stick with you over a specific period.
- Organic Search Traffic: The number of visitors to your website without directly paying to appear on those search results.
- Return on Ad Spend: Revenue generated for every dollar spent on advertising.
Define Roles and Responsibilities
If you want a flawless product launch, it’s critical that your go-to-market plan details what everyone needs to work on and how their work intersects with other teams and individual contributors. By establishing clear roles and responsibilities, each team member will better understand how their work impacts the success of the launch while fostering efficiency and preventing duplication of efforts that can delay a launch.
Moreover, a structured template for roles and responsibilities is crucial for risk mitigation, adaptability, and scalability, providing a solid foundation for navigating the complexities of a dynamic go-to-market strategy.
Clear Communication Channels
Creating a go-to-market strategy inherently involves multiple stakeholders and teams, so it’s important that you set up a dedicated communication channel to pass information to different teams or individuals.
Consider Slack as a valuable option. It not only serves as a centralized communication tool but also provides the flexibility to establish various channels and chats for distinct teams. Furthermore, Slack offers an additional benefit by seamlessly integrating with numerous social media and project management tools, enhancing their utility in your go-to-market (GTM) process.
Tip: Focus on one to two different channels as your source of truth
Training and Skill Development
One of the most important tips for ensuring your product launch is successful is to invest in training and development programs. Work with sales enablement to establish a training program and provide content for salespeople so they can confidently showcase the product.
Find out more here: Unlock Sales Potential with a Sales Training Strategy
Invest in the Right Technology
To set your GTM team up for success it’s important to invest in the right tools to help streamline processes. Consider investing in a project management tool to keep teams aligned on what tasks need to be done, scheduling deadlines, track progress, and ensuring all work is moving on schedule.
Additionally, teams should invest in a sales enablement platform to deliver coaching and training on new products, ensuring salespeople have the right content to share with customers, all while providing a seamless onboarding experience for new sales reps, and aligning sales and marketing efforts.
Find out more about sales enablement: What is Sales Enablement: The Definitive Guide for 2024
Empower Your Go-to-Market Team with Highspot
Not every GTM team is created equal. When it comes down to it, the most successful teams have the right content, training, onboarding, coaching, and ultimately, are completely aligned on GTM objectives and goals.
Successful teams and companies trust Highspot to create cohesion between teams, manage all GTM content, as well as train, coach, and onboard sales reps. With Highspot’s sales enablement platform, GTM teams are better prepared to launch successful products. Request a demo today!
