Leading a successful go-to-market team – one that powers a repeatable, predictable and scalable revenue engine – requires many skills.
Perhaps one of the most important is communication.
Truly great communicators know the importance of brevity and clarity, where just the essential information can be conveyed and understood by those who need it most.
Getting to that point isn’t easy – it takes time, effort and experience…
As Mark Twain once said, “I didn’t have time to write you a short letter, so I wrote you a long one.”
Whilst we can all agree that creating a comprehensive go-to-market strategy is essential for any business looking to successfully launch and scale a product or service…there’s an absence of resources on how to condense it into one page. And what essential info it should contain.
A one-page go-to-market strategy can serve as a succinct and effective tool to convey key information to stakeholders, while also providing a clear roadmap for executing your plan.
In this guide, I’ll walk you through the key aspects of creating a one-page go-to-market strategy that can help you cut through the noise, enable your teams and support effective growth.
The Key Sections
Vision
This helps to crystallise your point of view on the market and were its heading (or should be).
If your mission is successful and you achieve your purpose, how will the world have changed?
It should also serve as a guide for decision-making and long-term strategy development.
Here are 3 good examples from the B2B space:
Microsoft: “To empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.”
SAP: “To help the world run better and improve people’s lives.”
Workday: “To put people at the center of enterprise software.”
Purpose
A company’s purpose statement is a statement that defines the reason for the company’s existence, often referred to as its “raison d’être.” It describes the company’s fundamental objectives and its overall reason for being.
e.g. Patagonia: “We’re in business to save our home planet.”
Warby Parker: “To offer designer eyewear at a revolutionary price, while leading the way for socially conscious businesses.”
The Honest Company: “To create safe and effective products for all families, to inspire a lifestyle of health and sustainability, and to give back to our community.”
Mission
This is the ‘how’ behind your ‘why’ (your purpose). It’s how you’re going to help change the world and ultimately speed things towards your vision.
Here are 3 good examples of mission statements from well known B2B tech giants:
HubSpot: “”To help millions of organizations grow better through our world-class marketing, sales, and customer relationship management software. We provide the tools, training, and support to help businesses succeed. And we do it all in one place, so businesses can grow better together.”
Salesforce: “To be the world’s #1 CRM provider and to improve the state of the world through the use of technology. We believe that technology has the power to bring people together and improve the way we live and work. We are dedicated to helping our customers succeed and to making a positive impact on the world.”
Adobe: “To inspire and empower people and organizations to create and deliver exceptional digital experiences. We believe that creativity is at the heart of everything we do and that it has the power to change the world. We are dedicated to helping our customers succeed and to making a positive impact on the world through our products and services.”
Category
This is the market/space in which you’re playing e.g. Cloud Computing, Social Media or Direct to Consumer
Villain
This is not your direct competitors, its more the barrier to change you’re trying to drive in the category.
For example it may be ‘high fees’, ‘poor UX’ or ‘unnecessary bureaucracy’
Having a straw man to pit your company against can be motivating (and fun) for your team and it can really help prospects see what you stand for by articulating the antithesis of your approach.
Tagline
A tagline is a short, memorable description that succinctly and clearly communicates the brand message.
This short description acts as the brand’s catchphrase and builds brand personality, which, in turn, helps set the brand’s positioning in the market.
Examples include “Just do It” (Nike), “The King of Beers” (Budweiser) and “We Try Harder” (Avis)
Priorities
What are the 1-3 key priorities you want to focus on as a GTM team? These may also be known as objectives.
e.g. Double Revenue, Reduce CAC by 40%, Launch in the US
Lead Metrics
What measures of success/metrics will show you that you’re on track to achieve your priorities?
e.g. Qualified Pipeline Value, Increase Close Rates 30%, First 10 Logos in the US
Key Activities
What inputs should you be focusing on to move the lead indicators, which will help you achieve your priorities?
e.g. Prospecting, Finding Champions, Asking for Referrals
Why Change
What is the compelling reason your prospects should take a risk and invest in a new solution that you’re providing?
Most deals are lost not to competitors, but to inertia, because prospects will only change their behaviours and invest in – and adapt to – new solutions where there’s a really good reason (which outweighs the natural instinct to stick with the status quo).
If you can’t answer this with confidence, you won’t be winning much business.
It should also be utilised extensively throughout your marketing and sales enablement materials, and be very well understood by everyone in the organisation.
Why Now
This is how you build urgency into your deal cycles and marketing. To do this, you need to be able to ‘implicate pain’ which means you need to show your prospects that there’s a real downside to not acting when they’ve discovered a pain.
For example, perhaps you sell cyber security. Showing prospects that they’re vulnerable to new threats might help convince them there’s a problem…but they may not feel compelling to act on it right away.
If you can show them that x-number of similar businesses are being hacked every single day, and it’s costing them millions and even crippling their business, they may consider moving more urgently.
Why Us
You may convince your prospects they need to solve their problem and do it quickly…but they’ll know there are alternatives to your solution they could consider.
Which means you also need a compelling answer to why they should choose you versus your competitors!
Consider how you’re uniquely positioned to help them 10x better or differently than any one else can, which matches their needs.
Evidence
What evidence do you have that your solution is effective at solving the problem?
Think case studies, stats or testimonials.
Call to Action
What is the primary action you want your audience to take? Is it to book a demo? Sign up and try the product? Join your newsletter?
Core Messages + Why they’re important
What are the top 3 things you want to known for, and why are they important to your prospects?
e.g. Speed > Faster pages increase conversions
Design > Delight customers, drive retention
Safety > Don’t gamble with your data
ICP(s)
Who is your Ideal Customer Profile? (Don’t include the full detail here…it’s not going to fit onto one page! This should be the shorthand reference for your ICP, the full detail should be in your complete GTM Strategy…hopefully in the GTM Works platform!)
e.g. Enterprise SaaS, UK Biotechs, Small Restaurant Chains (1-20 locations)
Buyer Personas & 2 Word Value Prop
Highlight the specific value proposition that aligns to a particular buyer persona within your ICP e.g.
CEO > Strategic Clarity
CFO > Cost Efficient
CRO > More Pipeline
Core Values
What are your company values?
e.g. Agility, Ownership, Curiosity
Channels
Add in the main distribution channels you’re using to reach prospects and share your messages e.g. Sales, SEO, Partnerships
Pricing/Commercials
Articulating your commercial model is really important to help align teams and incentives to client value.
Are you Usage-Based pricing? Seats? Monthly or Annual? Low or High Commitment? Is there an onboarding fee?
Answering these fundamental questions will help you shape better commission/compensation structures for your teams and create less friction with your clients.
Next Steps
You can grab yourself an editable Google Doc of this here.
Interested in learning more about how to build, operationalise and align your teams around a complete GTM Strategy? We should talk!