Your company go-to-market strategy is the key driver of your business. For that reason it needs to be easily understood by both employees and target customers–hence it needs to be simple. It informs your positioning, messaging, marketing and how you sell. It actually informs which opportunities you pursue.
A go-to-market strategy that has been well defined makes for an engaged workforce, who can connect daily tasks to your business strategy. It also means a customer base that connects with what you do and what you provide. In the end it boils down to customer satisfaction, repeat business and referrals.
Here are 10 symptoms of a failing go-to-market strategy. If your business is suffering from a number of them, you should revisit your go-to-market strategy immediately.
- Customers don’t see you as unique, but as just another vendor.
- Prospective buyers don’t see what makes sets you apart.
- Your value proposition is interpreted in different ways, even by the people in your own business.
- Pipeline conversion rates are low.
- You lose a lot of deals late in the sales cycle.
- The sales you do win are low margin.
- Sales cycles are getting longer and require more and more resources.
- Marketing campaigns and messaging are constantly being changed with little or no improvement or impact.
- Your have scarcely any brand recognition in the marketplace.
- Any business is considered good business.
If your go-to-market strategy is unclear, unfocused or too complex, it can result in employees miscommunicating with customers and prospects, and performing redundant and unnecessary work. Worse, it can result in customer misunderstanding what you do and being unaware of your range of products or services, which can lead to unsatisfactory engagements, lack of repeat business and lack of referrals.
If you discover a multitude of these symptoms in relation to your go-to-business strategy, take the time to work over and streamline it. It will be well worth the effort.
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