By Michael K. Adonteng

Mar 4th, 2025

 

Even the best sales teams can’t succeed without a structured go-to-market (GTM) strategy.

Revenue leaders who scale effectively align sales, marketing, and customer success to:


✔️ Target the right customers.

✔️ Position value clearly.

✔️ Execute scalable sales plays.

Here’s how to build a GTM approach that fuels predictable, scalable revenue growth.

1️⃣ Defining Your Go-to-Market Strategy

 

A strong GTM strategy answers three key questions:

🔹 Who are we selling to? (Ideal Customer Profile & Market Segmentation)

🔹 How do we reach them? (Sales & Marketing Alignment)

🔹 How do we win? (Sales Plays & Competitive Positioning)

📌 GTM Framework: 5 Core Elements

 

Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) – Who benefits most from your solution?

Market Segmentation – Tier accounts by size, industry, and buying behavior.

Sales Plays by Segment – Tailor strategies for enterprise vs. mid-market vs. SMB.

Buyer Journey Mapping – Align sales efforts with key decision stages.

Competitive Positioning – Define how you differentiate from competitors.

🚀 How to Strengthen Your GTM Approach:

✔️ Define a clear ICP to avoid chasing unqualified leads.

✔️ Develop segment-specific messaging to resonate with different buyers.

✔️ Align sales & marketing on campaigns, lead handoff, and conversion goals.

✔️ Constantly test and refine based on win/loss analysis.

📊 Practical Tip: If your win rates are low, revisit your ICP—are you targeting the wrong buyers?

2️⃣ Sales Plays by Market Segment

 

Not all customers are the same. Enterprise, mid-market, and SMB buyers have different needs, expectations, and sales cycles.

📌 Sales Plays by Segment

 

🔹 Enterprise Sales (High ACV, long sales cycles)

Multi-thread early – Engage multiple decision-makers across the org.

Focus on ROI & risk reduction – Enterprise buyers need hard business cases.

Leverage executive alignment – Engage senior leadership to drive buy-in.

🔹 Mid-Market Sales (Medium ACV, moderate cycles)

Blend automation with personalization – Scale without losing a human touch.

Shorten the decision cycle – Prioritize speed and agility.

Land & expand – Start small and grow account footprint.

🔹 SMB Sales (Lower ACV, fast cycles)

Speed to close is key – Minimize friction and simplify the process.

Pricing & packaging matter – Make buying decisions easy.

Leverage inbound & self-serve models – Let buyers explore before engaging sales.

🚀 How to Optimize Sales Execution by Segment:

✔️ Train teams on segment-specific playbooks to increase effectiveness.

✔️ Use different engagement models for each buyer type.

✔️ Build automated workflows for low-touch deals while maintaining a hands-on approach for complex deals.

📊 Practical Tip: If SMB deals take too long, your process is too complex—simplify it. If enterprise deals move fast, you might be missing key stakeholders.

3️⃣ Aligning Sales, Marketing & Customer Success for GTM Success

 

A broken GTM strategy happens when sales, marketing, and customer success operate in silos.

🔹 Marketing generates leads that sales ignore.

🔹 Sales closes deals, but customer success isn’t involved early enough.

🔹 Customer success fights churn, but sales isn’t setting the right expectations.

🚀 How to Improve GTM Execution Across Teams:

✔️ Sales & Marketing Alignment – Define lead qualification criteria together.

✔️ Joint Sales & CS Playbooks – Ensure a seamless handoff from sales to success.

✔️ Cross-Team KPIs – Align on shared goals (e.g., pipeline coverage, win rates, retention rates).

✔️ Quarterly Strategy Reviews – Keep GTM execution agile and responsive to market shifts.

📊 Practical Tip: If sales and marketing are misaligned, check lead handoff processes—are sales reps rejecting qualified leads?

4️⃣ New Logo Acquisition vs. Expansion Strategy

 

🔹 New Logo Acquisition – Focuses on net-new customers.

🔹 Expansion Strategy – Drives more revenue from existing customers.

📌 How to Balance New & Expansion Sales

 

Net-New Sales – Target new ICPs, open new markets, and refine outbound strategies.

Account Expansion – Use customer data to drive renewals, cross-sells, and upsells.

Customer Advocacy – Turn happy customers into referral engines.

How to Maximize Growth:

✔️ Create separate strategies for acquisition vs. expansion.

✔️ Ensure sales reps are incentivized for both new and existing business.

✔️ Identify expansion signals—usage data, product engagement, and renewal trends.

📊 Practical Tip: If net-new sales are stagnant, reassess your outbound strategy. If expansion is low, revisit customer engagement models.

Scaling a sales organization isn’t about working harder—it’s about working smarter with a structured GTM strategy.

🔹 A well-defined ICP ensures you’re selling to the right customers.

🔹 Segmented sales plays increase efficiency & close rates.

🔹 Sales, marketing, and CS alignment reduces friction and improves execution.

🔹 Balancing new logo and expansion growth is key to long-term success.

Revenue leaders who optimize their GTM strategy see higher conversion rates, better forecasting accuracy, and more scalable revenue growth.

 

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                   Michael K. Adonteng

                     Founder, ASA

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