GTM Strategy, chapter 2: what you are selling

In our last post, we discussed how to identify your target market - your ICP. Now that you have honed in on who you are selling to, we are ready to discuss the next component in crafting your GTM strategy - namely defining, positioning and articulating ‘what’ you are selling. Let’s dive in.

This is not a product roadmap exercise

Let’s start with what this part is not about in the context of a GTM strategy: a product roadmap. Our going-in assumption here is that the product is robust enough to check all the category entry point boxes. Sure there are feature improvements the team wants to make to the product, additions required to enter a new market or fixes needed to the front or back ends (if you are in the Software business). But that is not what you want to focus on here, because your GTM team needs to be able to market / sell / service what you have now, not what you plan to build tomorrow.

Your positioning: make your product shine and easy to understand by your buyer

We will get to the messaging of your product a bit later, but what you want to define here is the positioning of it. In other terms, what should a buyer be looking for when they search for you. In the software space this is where you decide which category you want to be part of. You have 2 options here: being part of an existing category (pro: it is a known quantity, con: it is already crowded) or creating a new one (pro: it is yours to own, con: it will take education to get your buyer to understand what you are). The in-between state where you are part of a category but not really is a lose lose situation: you will have to educate a lot and you will lose against the pure players in any bake off. One thing you are trying to achieve here is make the job of your buyer as easy as possible. If they are somewhat sophisticated they will have a set of buying criteria defined. If they are not, Capterra will have one for them. Either way you want to fit in their framework or have one ready for them. Again, make their decision easy.

Now, which way should you go: existing or new? Well, there is no straightforward answer for this one. We see 3 main factors to consider when you want to determine your category: how structured/mature is the category you are looking at, how different is your product from the competition, and how skilled is your GTM team. If you have a mature category that you can clearly counter position against because you do the same things better/faster/cheaper then join that category. If your product is so different in its philosophy and what it does + there is no serious player doing something similar, go create a category (although remember to look at that through the buyer’s eyes: you might think you are unique but to them you may look like the other folks). Finally if your team is more on the transactional sales side you are better off joining an established category. If they are really good at consultative selling then you are equipped for a new one.

Let’s talk PLG for a minute

The other aspect of your product you need to form a clear perspective on is: how easy is it to use (by your average user). Again, there is no right or wrong here. It is about being clear on your product reality because it will inform how you market and sell it. 

On that note, over the last few years there has been an emphasis on PLG (product led growth) where a product does most of the selling. It is great for products that are built for it, terrible for those that are not and are forced into it. We define easy to use for GTM purposes as: simple to sign up for, shows value on first use / empty state and delivers a unique ‘aha’ moment, does not require a steep learning curve or ample data entry, gives you a reason to come back. 

So if your product is PLG-ready, cool. If it is not, fine, that’s why you have a sales team. The important part is to have a stance on this question and use that as a part of your strategy. Don’t force a PLG strategy because it looks good in a fundraising deck if your product isn’t truly in that category.

Next up: How you sell it. Leave your email below to get this and future posts from Facta. 

Ari & Frederic

Why Choose Facta Partners?

The Facta team has been servicing growth for over two decades. We will help you define what growth means to you, set the strategic direction to approach it, allocate resources to support it, design processes to deliver it and make sure your team and board are excited about it. We don’t stop at crafting the plan, we also help you to deliver, in the trenches.

Why Facta? Because we have done it, from Series A startups to Fortune 100 enterprises across industries. We have been operators, with people to lead, departments to align and boards to please. We know what works, what doesn't, why and have distilled those lessons into a methodology with a clear point of view.

We are your throughline to what’s next.