In our recent webinar, Anne Murlowski VP of Marketing at Terminus, sat down with Seth Marrs, Principal Analyst at Forrester Research, to delve into the evolving landscape of how to unify go-to-market strategies. The discussion covered the challenges organizations face today and outlined actionable strategies for achieving a cohesive and impactful go-to-market approach. Below are some of the highlights from that conversation.
The Current State of Unifying Go-to-Market Strategies
Marrs highlighted a shift in go-to-market strategies, emphasizing the end of traditional handoffs between marketing and sales. He noted that this new era requires a seamless integration where marketing and sales come together, enabling them to quickly respond to incoming buyer signals. This integration faces challenges however, especially when marketing and sales do not work together as one cohesive unit.
Current Challenges
Buyers increasingly research independently, bypassing traditional marketing and sales funnels. Deals are subjected to more rigorous scrutiny, slowing down the sales process significantly. A notable increase is in buyer independence, with 41% of research conducted outside the sales and marketing space. However, these challenges come with a silver lining, offering opportunities for innovation and closer collaboration within go-to-market teams.
Innovations and Solutions
Marrs points out several innovations reshaping the go-to-market approach, including:
- Auto Capture of Sales Activities: Over 70% of interactions between sellers and buyers can now be automatically captured and analyzed, enhancing collaboration and strategic alignment.
- Consolidation of Insights: With improved data consolidation methods, businesses have unprecedented visibility into the buying process, gaining a competitive edge.
- Application of AI: AI technologies are revolutionizing data analysis, providing detailed insights into sales conversations and buyer engagements, thereby enabling more informed decision-making.
Unifying go-to-market efforts yields significant benefits, primarily through data unification. By bringing together data across sales and marketing, businesses can offer highly personalized buyer experiences. This not only sets companies apart but will become a critical competitive requirement.
The Role of Technology
Technology underpins the feasibility of unified go-to-market strategies, enabling the management of complex buyer and seller interactions across various channels. It’s the foundation that makes ambitious collaboration possible, ensuring scalability and repeatability.
The transition towards a unified approach is fraught with potential missteps, notably:
- Over-Reliance on Independent Seller Actions: The inconsistency in sales activities can dilute data quality, necessitating standardized capture methods.
- Misordered Implementation Priorities: Many organizations mistakenly prioritize personnel adjustments over establishing a robust data foundation and appropriate technology stack.
Success in unified go-to-market strategies should be primarily measured by revenue impact, supplemented by specific, actionable metrics tied to strategic objectives. These measures should be flexible, allowing for adjustments based on actual performance and insights gained.
Looking Ahead
Looking ahead, Marrs emphasizes the central role of AI and data in the process to unify go-to-market strategies. Innovations in these areas are poised to unlock unprecedented capabilities, fostering more effective and efficient market approaches.
For organizations embarking on or recalibrating their unified go-to-market strategies, the emphasis should be on data. A successful strategy involves not only collecting and organizing data effectively but also ensuring it’s actionable across different platforms and tools.
