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Who am I selling to and what's the plan to reach them?
Arguably two of the most important questions a b2b founder/owner/director should be asking themselves several times a week until the answer emerges clear as day, out of muscle memory.
Who am I selling to and the case for focus & specificity!
The Who is important to frame for many reasons,
here's 7 reasons to get us started:
1. The language your Who uses to source information on their problem (key word searches, peer consults, and industry events),, frame their problem (Hint: it will be specific to their environment, sector and business) and then organise ideal solutions to solve their problem will be a language you will need to mirror almost verbatim. Eg. your FinTech product that supports Financial Services, Pharma, and EcoTech will naturally be organised into marketing efforts for each industry, and then further organised by vertical. FinTechs selling solutions for Retail Banking will benefit greatly from designing a language perfectly matched to Credit Unions, and then again for Retail Banks. Wen your WHO reads your communication-designed-just-for-them, the probability of success. increases 80% versus a more generic communication intended for the wider Financial Services market.
2. The partners you get to collaborate with to leverage marketing muscle has an effectiveness rating of 80% or higher.
3. The Channels you show up in are soaked with your WHO already seeking solutions to problems you solve.
4. The sales collateral you create will be hyper relevant and effective in serving the needs of your WHO pre-sales making the point of sale far flow, less force.
5. The innovation you pursue will be an accurate reflection of the innovation needs of your WHO. Too often, we see. FinTechs with brilliant solutions that spend way too long looking for the problem to match. (Not enough market research)
6. The profit center opportunities available when you have a clear market, a clear set of channels into that market, and a language that mirrors exactly, that market - you are far better placed to convert marketing efforts into profit centers by creating sponsorship opportunities for select firms, to support your own GTM efforts.
7. Critical Thought Leadership becomes a natural position for you. as your WHO focus & specificity gives you the access to go deep and wide uncovering insights that can only be found 5 levels deep. This benefits product development, future GTM efforts, while expanding your network, and opportunities to collaborate.
What is my Go-to-Market (GTM) Plan to reach this market?
1. Future Revenue Targets unpacked into today, will give you clarity on the size and scope of your GTM. For example, a 12-month target of 500k in new revenue will be broken down into average annual transaction x number of transactions to generate 500k. If each customer is worth 100k a year on average, we need 5 new clients at 100k to. hit our revenue target. Using the Sales Conversion Ratio 1:20 - we need 5:100 - so the question becomes, who are the 100 best prospects for us to pursue over 4 to 6 months, that would see us close 5 at 100k each?
2. Qualitative Customer Research will give you the intel that will show you exactly what to put into your GTM, and where to implement your GTM. I call this exercise, know 5, serve 5000. It's a simple but powerful exercise that sees you interview 5x ideal prospects who each share the same, job function, business environment, language with which they frame their problem. A select set of questions can easily uncover the WHAT to put into your GTM, and the WHERE to place your GTM. More often than not, your GTM channels will end up being 2 max. But 2 well researched, well trafficked, well populated channels with the very market you want to serve.
3. Quality over quantity, always. particularly when you are clear on your revenue targets, have done quality customer research and have gathered sufficient certainty that there are enough prospects to pursue to secure the customer base you're after.
Be present first, then be active
1. x10 interviews a month with your clients and/or target market is probably the minimum when it comes to customer research to keep your solutions hyper relevant to a market who is keen to invest in them.
2. Any GTM wants you o be present to its implementation, which will turn up opportunities that warrant a shift in the GTM as it unfolds live. It is in this very action, that your GTM has the best possible chance fr success.
In Summary
Your Go To Market Plan is best served by being informed by the exact audience you want to serve - customer research is key!
5x quality interviews with the 5 individuals that share 5x traits:
Environment
Challenge
Decision Maker Process
Ideal Outcomes
Budget Size
Ongoing Customer Research of 10 interviews monthly thereafter keeps your Go To Market Plan optimised, hyper relevant and effective.
Your Go To Market Plan size and scope is determined by simple maths that is rooted in revenue targets and unpacked to distill the total number of clients at an average annual transaction to give you the number to plug into your conversion ratio. That conversion ratio of 1:20 is a solid anchor with which to organise your Go To Market Plans.