Koen Stam’s Post

This is the number 1 mistake 90% of GTM leaders make when trying to scale their GTM motions. How many GTM motions are you actively running in your business? Here is why we move too fast into new GTM motions and what we should do instead. Choosing the number of GMT motions is a real struggle for many of us GTM leaders. Agree 👍🏼 or disagree 👎🏼 You enter a new role as Head of Sales, VP Sales or CRO and get the assignment to scale the business. Your board and c-level obviously want to see short term impact from you as a new leader. So what do you do? You are simply adding new GTM motions. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗚𝗧𝗠 𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿, 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁? ↳ More motions. ↳ More opportunities. ↳ More potential customers. ↳ More potential revenue distribution. 𝗦𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝘁’𝘀 𝗮𝗱𝗱 𝗚𝗧𝗠 𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀: ✔️ Let’s add Mid Market on top of SMB. ✔️ Let’s add Outbound on top of Inbound. ✔️ Let’s add a PGL motion next to Inbound. ✔️ Let’s add Enterprise on top of Mid Market. ✔️ Let’s add the Partner channel next to Inbound. According to Dave Boyce from Winning by Design we are simply trying to manage too many GTM motions at the same time. Before you scale the business to a new GTM motion, you need to understand your current motion(s) as a Revenue Architect. Don’t experiment with new channels if you havent scaled your first motion. How do you know if a GTM motion works? Focus on a full bowtie analysis based on the performance of the last 6-8 quarters. When moving to your next GTM motion? Rule of thumb according to Dave is at 10M ARR (Dave, would you say this 10M ARR threshold is also the bar for European Scaleups?) You don’t want to add a new experimental GTM motion on top of your initial GTM motion that is not working. Before experimenting with a new GTM motion you want to have seen repeatable proof points from your current running GTM motion. Don’t run multiple experiments at the same time and definitely not with the same resources. And 1 key tip on how to scale towards new GTM motions if your current has proven successful? Build your next GTM motion next to your existing one: ✅ When running a SMB motion at 10K ACV, experiment with 15K/20K. ✅ When running a Mid Market motion at 50K ACV, experiment with 75K/100K If the new motion is so far off from your current motion you need to build all processes and systems from scratch. Besides, it will take a significant amount of time to see if it is actually working. And you won’t get the time, resources and patience of your board and CEO. So choose your next GTM motion wisely. How many GTM motions are you actively running? And which ones?

𝗔𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗼𝗻 𝗚𝗧𝗠 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 As we head into 2025, I’ve been reflecting on some patterns I’ve consistently seen during my 15 years in the SaaS and Tech industry. Time and time again, I’ve watched Revenue and GTM leaders fall into the same traps when trying to scale their businesses. 🚨 Here are the three most common mistakes I see: 1️⃣ 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗺𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘀: Strategies that look great on paper but fail to deliver when applied in the real world. 2️⃣ 𝗦𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗢𝗻𝗲-𝗦𝗶𝘇𝗲-𝗙𝗶𝘁𝘀-𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗚𝗧𝗠 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸: The winning playbook that worked in the early days doesn’t always translate to new markets, customer profiles, or company growth phases. 3️⃣ 𝗦𝗶𝗹𝗼𝗲𝗱 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀: Teams working in isolation, each chasing their own objectives, leading to misalignment and inefficiency. Not all GTM strategies are created equal. When we @WHYS Operating Partners work with SaaS leaders, one thing becomes clear: your GTM program must match your company’s unique situation. For example: 👉 Enterprise vs. Mid-Market: Your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) drastically changes your approach. 👉 Inbound vs. Outbound Marketing: Not all marketing strategies are equally effective for every business. 👉 Top-Line Growth vs. Sustainable Growth: Scaling at all costs vs. scaling profitably. 👉 Small ACV vs. Large ACV: A $20K deal requires a very different motion than a $1M enterprise sale. 👉 GTM Motions: No-touch, low-touch, high-touch—what works depends on your product and audience. 👉 Product & Pricing Models: Customized vs. modular vs. standardized. I’ve seen 3 key traits in GTM strategies that work: ✅ 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴: Winning teams prioritize both quantitative win/loss analysis and qualitative customer insights and understanding painpoints. ✅ 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮-𝗗𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀: Have a KPI suite: Use strategical, tactical and operational KPI's combined with data and analysis to drive your decisions. ✅ 𝗖𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀-𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: A great GTM program is a dance between Marketing, Sales, Customer Success, and Product. Alignment isn’t optional—it’s the foundation for success. 💡 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗮 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝘀𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗮𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱: Are you solving a people problem or a process problem? Before scaling your sales team or pumping money into hiring AE's, take a step back. Build your fundamentals first: 1️⃣ Revenue Model > 2️⃣ Data Model > 3️⃣ Operating Model> 4️⃣ Growth Model> 5️⃣ GTM Playbook > 6️⃣ Team Growing a SaaS business is a dynamic process. It requires constant iteration, focus, and the ability to adapt your strategy to match your company’s maturity and market shifts. ♻️ Drop me a message or comment below if you want to talk. Let’s make 2025 your best year yet!

What are the most important GTM Metrics to share in a board meeting? A topic Dave Kellogg and I discussed on SaaS Talk with the Metrics Brothers.. The catalyst was the ICONIQ Growth "Essential GTM Board Slides" Below are my ideas for the GTM Board Slides and Metrics: 1️⃣ GTM Scorecard 👉 New ARR - 5 rolling quarters of history and next quarter forecast 👉 Expansion ARR - 5 rolling quarters of history and next quarter forecast 👉 Net New ARR - 5 rolling quarters of history and next quarter forecast 👉 Net Revenue Retention - 5 rolling quarters of history and next quarter forecast 👉 New + Expansion ARR/FTE - 5 rolling quarters of history 2️⃣ Key Wins and Losses - 2 slides 👉 New Logo wins - include name, ACV, Product, Source and top competitors 👉 New Logo losses (name, value, product, competitor, reason) 👉 Expansion wins (name, value, Product, Source) 👉 Expansion losses (name, value, product, competitor, reason) 👉 Churn - (name, value, product, competitor, reason) 👉 Downsell - (name, value, product, competitor, reason) 3️⃣ Key Opportunities and Risks - 2 slides 👉 New Logos (name, value, product, competitors, stage) 👉 Expansion Opps (name, value, product, competitors, stage) 👉 Retention Risks (name, value, product, risk reason, timing) 👉 Downsell Risks (name, value, product, risk reason, timing) 4️⃣ Pipeline Performance 👉 Pipeline Waterfall Chart (Previous Quarter) - Starting Pipeline - New Pipeline Generated (+) - Pipeline pulled in from future (+) - Pipeline increase from increased deal size (+) - Pipeline decrease won deals (-) - Pipeline decrease from slipped deals (-) - Pipeline decrease from lost deals (-) - Ending Pipeline 5️⃣ Pipeline Generation 👉 Pipeline Generated by Source (previous 5 quarters and forecast) - Inbound Marketing (actual versus goal) - Outbound SDRs (actual versus goal) - Outbound AEs (actual versus goal) - Partners (actual versus goal) - Sources specific to you (ABX, Referrals, etc) 👉 Pipeline Costs and Returns (rolling 5 quarters) - Cost per Opportunity (by high level source if possible) - Cost per $ qualified pipeline (by high level source if possible) - Cost per $ Closed-Won (by high level source if possible) 6️⃣ Pipeline Conversion 👉 Pipeline Coverage Ratio (Total and By High Level Source) 👉 Pipeline Conversion of key steps in Funnel (Leads --> Closed-Won) 7️⃣ Retention and Churn 👉 Gross Revenue Retention - Total and by Segment rolling 5 quarters 👉 Net Revenue Retention - Total and by Segment rolling 5 quarters 8️⃣ Sales Capacity and Productivity 👉 Capacity vs Bookings vs Goal (rolling 5/9 quarters + next) 👉 GTM Headcount (rolling 5/9 quarters + next) 👉 New ARR/FTE and Retained ARR/FTE 🙋♂️ Additions? #b2bsaas #metrics

GTM can exceed Dev spend in B2B SaaS cos. Investor & board meetings (stage dependent) should provide visibility, progress and needs. Amount & level of detail of metrics to share for discussion depends on your audience and message. Ray Rike provides a long list of options discussed during a recent podcast.

5 Mistakes with Your GTM & How to Avoid Them ⚡ 1️⃣ Ignore customer insights: Without a deep understanding of your customers and their needs, your GTM strategy will fall flat. Use the insights from "Forget the Funnel" to learn how to focus on customer-driven growth to drive predictable, recurring revenue. Avoid this mistake by conducting in-depth customer interviews and identifying customer success factors to ultimately operationalize your customer growth. 2️⃣ No umbrella GTM strategy: If you don't have an overarching GTM plan in place and don't know where to start, I recommend reading "From Hustle to Scale". With this easy-to-read, step-by-step approach, you can create your synchronized plan for all your revenue teams to work together toward a common goal and vision. 3️⃣ Chaotic financial & revenue foundation: Your financial operating system needs a solid foundation: without clean data, aligned tools, and a common understanding of your metrics, you will get lost in your data chaos and fly blind. Having a RevOps department to unravel this often high jumble of tools, data and hidden insights can help tremendously. With the right setup, the transparency of your business and revenue operating system can help you make better decisions as a GTM leader. 4️⃣ Underestimate the power of internal champions: In enterprise deals, selling is a collaborative effort. Reading "Selling With" is a reminder to leverage internal champions to shape buying conversations and close deals. Don't just sell to someone, sell with someone. 5️⃣ Forget the human part: The greatest asset of any business is its people. Both externally, customers, and internally, all members of all revenue teams. Make sure you're not just assuming your customers' perspective and positioning yourself according to their biggest pain points, and don't neglect your own team. Leverage all the expert insight you already have in your organization - and always be on the lookout for new candidates to help your team grow ("always be hiring"). 〰 My bottom line? GTM is hard, for sure. But manageable if you have the big picture and a revenue leadership team that is aligned on 1.) clear long and short term goals (and not too many of them!), 2.) the will to play together and not in silos (no power plays!), and 3.) the perseverance to see it through without losing side when pivots are needed (but not to change course without a good reason!). 🔥 #GTM #Growth #B2BMarketing #RevOps #ConnectingTheDots #Leadership #ScaleUpChallenges #MarketingLeaders #TechScaleUp #AlwaysLearning

Don’t ship your org chart. I heard this a few years ago and it’s stuck with me because it’s especially relevant to GTM teams. Once you move past a single product and expand into new personas, geographies and selling motions, it’s easy to lose sight of your customers. It’s easier to become inward focused and let your internal process and org structure determine what you do - vs marshaling the entire GTM org in support of your customers’ outcomes and success. If you require every function to weigh in on any decision, even when there’s obvious customer benefit - you’re shipping your org chart If people aren’t asking the question ‘have we run this by a few customers!’ - you’re shipping your org chart If your senior leaders aren’t constantly bringing customer anecdotes and insights to conversations - you’re on the path to shipping your org chart Don’t ship your org chart. Instead deliver customer value all day every day.

This is buried at #6, I want to make it rise to the top:  Pipeline Conversion 👉 Pipeline Coverage Ratio (Total and By High-Level Source) 👉 Pipeline Conversion of critical steps in Funnel (Leads --> Closed-Won) Often, I see two (separate sections) of Pipeline Reports, one from Marketing and one from Sales; I then have to correlate the information to view the end-to-end Pipeline stats as stated below. I get it; internal to the company, from a day-to-day team perspective, you may have different departments running toward targets; however, for the Board, even as a C-Suite, please look at this end-to-end, with the close/ won as part of the overall metrics. Also, most Board Updates include Sales first, followed by marketing. It's a failure when sales are down or lower than expected, and marketing follows with how well they have done without associating with the sales update and sentiment. Also, if sales are great, attribute and celebrate how much marketing is or is not helping. Its all the same CAC. If the leadership team had done the exercise to review this end-to-end, this wouldn't have happened—please re-read #6 again. Ray Rike, thanks for the post.

After 3 years leading GTM initiaitives for use cases at Confluent, I wanted to share some key takeaways that I believe are essential for any GTM effort. 1. Alignment is King: Early and consistent alignment across all GTM teams (Marketing, Sales, Product, Customer Success) is absolutely critical. Ensuring everyone is on the same page about the value proposition, target audience and customer segments from the get-go creates a smoother launch and a more impactful story for your customers. 2. The Power of Messaging: Crafting clear, concise, and compelling messaging is a game-changer. It's not just about features; it's about how your use case solves specific customer problems and delivers real value. Invest time in user research and understand how your solution fits into their workflow. 3. Know Your Numbers, Know Your Impact: Solid reporting and tracking are the backbone of any successful GTM strategy. Define your key metrics upfront and diligently track progress. This data will not only help you measure success but also identify areas for improvement and iterate on your approach as needed. These are just a few of the many lessons I've learned during my time at Confluent. The GTM landscape is constantly evolving, but these core principles remain true. #GTM #confluent #usecases #productmarketing #marketingstrategy #alignment #messaging #reporting #success

🔎 Driving GTM Efficiency: A Case Study At Winning by Design, we love seeing our frameworks come to life in the real world! Here's a quick look at how a mid-sized SaaS company turned chaos into clarity: ⭕ Situation: A mid-sized SaaS company faced challenges with its Go-To-Market strategy. Attempting to operate across multiple GTM motions—self-serve product-led and dedicated enterprise sales—led to inefficiencies and misalignment between marketing, sales, and customer success teams. 🔴 Pain: The lack of a cohesive strategy resulted in: - Overextended resources with unclear ROI - Complex processes that confused teams and customers - Disjointed collaboration across teams These issues diluted the company’s focus, slowed their ability to scale, and hindered both sales acceleration and customer success. 🟢 Impact: By adopting Winning by Design's GTM framework, the company streamlined their approach, consolidating efforts into two motions: 1️⃣ Low Touch: for high-volume leads 2️⃣ High Touch: for strategic accounts The results? 🚀 30% increased efficiency in lead conversion 🤝 Stronger collaboration and resource alignment 📈 Improved retention, faster time-to-value, and scalable growth The key takeaways? Carefully selecting and refining your GTM motions can dramatically boost efficiency and effectiveness, setting the stage for sustainable growth. #GTMStrategy #RevenueArchitecture #RevenueFactory #CaseStudy

Have you considered looking at your #B2BSaas business like a #RevenueFactory? Your GTM motions are like production lines. And maximizing their efficiency, scalability and durability (quality) is the name of the game! AND- if some are underperforming- either find ways to optimize….or shut them down! Great post by Winning by Design CEO Dominique Levin.