Stop Auditing Your GTM. Start Making Decisions.

Most GTM (Go-to-Market) strategy content is a planning ritual, not a strategy.

These exercises list what should be reviewed — not what must be decided. And because such exercises offend no one but feel really good as you do them, they change nothing. Vanilla is always vanilla…until you put a topping on it.

That “topping” is the identification of pain point realities as a company goes to market – not calendar “to do” lists. And these pain points are everywhere (as they say these days, we are in a target-rich environment).

manufacturers are being commoditized
distributors are consolidating
specs are being bundled
buyers are overwhelmed
and marketing keeps getting asked to “support sales” while sales keeps getting asked to “do more with less”

Each one of these pain points has an unmistakable effect on your GTM straetgy, which makes understanding way more important than coming up with a checklist that answers superficial questions such as how to update your market model/share position or identifying areas where your company doesn’t have the opportunity to win because it lacks channel coverage. No one is saying such observations are unimportant; what we are suggesting, however, is they become subordinate to the main focus: how does your business survive in the increasingly complex business world? GTM strategy is about economics and leverage, not just messaging.

Most companies confuse GTM strategy with activity.

GTM is not a list of channels, identifying a set of tradeoffs or choosing what you will not do and what you will force the market to do. Many companies believe they can force markets to behave the way they want them to behave, an entirely false notion reeking of hubris.

For example, one of the leading plumbing manufacturers still in the industry today had as their GTM strategy: “Is your building good enough for my product?” It was arrogant, bold and based on the decades of being in the business as the preferred brand.

What that company overlooked, however, was the market inevitably changes. Competitors come and go, but sometimes, a real competitor who has a better idea – or when you yourself make a critical strategic error and leave your core competency behind and your customers now become your new and more formidable competitors – start slashing your market share slowly and consistently. Which is exactly what happened to this company.

Companies inevitably make the mistake of thinking they can make markets behave the way they want them to behave. Obviously, they never had children.

The hard constraint for 2026 (the “failure condition”)

In 2026, GTM strategy fails when your channels can’t make money or enhance their reputations while selling you.

This means distributors prioritize vendors who protect margin and simplify selling. It means reps prioritize lines that convert fast and don’t trigger service headaches, and that end-users prioritize speed + risk reduction, not brand loyalty. It translates into engineers prioritizing defensibility and clarity (submittals, specs, approvals).

And the truth is this: Everyone in your channel is optimizing their own survival. Your GTM strategy has to be based on this uncomfortable condition: adapt, change or disappear.

Many manufacturers, for example, claim “no callbacks” on their products, but the market is the one who decides on that premise – not the manufacturer. In decades of research, we have uncovered a dirty little secret: the market knows better than the manufacturer. So if you want a GTM strategy that is based on reality, talk to your customers – not to yourselves.

In one meeting we presented research that showed the client that parts for his product were unavailable, and that was why they were losing business.

“That’s just B.S.,” said the president of the company. “It’s wrong.”

“It’s what the research said,” we replied.

“Well the research is wrong.”

“We thought you would say that, so we went to your customers’ customer, the contractor. And that is what THEY told us.”

The client never believed us and continued the downward spiral of losing market share.

Decision framework

Here is a model that you can actually use in shaping GTM strategy that’s NOT a checklist.

Where is the buying decision actually made? (owner, engineer, GC, distributor counter, maintenance supervisor)

Many companies think they know where the actual buying decision is made, and who is making it. This belief evaporates when you do a reality check and quickly realize it’s always more than one person these days (or looks like more than one person).

For example, Should I Sell to a Group or an Individual? posted in 2020 argues aiming at a group may cause more harm than good and why you should question the latest thinking. No one is arguing that teams are organized in business to look at problem or that such teams participate in decision making or even that you have to address team members as you work through a sales process. But, only one person on any team will have the authority to eventually pull the trigger. As Lou Holt said, “There’s only one bus driver; all the rest are on the bus.”

Another example: do you think the engineer who specifies your product is the “decision maker?” Most manufacturers concentrate on the engineer, which in itself isn’t a horrible GTM strategy. But, the engineer works for someone else – either the client directly, or the architect. Some are even within the architectural firm as well. In either case, everyone works for the owner. But owners are busy people, and most GTM strategies bypass the owner because they are busy. And very difficult to reach.

That’s a mistake. But your GTM strategy doesn’t have to aim directly at the owner: it can aim at the advisor to the owner: his own maintenance person! Owners trust their “maintenance” people who will give them the feedback they need on product performance. In many cases, it’s actually the maintenance people who make the decision FOR the owner – both targets which manufacturers often miss.

Who does your GTM strategy aim at?

What are they(your true target audience) buying? (product / outcome / compliance / speed / risk reduction)

Manufacturers believe that their customers buy their products. That’s actually a mis-calculation when doing a GTM strategy. It’s not the features, functions but the BENEFIT that they purchase. Nor is it the architects, who never buy anything! It’s the old follow the money strategy, which inevitably leads to the Owner!

For example, a security light. You can have all the bells and whistles in a security light’s specifications, but what is being sold and purchased is actually security itself, not the lighting product.

Or consider electronic faucets. Many manufacturers of these products believe they are the next best thing and have been saying that for over 20 years. Yet today, manual faucets currently hold a dominant market share of over 75% globally and over 67% in the U.S. in 2024 according to market reports. Why is that?

Despite the rapidly growing, portion of the market, driven by increasing consumer demand for hygiene and convenience features, electronics are a long way off from being the dominant technology. So what are your customers buying from you? Are you force feeding them what you have, or giving them what they want?

What must be true for you to win? (spec-in, lowest risk, easiest install, strongest warranty, best availability)

GTM strategies trying to answer this question have to draw from a number of different sources. For example, in study after study for manufacturers, we see repeatedly the word “availability” come up. In other words, if the product is simply available, you win. This seems obvious and too simplistic, and yet, in these studies, why would distributors who sell manufacturers products repeatedly claim that this is the single weakest area for a manufacturer getting the “win?” What’s the saying in sales: being there is half the battle?

Another overlooked area in this question is getting bounced off a specification where your product has been specified as “basis of design.” Manufacturers drive continually for being “basis of design,” and then when they are not, many give up.

However, you will find in research that again repeatedly, it’s the representative who will not take “no” for an answer that can topple a specification. One of the greatest books ever written is “the Sale Beings when the Customers Says No.”

At a meeting with a designer recently the owner’s rep came in and changed the specification from the designer’s basis of design on the spot. The designer stood there helpless as this happened. The owner had been contacted by our manufacturer-client representative for a meeting two days prior to “explain the situation.”

Winning is a moving target in GTM, and the strategy that overlooks such movements loses – repeatedly. Sometimes without even being aware they lost (i.e., your website is helping people evaluate you when you don’t know it – unless you use IP reverse lookup technology).

Which channel can deliver truth consistently? (if nobody can — your GTM will be structurally broken)

This question begs another question: what is a channel? Traditional channels – distributors, sales representatives, architects, engineers, interior designers, etc. – are all roads leading to the same Rome: the owner. Who has the owner’s ear? Why? How do you get the owner’s attention?

In the security industry, for example, we were involved with setting appointments for the company’s sales representatives (internal, not external) because the difficulty in getting appointments in a specific target area: data centers. After research, we embarked on setting appointments with the owner’s representatives. We lost the contract with our client because the sales people “revolted” that our success was encroaching on their territory after we were able to penetrate this difficult market..

In another instance, we were talking to the top outside sales representative for a manufacturer who claimed he knew every one of his architect customers within his territory. That is impossible. We produced three architectural offices within a few miles of his office with whom he had no relationship; he didn’t know they existed. They were specifying the company’s competitor on a regular basis.

Truth is an interesting word. Who would figure people tell you what you want to hear rather than the truth? But without the “truth,” you will be navigating your GTM strategy in the wrong direction. And you know in navigation, even a degree off will throw you off eventually significantly.

What will you enforce? (MAP pricing, rep territory rules, lead rules, service rules, training rules)

Anyone can make rules, but enforcement is really the key to a GTM strategy. Today, for example, it is really easy to patrol the internet for enforcement of MAP pricing. Technology tools exist to help your enforcement issues.

One valve manufacturer, for example, called in his top sales representative for a meeting. Putting his hand on his shoulder, he said, “Ben, you’ve enriched this company for many years.” And then he fired him. The representative had begun selling the competitor’s product, which according to the valve manufacturer’s rules, was prohibited.

In another instance, the manufacturer looked the other way when this happened. And so it happened repeatedly, and before long, a quarter of his sales force was selling the competitive product. And once that happens, it is virtually impossible to know what’s really going on behind the sales doors.

In one situation, the company produced an 800 page catalog (before pdfs came into vogue). This was not only a costly venture; it was one of the way the company stayed ahead of the competition by putting this catalog into the hands of distributors.

When it came time to update it, only one-third of the catalog needed to be replaced (the pages were in a huge binder). Our strategy was to just print those pages and have the sales representative deliver them to the distributor, making it a chance to make a sales call productive. The sales representative council put so much pressure on the sales manager – with the excuses of no one would do it, it’s a waste of time, we need the whole catalog reprinted – that the manufacturer gave in and printed an entire new binder. And even though we had “registered” the binders, many of the representatives had us “ship” the catalogs to the customers, thereby wasting the opportunity to have a face-to-face.

GTM Strategy is enforcement, not intention.

Numbers & thresholds (not generic KPIs — real ones)

Most manufacturers either don’t know their thresholds or avoid stating them. How many manufacturers do you think really know the following for the GTM strategy development? But you should! Take your time to determine these, as they play key roles in shaping the GTM strategy you follow.

Minimum gross margin per channel (floor). Some channels like architects who don’t sell anything are difficult to calculate. One method is a point system you assign to the number of specifications that contain your product as basis of design. Starting as the basis is always easier for the sales downstream. Connecting that architect to your sales territory where he is operating will also reveal ideas for you on how much emphasis you need to place on calling on that architect and the distributors around him. Some manufacturers even open the door and bring in the distributor on an architect sales call!

Minimum distributor stock turn expectation This is always a puzzle and solved by trial and error. Sometimes a tiered system works the best – bronze at one purchased level, silver at the next and gold at the highest level of products purchased. These agreements are almost always drawn up with the purchase commitment, but how many factor in the returns at the end of the period? Such an examination of your sales will bring realistic expectations.

Acceptable partner cost-to-serve This is often called “key customer accounts” and is used to separate the high valued customers from the pack. But what is a “partner?” We all know that some customers are just too expensive, but what are those limits? When does it pay to drop a customer rather than keep him? Making a product rather than obsoleting it? One manufacturer never stopped producing their products, the result being ongoing business that just got more and more expensive. Choices are all around you.

Minimum rep ROI (“what does a rep need to earn for us to stay ‘A-line’?”) This is one of the most interesting considerations. One client called and told me he had lost most of his sales representatives in one day. The reps had been given an ultimatum by the competitive manufacturer: you can’t serve both. Pick one. One of his reps was on the phone literally in tears; he and his father had served the manufacturer for years, “But I have to do with the larger commission.” My client was speechless. We developed a PR strategy as he hired new representatives, some of whom consider his products to be their new “A” line. We sent press release to all their customers introducing them, to the media outlets, and in a very short period of time it was not just business as usual: it was better business than before. Looking at rep ROI will reveal stagnant opportunities that can be pure gold.

CAC(Customer Acquisition Costs) Payback for direct vs partner-led This consideration requires you know how much it costs you to acquire a customer. Which means you need to also know how you search for customers and where they come from. Many manufacturers simply don’t have this information at their fingertips. But you have to start somewhere. We like RFM analysis to help. RFM is Recency, Frequency, Monetary analysis, where you examine your current customers from a Recency (who are the customers who purchased recently from you), Frequency (which customers buy repeatedly from you) and Monetary (which customers spend the most money with you). These metrics are very insightful! Because the customer who spends the most with you may not be the one who buys frequently from you. In fact, the least recent is probably your ”dead list” – a valuable asset because you can bring them to life by finding out why they don’t buy from you anymore! These metrics will lead to you uncover WHERE these customers came from.

Lead response time SLA (Service Level Agreement) (because speed is a GTM weapon) Marcus Luttrell, the Lone Survivor seal, wrote this: “The SEALs place a premium on brute strength, but there’s an even bigger premium on speed.” In marketing warfare, speed (timing) is extremely important and often the deciding factor in successful strategies. This is especially true these days when information travels instantly over social channels. Generating new business leads costs a lot of money; letting those leads sit for ANY period of time can cost a company not just business, but big business.

Channel conflict tolerance (how many % of deals can overlap before you implode) Examining a company’s capacity to withstand disagreements, competition, or friction between different sales or distribution channels (like direct sales vs. retailers, or online vs. physical stores) without letting it escalate into major disruptions is important to GTM strategy. Because there will be conflicts. Reps will argue about “who owns that customer” based on territory…distributors will revolt if they “hear” of business going to another distributor…there are all manner of conflicts that occur day over day. In one instance where we became a distributor for one of our clients during the 90s downturn we called on a showroom. The showroom wanted the product (an Italian faucet) that my rep was selling. Our agreement with the manufacturer was when that happens, they would sell them direct. “But they won’t sell me that faucet,” the showroom manager said. I said, “OK. Then we will.” By the time I got back to the office, the phone was ringing and the manufacturer angrily asked me what I was doing. “You won’t sell him the product, so I did.” “You can’t do that,” I was told. When I asked why, it was because the manufacturer was selling to another distributor in that territory. We lost the sale (the manufacturer enforced his rule). So you need to know how you will handle these conflicts in these channels because they WILL happen.

If you can’t name your thresholds, you don’t have a strategy — you have hope. Hope springs eternal, until it doesn’t.