How to Run Multiple GTM Motions in Parallel
Revenue Formula Podcast Conversation with Dave Boyce, Toni Hohlbein & Mikkel Plaehn
Most SaaS CEOs will confirm the frustration of running multiple GTM motions in parallel. Absent a robust framework for managing and measuring a multi-GTM business, it can sometimes feel like a war of opinions:
VP Enterprise: “Developing relationships with the largest companies in the world takes time, but that time is worthwhile—believe me, once we land XYZ customer, they will pay the bills for a long time.”
VP Mid Market: “It’s all about velocity. If my team can qualify in or qualify out quickly, we will convert pipeline. Deals may be smaller, but they will add up.”
Chief Customer Officer: “Please don’t bring me any more deals with small customers—they require just as much time and effort, but they retain worse.”
VP Growth: “Self-service customers cost us nothing. They onboard themselves, guide themselves to success, and monetize on their own. Free leads to paid, and some paid customers can become large over time.”
FP&A: “I don’t care which GTM we use, as long as it hits my hurdle of a one-year CAC Payback.”
What is working, and what is not? Why did we add that 2nd GTM motion? Should we continue, or shut it down? How long before we begin to see the benefits? What about adding another GTM now? Would it be the right time to add a sales-led motion to our product-led motion? Or to add a product-led motion to our sales-led motion?
Multi-GTM Theory
There is a simple and clear way to think about multi-GTM management for a single product. The basic theory is this: Optimize GTMs one at a time.
The metric for measuring GTM Fit is unit economics. My favorite unit economics measurement is CAC Payback. If I can get a GTM motion to reliably deliver CAC Payback that hits my threshold (<12 months is a good rule of thumb), I may have GTM Fit. If “reliably” means the GTM process looks the same every time, and the outputs are consistent, given the inputs, I’ve done it. How long does it take to tune a GTM to get to that point? 1-3 years, depending on the specific GTM.
Once I have one GTM defined, tested, and optimized, I can think about adding a 2nd. Typically I don’t want to rush this—otherwise I’ll be adding chaos on top of chaos. A rule of thumb here is $10M in ARR. If I can get a single GTM to carry me to at least $10M in ARR (maybe more), and if I feel good about the stability of that GTM, such that if I turn my attention to the next GTM, the first one won’t fall apart… if all that is true, then maybe I can start working on a 2nd GTM.
The Revenue Formula Podcast
Toni Hohlbein and Mikkel Plaen are executives at Growblocks in Denmark, and they host a Podcast called, “The Revenue Formula.” I recently guested on their podcast, where we discussed the issues related to running a multi-GTM motion: when, how, why, whether…
We use stories from our own companies and companies we’ve consulted with to illustrate the patterns of success and the pitfalls and common mistakes.
The full episode can be found here:
I hope you enjoy the episode, and I hope you will consider subscribing to The Revenue Formula!
XOXO,
-db