How To Create a Killer Go-To-Market (GTM) Strategy | Dose 009

Welcome to the Dramit Dose. In the next five minutes, let's talk about how easy it is for us to pull the rug out from most early-stage startups. We just need to ask them one question.

What's your go to market strategy? Nearly every single time, they'll get the answer wrong. It's really easy to fix.

Let's dive in. So most startups have no idea what a great go to market strategy looks like. We ask them the question what their go to market strategy is, and they do a total unintended face plant on the issue.

They start saying stuff like, we're going to do direct sales or we're going to do a channel partner strategy. And we say, no no no we're looking for your go to market strategy. And even more importantly, who your early target customers that you're going after?

They'll say things like, well we're going for early adopters. That is a totally unacceptable answer. We need to hear clear targeting criteria of who is going to be buying your product early, and who's going to get the greatest value.

What are some of those criteria and characteristics that you're looking for? It's things like the customer size fits what you're doing. The pricing model fits that particular customer.

More importantly, the pain points are solved in a great and efficient way by that product. Because this is all about getting revenue and traction as early as possible with great customers that fit your value proposition, your business model, and other characteristics. So I like to think about a go to market strategy a lot like fishing.

And I love fishing. And you know what, I like to catch fish and I like to fish where the fish are So think about it like this. When you're going out fishing.

Are you going big tuna fishing that's 100 miles offshore or are you going close into the bay? If we're going tuna fishing, I might have to go 100 miles offshore, and the tuna are very far in between. I'm going to gas up my boat for about 18 months.

Or, do you want to go in the back bay? The fish are right there, you could practically throw a line in from the dock on the shore. I don't need a lot of gas in my boat.

You know what. It's not as fancy as tuna fishing but you know what at the end of the day you're eating fish. You're eating to survive and build to another day.

So let me give you a health analogy. At Dramit we work on a lot of healthtech companies. And a lot of times we meet with healthtech companies and all they want to do is go big game fishing.

They only want to talk to the big prestigious academic medical centers where typically that sales cycle is going to be 12 to 18 months long. Every startup's pounding on their door. It's almost an overfished logo.

Everybody wants that trophy in their deck. So maybe you think about mixing that up and fishing in the back bay. Maybe in the back bay the easier fish to catch is something like Oklahoma Regional Medical Center in Oklahoma City.

I don't even know if it exists, but imagine it's a 400 bed hospital. Your value proposition aligns exceptionally well. It's easier to get in the door because they're not an overfished logo.

They have the same problems. They are budgeted. You could get in there and you could close the deal more quickly.

Oh by the way, when you show that logo in your deck and an investor looks at it and they say, Oklahoma Regional Medical Center, I've never heard of them. Yeah that's part of our strategy. We like to fish where the fish are and where other people aren't fishing.

See, you might not recognize any of the logos on our deck but we're driving incredible revenue because part of our strategy is to fish where the fish are biting and they're easier to get in the boat. I know I'm going quickly. Please leave your questions in the comments section and make sure to subscribe.

We have a lot more coming. So the big question is, what's your fish finder? What's your litmus test that's going to work exceptionally well as part of your go to market strategy and your early target customer criteria?

And I think about it like a litmus test. Remember blue turns red in acid? I know it's a great early customer if it has these characteristics.

So let me give you an example in securetech. For instance, you have a securetech solution that's targeting banks. But you're not targeting all banks, you're not targeting huge banks, you're just going after regional banks.

Why? Because your product's value proposition fits exceptionally well. The pricing is going to work.

But more importantly, they're smaller teams, less people, easier to close it and add value as part of the transaction. Not only is it easier to close it, but with that regional bank you know what they have a smaller team. You become a force multiplier because you're automation delivers more value because they have less people to work on that problem.

So it could be big issues like that. It might be a criteria that's as simple as geographic. You want to be closer to your early customers.

So when you think about your litmus test, when you think about your fish finder, you're looking for markets, segments, and customers where you can push sand down a hill. We see so many startups that are not focused on the right type of customers. They're totally unfocused and they wind up spending 12 to 18 months pushing sand up a hill.

They're going the wrong direction. They get into trials and customer sales cycles that are 12 to 18 months. And you know what?

Their boat runs out of gas. They can't close those big fish and they die trying. And it's all because their initial early go to market strategy, all of that early targeting criteria, hasn't been thought through and they fail.

That's it. That's how you figure out your go to market strategy and early targeting criteria. I want you to think like you're going fishing.

What type of fish are you going after? And most importantly, why? What are the top characteristics for the customers you're looking for?

Generally that's going to bring shorter sales cycles, faster adoption, and stronger growth. You want to pull your boat up to where the fish are practically jumping in. That's your Dramit Dose in five minutes.

Please leave your questions in the comments section, and we'll see you next time. And let me know if you want to go fishing.