Growth Risks for 2024: Getting Your Talent Right

2024 has all the signs of a prosperous year for CEOs: 52% of surveyed leaders report accelerating demand into the start of the year, with many more prioritizing growth as a core element of their value-creation strategy. However, meeting these goals will require more than just a robust plan; CEOs need a go-to-market (GTM) team that can execute it effectively.

In the first part of our new Growth Risks for 2024 blog series, we explore the potential GTM talent roadblocks CEOs and other C-level executives might encounter and the growth imperatives that can help them stay on track toward success in 2024.

Talent Shortfalls Undermine Strategic Plans

While CEOs believe that strategy and talent are equally crucial to their success, only half of all respondents are confident that their GTM teams have the right people, skills, and time allocation to excel. This gap between the GTM team’s importance and their current execution ability creates new concerns for CEOs, undermining the company’s strategic plans and hindering momentum toward achieving growth targets.

For CEOs facing this reality, the solution also seems equally challenging to navigate. GTM teams are constantly evolving in capabilities and needs, making the root cause difficult to pin down. Furthermore, changes and remediation can take months or even quarters to show tangible results, slowing down improvements and creating more unknowns for CEOs to grapple with.

SBI’s Recommendation: Identify and Duplicate Top Performers

The first step in addressing talent gaps is identifying the metrics that distinguish high performance in your organization today. Start by performing a Talent and Time Spend Assessment on GTM teams to pinpoint where GTM skills fall short, what roles and capabilities are mismatched, and how leaders can address inefficiencies that are holding the team from achieving success.

Armed with these key insights, leaders will be able to make the right moves, including reskilling, retooling, or, if necessary, replacing the existing GTM team to fit the company’s current needs.

More People, More Challenges, Less Value

As product offerings get more complex, commercial teams also increase in size. However, based on our research, it is unclear if larger teams are necessarily providing more value. In many cases, their size often gets in the way of success, from overwhelming buyers with the number of representatives involved to increasingly frustrating exchanges where the buyer had to repeat their concerns to the same supplier.

While large teams are sometimes necessary, disconnected commercial teams are hurting the customer experience and slowing the company’s ability to react to changes. In an environment where buyers’ concerns are also in flux, organizations must be proactive with their solutions, preempting changes in the buyer’s situation and addressing them with strategic GTM motions. Otherwise, organizations risk alienating potential customers who find the effort of engaging with them too cumbersome.

SBI’s Recommendation: Streamline GTM motions, not just headcount

The process of streamlining must go beyond thinning the headcount, instead focus on minimizing friction across the buyer’s journey. Start by aligning customer-facing reps around a unified commercial approach, ensuring that every customer touchpoint seamlessly moves buyers in the same direction with a consistent approach.

Operations and Revenue Technology leaders play a crucial role in ensuring that this transformation is executed well. By centralizing data and reporting systems across commercial functions and crafting a well-aligned RACI chart, they ensure that every member of the GTM team is well-equipped to engage the buyer at the optimal point in the buying journey.

Did you find our insights helpful in overcoming roadblocks in your value creation plan? Follow our blog for more in-depth analyses of 2024's trends and pitfalls.