Report: Commercial Success in 2025 Hinges on GTM Strategy

Moving into the latter half of 2024, growth leaders should consider starting the annual planning process for 2025 today. For organizations to make the right move, they need to understand how their go-to-market (GTM) plan will influence their value-creation capabilities. In this blog post, we take a closer look at the findings of our recent CEO survey to uncover insights to help you achieve commercial success in 2025.

Companies have seen a continued rise in sales and marketing expenses since 2020. Yet, the growth gained from these incremental cost decreases has declined, resulting in poorer ROI overall. With every dollar yielding lesser returns, most CEOs reported that optimizing their GTM model remains the highest priority if their value creation plan were to succeed.

However, our findings have also highlighted a stark decline in confidence when it comes to execution. Despite its importance, fewer growth leaders are confident that their organizations would be able to improve their sales and marketing productivity by effectively optimizing the GTM model, with confidence levels hitting new lows since our last survey in Q1 2023.

Unsurprisingly, this skepticism also means that fewer growth executives are prioritizing investments in areas such as improving coverage plans, territory redesigns, and account retargeting. Nonetheless, for CEOs and growth executives to build the foundations for success in 2025, they need to get their GTM strategy right and ensure that their limited resources are being well-utilized to drive growth.

Based on our findings, the road ahead can still reveal opportunities for success despite the challenges of the GTM model. Out of 102 CEOs we asked, 74 percent of them are reporting higher than expected revenue generated so far in 2024. The key to their success is getting the GTM strategy right and ensuring their execution is aligned.

To help you navigate the challenges ahead and achieve growth success in the months to come, SBI has three actionable insights for your organization:

1. Narrow focus to the strongest fit and highest propensity-to-buy accounts

Leadership teams tend to oversize territories to ensure all accounts are covered. As a result, valuable resources are being spent on low-quality opportunities that yield little outcomes. Instead, focus on establishing more targeted coverage models with territories that are tightly aligned to high-value accounts.

2. Identify and prioritize strategic bets

When faced with elusive growth rates, CEOs often push harder on leadership changes or compensation adjustments while easing off bigger bets that will drive the growth plan. Focus on the smaller aspects of the GTM model, such as the commercial structure and routes-to-market, and drive alignment on the highest-potential bets to pursue.

3. Drive commitment to the plan

The best-performing organizations today are the ones who have a solid strategy. Dedicate specialists and firm governance to build conviction for seeing through GTM model refinements across the organization. Ensure that all key functions are aligned on the next step, and you can drive both short-term efficiency gains and long-term growth.

The findings and research methodology used in the CEO Value Creation Pulse, Summer 2024 has more insights that can help you drive higher commercial productivity and improve your GTM model for the road ahead. Download our latest report now, and get started on achieving greater heights of commercial success in 2025.