How to build a Go-To-Market strategy that sells
with a 20 points check list from Target to CRM management
Dear Fellow Innovator,
Connecting the dots among the many decisions one must make to define how to sell his/her stuff, it’s not an easy task.
Today I want to introduce you a different approach, that has demonstrated to work well with Business Owners and CEO that likes to think by “goals”.
Instead to go down and build upon the usual marketing and sales methodologies starting explaining each one ( you know: Business Model Canvas, MVP, Digital Marketing, Branding, Positioning… just for the basic ones I can easely list 200+ concepts ), I want to propose the 20 components of a:
“Minimum Go-To-Market check-list”
here they are:
- Target
a clear target Segment of Clients - Budget
no budget — no party - Category
your go to market shall address a clear Problem Category - Demand Estimate
an estimate of all the times a client can be in the market for a solution - Challenge / Contradiction
a surprising re-framing of Clients beliefs - USP - MVP
a Unique Selling Proposition and/or a Minimum Viable Proposition - Brand
a communication capable to shelter your share on the market and beat competition inside customer’s head - Point of Contact
a Peer, a Market Place, a physical bridge to the Client - Decision Maker
Name, Surname, Passions and Personal Goals - Story
a Trouble story, a Growth story, your Story, your Offer story, your Leadership story - Price
a non-negotiable price - Comparison
a sightseeing on the unbearable Present and the brighter Future - Call to Action
expiring soon - Delivery Engine
a credible and convenient one - Cash Collection
a process to get paid - KPIs
a measure of your Go to Market performance - Risk Tool
trip wires and alarms to anticipate changes - Won / Lost
a way to understand competition - Mail List
or a full fledged CRM - Go To Market Document
to leave to your team while you are in vacation

We can build beautiful marketing campaigns, wonderful logos; hire the best sales manager or buy the greatest software, but on my experience if we are not able to tell what is each of these components, our selling process is flawed.
We could send the sales team on the wrong target, with the wrong communication tools, leave price points on the table and make our life miserable because our team has no guideline to tackle the market while we are in vacation.
Now that we have a clear list of what is needed, we can better navigate the massive amount of tools and best-practices that marketing provides us to build each of these 20 components of the check-list.
For example:
Identifying the Point of Contact of the B2B Sales Funnel:
if you wonder how to design a B2B sales funnel for your solution, you can use these template where you will find the Point of Contact with the right Decision Maker:

You will also discover that the decision maker changes depending if you are selling:
- an innovation that can change Client’s business model
- a service that can change Client’s operations
- a product that can change the performances of the Client’s solution
and therefore the entry point ( or Point of Contact as defined by the Go-To-Market check-list) varies accordingly.
a further example can be:
Defining the Brand and it’s Positioning in the Customer’s Head:
A guiding tool to identify the correct positioning and then come-up with a Brand name that means something, we can use this “Positioning Matrix”:

At the end, all markets resolves around 4 positions:
- The Standard (that has invented the market)
- The Rebel ( that hates the Standard’s way to do things )
- The Specialist ( one or more, who make things for the high-end of the market)
- The Disruptor ( that is coming with new way to satisfy the market need)
The Positioning Matrix helps you identify the positioning of the key players in your market niche, and so helping you choose your positioning among the possible unused ones or the ones used ,but you are daring to fight for.
And so on.
Now that you have all the pieces lay-down on the table, choosing the right market model, tool or process is just a matter of goodwill.
I hope you like this way to tackle the problem of building a Go-To-Market that sells and I am sure you may find ways to improve this check-list, adding pieces and ideas.
My goal was to keep it at the bare minimum, so that any Business Owner, CEO or Startupper can quickly go through it and see if they have a clear answer for each point.
And of course if you find some point missed, I will be happy to help.
Flavio
more examples on Business Exploration®
