Go-to-Market Economic Impact Study
Second Edition: Summer 2023
Key Topics
Generative AI: A Tectonic Shift for GTM
Layoffs and Cutbacks Continue
Economic Impact on GTM Performance
Efficient Growth Trends
GTM Buyer Trends
7 Recommendations to Navigate GTM Growth
Generative AI: A Tectonic Shift for GTM
AI Has Been Decades in the Making
But it’s been trapped in backend logic and system improvements
ChatGPT Ignites The Possibilities of Generative AI
Making the prior two decades of interest in AI look like it never happened
"With Generative AI at our fingertips, the possibilities are now realities."
Funding For Generative AI
McKinsey
Investment in AI Is Exploding
$1 Billion
Investment in AI capabilities
PWC
$3 billion
Investment in AI technolog
Accenture
$2.5 billion
Investment in AI technology
EY
Double AI Staff to 80,000
Mix of hiring, training, and acquisitions
Accenture
Problem Solving in the Age of Generative AI
Reduce LEARNING time
Read
Days 1990’s
Search
Hours
2000’s
Reduce LABOR time
Generate
Minutes
2023
Problem Formulation → The human skill that’s always needed
"AI won't take your job. It's somebody using AI that will take your job."
AI Will Create Value - Not Just Cost Savings & Job Elimination
15.7 trillion
Potential contribution to global economy in 2030 from AI
PwC
7 trillion
Generative AI could produce in annual GDP
McKinsey
Employee Productivity
Generative AI has potential to automate work activities that absorb 60-70% of time employees spend working.
PwC
Productivity by Department
Estimated increase in productivity by function
McKinsey
Employees will do more value creation work and less busy work.
GTM AI Use Cases: Examples that transform labor intensive tasks
- Sales email
- Marketing campaigns
- Positioning & Differentiation
- Buyers Content Experience
- Customer & Market Insights
- Financial Reporting
- Design, Decks, Images
- Charts
- Research & Trends
- Workflows & task work
- Organize, categorize, index
- Analyze data sets
- SEO
- UI / UX
- Code
- SQL
- Data append & cleanse
Path to Efficiency…
Future Leaders:
Be the best operators of AI
Generative AI is the R&D focal point for B2B GTM Tech providers
Vendors from nearly every category are adding Generative AI into use cases
Launching Mid August - Covers 225+ categories of software with significant AI integration
G2 enhancing Reviews to capture benefits of Generative AI within use cases
Text Generation
Text Summarization
Text-to-Image
Text-to-Speech
Image-to-Text
Text-to-Video
Text-to-3D
Text-to-Music
With generative AI, the user becomes the interface.
- Software will do what we ask through effortless prompt engineering
- GTM technology will evolve in ways never before imagined
- R&D of integrated AI is happening faster than previously possible
Layoffs and Cutbacks Continue
H1 2023 Layoffs Continued as Companies Cut Deep
But it’s been trapped in backend logic and system improvements
Layoffs Nearly Double in H1 2023 - Big U.S. Technology Companies
The majority of ~335K laid-off employees in H1 of ’23 are from big companies
Layoffs up 81% since
H2 ’22
Smaller companies are much more sensitive to market volatility and had layoffs in H1 of ’22
Usually starts with business roles followed by technology roles for companies that had multiple waves of layoffs
The Impact on Business Performance
Watch the video of Lindsay Cordell and Bryan Brown discussing the impact of the economy on GTM Business Performance
How are economic conditions impacting your business?
We surveyed over 500 companies – breakdowns on next page – how do you compare?
Pipeline Performance
Compared to 6 months ago, we are still seeing almost 50% of companies are hitting their pipeline targets, while the other half continue to miss their goals.
Key Takeaways:
- Despite many companies having adjusted their pipeline goals down since fall of last year, we are continuing to see a 50% miss in pipeline creation.
- Companies who made cuts to marketing budgets need to adjust their expectations accordingly to avoid issues in revenue predictability.
- As always pipeline is the canary in a coal mine for revenue growth, signaling that recovery remains slow for more than half of businesses.
Sales Velocity Performance
Has your sales velocity been impacted?
Compared to 6 months ago, we are still seeing a worsening of challenges related to sales velocity.
Key Takeaways:
- Previous data on sales cycles has essentially been corrupted by the economic conditions. Historical sales cycle lengths from 12 months ago are no longer usable for planning purposes.
- Resetting to the new sales cycle length as well as reviewing ICP details for your most current cohort of sales is needed to understand where your buyers are.
- Segmenting your sales pipeline to find more expedient segments and leaning in on the right buyers to meet your goals is even more critical than it has ever been.
Revenue Attainment
Are you on track for your revenue goals in 2023?
Compared to 6 months ago, we are still seeing a stabilization of revenue attainment goals.
- Small Businesses report significant improvements in their ability to meet their expectations.
- Mid-market has also improved slightly in meeting expectations, but also gave back points on over performing.
- Enterprise is starting to feel more attainment challenges compared to 6 months ago.
Key Takeaways:
Assuming revenue attainment goals were reset for 2023, most organizations are still experiencing a larger than desirable gap in hitting their attainment which will likely continue to impact their spending in 2023. They will be finding ways of making up for losses in cost cutting and efficiency gains.
Efficient Growth Trends
Watch the video of Jeff Marcoux (Bombora) and Bryan Brown (GTM Partners) discussing the impact of the economy on GTM Business Performance
All businesses regardless of size are even more tempered on growth than 6 months ago
Small businesses are still feeling vulnerable to Downturn although slightly lower than our Winter ‘22 report
Enterprise businesses have pulled back hard on last years Growth bullishness.
Fortune 500 seemed resistant to Downturn a year ago are now very tempered in Growth expectations
Settling in to our new economic normal
In 2021-22 companies were very concerned with economic outlook but thought they could grow through it. In 2023 fear is coming down but even more so are expectations on growth as companies settle into a new economic normal.
No longer shocked by the downturn - Settling in to slower growth
Look how business mindset has shifted as we compare over time
Economic Downturn
Economic Growth
In quest for financial stability Small and Mid Market businesses get laser focused on selling & serving their Ideal Customers – Larger businesses were already there
Research in identifying a Total Relevant Market
Trends in Key GTM Pillars
Investment mentality shifts between November 2022 and July 2023. Prior cutbacks on brand and demand were enough – maybe a little too much for SMB’s. Focus on growth through customers continues to increase – with Small businesses doing so aggressively
Brand & Demand
Customer Expansion
GTM Buyer Trends
The ROI
Create but can’t Market
Market but can’t Sell
Sell but can’t Deliver
Deliver but can’t Renew
Renew but can’t Expand
Challenge
60% of companies polled struggle to articulate and prove ROI.
Poor Win-Rates
Stalled Pipeline
CFO’s Blocking Deals
Poor Customer Retention
Buyer Behavior has shifted dramatically
Investment mentality shifts between November 2022 and July 2023. Prior cutbacks on brand and demand were enough – maybe a little too much for SMB’s. Focus on growth through customers continues to increase – with Small businesses doing so aggressively
Top Buyer Considerations
1.Ease of implementation
2.ROI within 6 months
3.Scale with my team
4.User adoption
5.Support
6.Easily integrated
7.Features
8.Price & Security
Risk Reduction
Can we actually use this?
Is it worth doing?
Will it grow with us?
Experience
Does it do what we need?
Work with our tech stack?
Ensure our success?
47% of buyers expect to see ROI within 6 months
55% will increase spending in 2024
Focus on your best performing GTM motions is key to efficient growth
The 6 Go-to-Market Motions
7 recommendations to navigate growth
GTM RECOMMENDATIONS - 2023
01
A small river named Duden flows by their place and supplies it with the necessary regelialia. It is a paradise
Technology Partners Who Are Challenging The Status Quo And Driving Efficient Growth
The Go-to-Market Operating System
We often hear business leaders speak to the desired outcomes as though they are the plan: “We need 3X pipeline”, “Increase NRR by 3 points”, “30% increase in revenue”, etc. However, without a systematic way of confirming you have the correct processes and investment to achieve the goal, you might struggle to see risks that could prevent you from reaching it. How do you bridge the gap between your strategic planning process and your execution?
The GTM Operating System is an 8-pillar framework that we have developed to provide organizations with a blueprint to provide clarity and alignment in their strategic planning and execution process.
How The GTM Operating System Works
The GTM Operating System is made up of many interconnected parts that will allow your Go-to-Market team to stay aligned on a common goal, both as a GTM team and within specific disciplines such as Sales, Marketing, and Customer Success. It also allows the owner of GTM within your organization to validate your strategy and understand the capacity of the GTM team.
The GTM Operating System provides blueprints for how to run a successful plan to manage the execution of a successful GTM Motion(s) across the entire company. Each pillar builds on the next, allowing you to connect the dots between teams with significantly different roles. These 8 pillars are critical to ensuring that GTM is a company-wide holistic initiative and not just a marketing and sales initiative.
For example, without having the correct positioning and branding support, Sales will struggle to make their numbers, or if your customers can’t see value in your solution, having your revenue depend on expansion will become a challenge for your Account teams.
All our research is free!
About This Report
The cooling economy is having a material impact on business results. Go-to-Market teams are scrambling to recalibrate towards efficient growth. This research is written for B2B executives, go-to-market leaders and practitioners. It will help you identify key trends and strategies to navigate your growth in an economic downturn.
When the founders of GTM Partners started working with hundreds of companies on the concept of Go-to-Market(GTM), they came to the conclusion that there is a massive challenge facing B2B business leaders today. Though the issue can manifest in dozens of ways, it always boils down to a single concept: Go-To-Market is broken.
We know that to make a bold statement like that, we need data, research, and market validation to back it up. Through our Data Partnerships, the development of the best-selling book “Move: The 4-question Go-to-Market Framework,” and through the support of our founding members and Go-to-Market Technology Partners, we have validated that B2B leaders have a big problem to solve, and we believe that they shouldn’t have to solve it alone.
With proper attribution these slides can be used in board decks, company meetings, keynotes and presentations, and social media.
Have questions or need GTM help?
Please book an inquiry call at gtmpartners.com
About GTM Partners
GTM Partners, a data-driven Go-To-Market Analyst firm, helps organizations and GTM vendors achieve efficient growth by transforming their GTM strategy. We work with high-growth companies to help them unify their GTM teams and to provide them with lasting strategies and frameworks. GTM Partners with a mission to make Go-To-Market simple aims to be the voice of the industry for GTM.
We do this by offering:
Data and benchmarks collected from data providers, including G2 and Bombora, as well as our community of the world’s fastest-growing companies.
Research, best practices, and design frameworks to provide guidance on the best-in-class approaches to strategizing, executing, and tooling your Go-to-Market approach.
Personalized advice and support from experienced leaders and practitioners that help you address business challenges in a manner that is authentic and specific to you. Our consulting work focuses on areas such as Go-to-Market strategy, creating a Point of View, and Go-to-Market execution strategy across the 8 pillars of GTM.
Events and networking with industry leaders looking to define the category of Go-to-Market and revolutionize the way we create value for our organizations.
Bryan Brown
Chief Analyst
Bryan is a SaaS pioneer and thought leader in the marketing and sales tech industry. He has both created and brought to market innovative software products and ideas while helping thousands of companies in their effort to grow revenue more efficiently.
Lindsay Cordell
Senior GTM Analyst
Lindsay is a practitioner turned analyst who studies best practices and trends in Go-to-Market and develops actionable models and blueprints for our clients. She has held both practitioner and leadership roles in almost every aspect of GTM, including Product, Marketing, Sales, Customer Success, Revenue Operations, and Enablement.
Sangram Vajre
CEO & Industry Expert
Sangram is a three-time best-selling author and co-founder of several organizations, including Terminus, The Peak Community, and most recently, GTM Partners. Sangram has been at the forefront of B2B marketing trends, the Flip-my-Funnel movement, and defining the Account-Based Marketing category, ushering in a new generation of go-to-market leaders.
