Simplifying Go-to-Market: Internal and External Factors

Internal and External factors take into account your ability to understand the market problems facing your customers and your company's unique ability to address those challenges. Below, we give a brief overview of six components of go-to-market that make up this category.

Market Problems

Typically not foreseen or expected, very disruptive in nature, impact limited markets or industries, and most often create temporary or short-lived market conditions. Some market problems can be somewhat subtle or less obvious and therefore require a business to be very dialed into the markets they serve. Information is typically gathered by interviewing customers, recent evaluators, and untapped, potential customers to validate urgent problems and show their pervasiveness in the market. Insight should be leveraged in portfolio planning, revenue programs, and enablement.

Market Drivers  

Market drivers are change influencers that significantly impact the needs and requirements of your target customers or the way those customers approach and buy solutions. Information is typically gathered through market research and analysis. Insight should be leveraged in portfolio planning, revenue programs, and enablement.

Competitive Landscape

Identification of competitive and alternative offerings in the market, the assessment of their strengths and weaknesses, and the development of a strategy for winning against the competition. The landscape should include the competitive strategy, portfolio, product, and feature differentiation. Information is typically gathered through market research. Insight should be leveraged in company focus, portfolio planning, revenue programs, and enablement.

Win/Loss Analysis

The effort to understand why recent evaluators of the product did or did not buy and what steps they took in the buying process. Information is typically gathered through internal interviews, CRM data analysis as well as in-depth interviews with recent evaluators. Insight should be leveraged in company focus, portfolio planning, revenue programs, and enablement.

Distinctive Competencies

Attributes where your organization delivers value and proof that the identified attributes are indeed valued and different in the market. Information is typically gathered through internal and external interviews. Insight should be leveraged in portfolio planning, revenue programs, and enablement.

Inventory of Internal Assets

The inventory of your assets (technical, skills, services, patents, etc.) and determination of ways they can be leveraged. Information is typically gathered internally. Insight should be leveraged in company focus, portfolio planning, and enablement.