The Product and GTM Flywheel

If you’re new to this newsletter then welcome! Thank you to the 1,700+ revenue operations professionals who continue to subscribe to this newsletter. You’re the reason I continue to write each and every week on a Go To Market related topic. When I have a template to share paid subscribers will get access.

Before jumping into the newsletter, let’s hear from our sponsors that keep most of this newsletter free to readers.

Still running deals on feels? Forecasts on feels? Revenue on feels?!?!?! When does a lot of guessing become too much? Answer any revenue question, know what’s happening, what's going to happen, and why, and do it with an irrefutable point of view. Book an Intro Call with BoostUp

It’s the night before the board meeting. The questions are flying at you left and right. How do you make sure everyone has the data they need? Enter SetSail AI – a direct line to your sales data. Ask any question about deals, teams, accounts, and opportunities. Get answers instantly.

RevOps aren’t system admins. Growblocks is building the 1st RevOps platform, giving you full funnel analytics, continuous monitoring and revenue planning tools - so you can become strategic. Check it out here.

With the Annual Planning season upon us I think it’s time to talk about the flywheel. Normally with Revenue Operations we talk about the GTM (go-to-market) Flywheel. This is where:

• Marketing generates awareness

• Sales captures demand

• Customer Success delivers a great customer experience

• Customer repeats the purchase, buys more, and/or tells others

That’s the GTM Flywheel.

But what about the Product to GTM Flywheel?

If we’re purely focused on CX Operations we might think that the Voice of Customer (VoC) process is the end-all-be-all. We’re listening to the prospects and customers in the market and we’re funneling all of that feedback via an intake process to the Product team. Product then analyzes how much of a lift it is to build certain products or features. Combined with Revenue Operations and FP&A to deliver what the potential revenue could be.

Now that you have topline AND the cost to build/deliver said product; you have a reasonable return on investment.

That's enough right?

Easier said than done

Not so fast. Many Revenue Operations teams are so focused on systems infrastructure they can barely lift their heads up to focus on running the rhythm of the business. At this stage of the company’s life, the RevOps team is a strongly functionally aligned business systems team.

The next evolution of RevOps is for it to become the Chief Operating Officer (COO) to the Chief Revenue Officer. Here, you’re less concerned about tools. In fact, the tooling may not even be within the RevOps team’s remit. Running the rhythms of the business helps keep the trains running on time.

Once you get past that point it’s time to start operating at a VP or SVP level. GTM is still your primary stakeholder. However, that can be quite insularly focused. Yes, there may be some external deliverables such as:

• Ideal Customer Profile and Persona - delivering this requires actually talking to prospects and customers

• TAM / SAM / SOM (total addressable market) - delivering this requires industry research

As a senior leader within the company establishing highly functioning partnerships across key business functions such as product and engineering can set serious distance between you and your competitors.

Companies that have high levels of tension between GTM functions can quickly lose market share. For example if marketing and sales pick petty fights over who receives credit for pipeline generation.

Assuming that’s not the case, then the next layer of potential conflict between GTM and Product hopefully are resolved as well. For example, if marketing is presents the value proposition differently than how product wishes. Or for example if sales continues to sell products and services that do not yet exist. An overinflation of expectations created within the customer’s mind.

So where to start?

The flywheel must move in two directions. In the first direction, establishing an intake process to share what sales and CS have learned in customer discussions with the product team in the form of a VoC process. In the second direction, the product team has a crystal clear roadmap with sufficient buffer and forecastable capacity to make room for roadmap changes. Not only is this roadmap transparent for everyone to see, it’s also shared to and actioned on by the GTM team.

Let’s dive into the VOC process first.

Voice of Customer (VoC)

A Voice of Customer (VoC) process is a systematic approach used by businesses to gather, analyze, and understand the feedback and preferences of their customers. It involves collecting data directly from customers through surveys, interviews, feedback forms, and social media to gain insights into their needs, expectations, and opinions. This information is then used to make informed decisions, improve products or services, enhance the customer experience, and drive business growth. VoC processes are valuable for staying customer-centric and competitive in today's market.

By creating a strong Voice of the Customer (also called Voice of Customer) program, you can find out:

• Why your customers need you

• What you can do to help your customers

• What your customers are looking for

• What their interests and behavioral patterns are

Class VOC Techniques include:

• Customer Interviews

• Online Customer Surveys

• Live Chat

• Social Media

• Website Behavior

• Recorded Call Data

• Online Customer Reviews

• In-Person Surveys

• Net Promoter Score®

• Focus Groups

• Emails

• Dedicated Feedback Form

Building out the appropriate operating cadence could look something like this.

Frequency: Quarterly

Attendees: VP Product and above (include key lieutenants), GTM leads (CX, Marketing, Sales), RevOps, Revenue Enablement

Data Pack: Revenue Operations brings in key points including: 1/ Loss Review data with Loss Reasons due to Product Feature, 2/ recorded call summaries from your revenue intelligence tool, 3/ NPS scores with open text inputs summarized

Next up let’s talk about the GTM Launch Framework or what I like to call the T Minus X (T-X) plan.

The T Minus X Plan (aka Workback Plan)

I like to think of the NASA countdown when the Apollo astronauts were about to launch.

T Minus 10…

9…

8…

7…

6…

5…

4…

3…

2…

1…

LIFTOFF!

Why don’t we do the same with our Product Team? If you ask the Product Team for the framework they might give you something like this image below.

Source: ProductPlan

Knowing that driving market awareness (aka marketing activities) 3 to 6 months from now, it begs the question:

What happens between NOW and THEN?

That’s the T Minus X Plan. All of the various little activities that need to be created in order to appropriately execute the GTM Playbook.

Waiting until the new product or feature is released to start creating the marketing, sales, and CX assets is wasted time. I say… BUILD IN PARALLEL.

• At what point can a new Product or Feature realistically kickstart GTM activities?

• Are there tiers for the product updates?

• Depending on the tier what activities must take place?

Using this technique will allow you to continuously deliver on your product roadmap. It involves starting with the desired end date or goal and then working backward to determine the necessary tasks, milestones, and deadlines required to reach that goal. This approach is particularly useful when there is a fixed deadline or a specific event that must be completed on time.

Here are the basic steps involved in creating the plan:

1. Identify the End Goal: Clearly define the final objective or outcome you want to achieve. This could be completing a project, launching a product, hosting an event, or any other task with a specific deadline.

2. Determine the End Date: Establish the deadline or target date by which you need to achieve the goal. This date is typically non-negotiable. Match this to the Product team’s release schedule.

3. List Milestones: Break down the project into major milestones or key checkpoints that need to be reached along the way. These milestones should mark significant progress toward the end goal. The paid template below will show a sample of milestones.

4. Identify Tasks: For each milestone, identify the specific tasks or activities that need to be completed to reach that milestone. These tasks should be detailed and actionable.

5. Set Deadlines: Assign deadlines to each task based on the time needed to complete it and its dependencies on other tasks. Be realistic about how long each task will take.

6. Create a Schedule: Arrange the tasks and milestones in chronological order, working backward from the end date. This will form a detailed project schedule.

7. Allocate Resources: Determine the resources (human, financial, and materials) required for each task and ensure they are available when needed. Set up your RACI appropriately here. Certain items will be owned by Sales Enablement (i.e. pitch deck), others owned by RevOps (i.e. updating CPQ, custom fields).

8. Monitor Progress: As you execute the plan, regularly monitor the progress of tasks and milestones to ensure you're on track to meet the end goal by the specified date.

9. Adjust as Needed: If you encounter delays or changes in project requirements, be prepared to adjust the plan and deadlines accordingly while still aiming to meet the end goal.

For the Paid Members let’s look a template which you can use to drive alignment between Product and GTM.

---

Whenever you're ready, there are 2.5 ways I can help you:

1/ Sign up for my Revenue Operations courses in partnership with the RevOps Co-Op.

→ Unleashing ROI course. A ten-week virtual, live instruction RevOps course designed to level up your RevOps Impact (R.O.I.). Lessons from my career scaling from $10M to $100M+. Join 100+ alumni. https://www.revopscoop.com/learn/unleashing-roi-course

→ Sales Ops Masterclass. A six-week virtual, live instruction SalesOps course designed to take your sales operations skills to the next level.

2/ Sponsor this newsletter. Promote your Revenue focused startup to a newsletter with over 1,700 tenacious revenue leaders. Reply to this email if you’re interested in receiving a media kit to learn more.

2.5/ I’m considering launching a coaching offering. If you’re a solo operator and your company has tagged you as a high potential leader then consider my 14-week coaching program. I’ve had some promising early results with a client and I’d like to further test out these services. If you have an L&D budget or an exec sponsor then please email me to inquire.

---