Guest: Brett Jackson, a coach at CEO Coaching International. Brett is a seven-time CEO, and two-time COO with 35 years of experience leading software and SaaS companies through scale-ups, pivots, and turnarounds. Before he became a CEO, Brett built deep go-to-market expertise as a VP in product sales and marketing.
Quick Background: You can’t always blame sales and marketing when your sales are trending in the wrong direction. And sales and marketing can’t always blame each other. Great leaders push their teams to look below the surface and also take in the BIG picture to repair deeper misalignments that are stalling progress.
On today’s show, Brett Jackson discusses how optimizing the go-to-market value chain can drive sustainable revenue growth and Make BIG Happen.
The Seven Blocks of a Go-To-Market Value Chain From Brett Jackson
1. Market
“Go-to-market is a company’s strategy to bring their product or service to market and drive adoption,” Brett Jackson says. “But I think that many companies look at go-to-market strategy too narrowly. I think of go-to-market as a value chain with a system of interrelated components or building blocks. Every component is important and these components need to be developed and optimized and aligned to create the highest-performing go-to-market possible, which I think results in consistent revenue growth over time.”
Block one is understanding your market. Any successful product or service either solves a problem or addresses a need for a specific group of customers. Most companies assemble this mix of data and value prop into an ideal customer profile. But Brett recommends widening your focus just a bit so that you’re not artificially limiting your potential customer base.
“I joined a company and they had an ideal client profile defined and documented,” Brett remembers. “And I engaged with some of the salespeople and I found that they really weren’t focusing on the ICP. I asked why, and they said, ‘Brett, ICP stands for ‘ideal customer profile.’ We can’t find many of those, so we’re pursuing other kinds of prospects.’ I refer to ICP as the target customer profile. It’s not ‘ideal.’ It’s the kind of customer that you really want to target, that you really want to sell your service or product to, and you have to have discipline and focus on pursuing that target customer profile.”
2. What You’re Selling
To assess and maintain market fit, Brett Jackson recommends that CEOs ask:
Is your product or service delivering all the value the customer expects or does it need additional capabilities?
Are there gaps in the value it delivers versus the customer’s perception?
Do you have a road map that continues to ensure you’re offering the kind of capabilities and value that your customers want?
Will your road map help enhance your differentiation?
Are you polling your best customers about pros, cons, and feature requests?
But your company isn’t just selling a product or service. You’re also selling a vision that should animate your company’s people and processes and also deepen your connection to your customers.
“ A road map is generally 3-to-12 months,” Brett Jackson says. “When I think of vision, I think of a 2-to-4-year time frame. Where are we going with our product? And I think it’s important to take the opportunity to have a vision that if realized puts you in a clear market leadership position and serves as the north star for your road map over time. Customers buy product, but a lot of customers buy vision as well. They buy where you’re going. You have to make sure you have a long-term vision that is exciting for your customers. They’re investing in you and your product and your company now and for the longer term.”
3. Competitive Position
Many CEOs think that as long as they’ve mastered their internal processes, maximized their talent, and positioned their companies as market leaders, BIG is inevitable.
But sometimes intense focus can turn into blinders. Blockbuster couldn’t anticipate the Netflix revolution because it made so much money on late fees. Selling film was so profitable for Kodak that they didn’t appreciate the disruptive potential of digital photography — even though they invented the digital camera in 1975.
“It’s amazing to me how many companies really don’t have a good handle on their competitive landscape,” Brett Jackson says. “Who are their direct competitors? Who are their indirect competitors? Who are emerging threats? Do they have a system for tracking wins and losses? Do they know why they’re losing? Do they know who they’re losing to? You have to appreciate where you stand in your competitive landscape, and it’s very dynamic. You’re always learning more and you’re taking that data in and feeding that into your road map to make sure that you’re always in a position to be a leader in your space.”
4. Marketing
Brett believes that social media and AI have made it easier for companies to build their brands and get in front of their target customers. If you’re analyzing all available data and following its conclusions to better products, services, and messaging, you’re going to stay front-of-mind with the customers who are most important to your success.
But every time you knock on a new door and try to broaden that target audience, you also have to reassess what you’re selling and how you’re selling it.
“ Are you clear on your differentiation?” Brett asks. “Are you comfortable with your positioning, which is how you want the market to perceive you compared to alternatives? Are you comfortable with your customer value proposition? It’s hard to get those things right, especially positioning. Subtle changes in pricing and packaging can make a big difference. Also one of the more important areas of marketing is pipeline-building: generating leads that convert to opportunities that give your salespeople opportunities to go out there and win.”
5. Sales
Again, no finger-pointing.
But if your sales numbers are down there’s probably a people problem that the CEO should address. Assuming you’ve done the hard part and committed to hiring top talent, make sure you’ve given your teams the tools they need to hit their targets.
“I think it’s important to train salespeople on a regular basis so that every one of them is singing off the same song sheet,” Brett says. “And then there’s sales ‘enablement.’ I’ve not seen many sales forces who have enough sales tools at their disposal to help them be successful, whether it’s collateral, customer testimonials, ROI calculators, or battle cards. There’s always more you can do to make your sales force more successful.”
CEOs should also review the connection between your compensation structure and your sales model. Even the best salespeople tend to follow the path of least resistance towards their own benefit. If your vision of BIG requires hitting a specific sales goal, then tie comp to those products, services, or customers that move the needle.
“ I’ve been in companies where new logos were the priority,” Brett remembers, “but the compensation didn’t reward that. The compensation got people to focus on getting more business from existing customers. So you have to understand what your goals are, have the right sales model to help you achieve those goals, and then design your compensation scheme to drive the exact behaviors you want from your salespeople.”
6. Post-Sale Touch
”Are you taking care of your customers?” Brett asks. “You spent all this time, effort, and money acquiring a customer, of course you want to retain them. And in many cases, you’re in a position to drive expansion business, upsells, cross-sales from those customers. So do you have a good onboarding program where the minute that sale is closed you’re doing all that you can, all that’s necessary to get them onboard and using your product or service and getting the value they expect?”
Providing this finishing touch might include customer health checks, like satisfaction surveys or follow-up phone calls from sales and customer service. Ask your best customers about testing out new products and services. Solicit feedback on what would make version 2.0 a must-have upgrade.
Also work with your marketing team on campaigns that will strengthen relationships between your brand and your customers. Post photos from your last BIG volunteer effort. Send invites to educational events and open houses. Connect your audience to your mission and you’ll boost both retention and new business.
7. Auditing
Maintaining alignment along your go-to-market value chain requires a rigorous system of accountability and review. That’s especially true right now, when the facts on the ground feel in constant flux. Your clients’ purchasing habits might be changing. A new competitor could be gaining ground. Tariffs and inflation may obscure your true value proposition.
Team leaders should be able to keep their flywheels spinning. But the CEO has to be responsible for strengthening each link in the value chain and connecting everything the company does to Making BIG Happen.
“I have a view that the CEO has to be intimately involved in the go-to-market strategy,” Brett Jackson says, “It lands with the CEO. They have to be intimately familiar with all the components of the go-to-market value chain and all the assumptions around the individual components. They also are the ones that have to make sure their team is communicating and that they’re in agreement and aligned. Once the value chain or the go-to-market strategy is agreed to, the team can monitor the value chain execution. But I think the CEO has to make sure it gets done the first time correctly, that it’s reviewed periodically, and that any disagreements or misalignments are dealt with.”
Top Takeaways From Brett Jackson
1. Sales and marketing are important but they’re only two links in a BIGGER value chain.
2. Don’t overlook competitors who could shake your chain and attract your customers.
3. Give your teams what they need to win, including data, training, oversight, and financial incentives.
Links:
Thinking About Sales as a “Math Problem” – Marketer Erin Cigich explains how working with CEO Coaching International helped her company beat its sales target by more than 200%.
3 Questions to Ask When Building a World-Class Sales Team – If you’re looking to drive exponential growth, then your sales engine is the place to start..
About CEO Coaching International
CEO Coaching International works with CEOs and their leadership teams to achieve extraordinary results quarter after quarter, year after year. Known globally for its success in coaching growth-focused entrepreneurs to meaningful exits, the firm has coached more than 1,500+ CEOs and entrepreneurs across 100+ industries and 60 countries. Its coaches—former CEOs, presidents, and executives—have led businesses ranging from startups to over $10 billion, driving double-digit sales and profit growth, many culminating in eight, nine, or ten-figure exits.
Companies that have worked with CEO Coaching International for two years or more have achieved an average revenue CAGR of 25.9%, nearly 3X the U.S. average, and an average EBITDA CAGR of 39.2%, more than 4X the national benchmark.
Discover how coaching can transform your leadership journey at ceocoachinginternational.com.
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