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The routes to market that Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) companies use to sell and service their trade account is essentially critical. It determines their sales volume, their ability to deliver the proper levels of customer service in a cost-effective manner, and their success at securing scarce retail shelf space for their products.

Yet, only a few CPG companies have a comprehensive conceptual framework for optimizing their routes to market.

Diving into a Go-to-Market (GTM) Strategy

The Go-to-Market Strategy develops during the introduction of new products or services. The end goal is to enhance overall customer experience by delivering a unique value proposition to customers and achieve competitive advantage.

From a Go-to-Market Strategy, companies must have a proven GTM Platform to design profitable Go-to-Market (GTM) Models. The platform will enable managers to identify and analyze the key activities and tasks required to best serve their customer segments.

A consistent and comprehensive platform for rethinking GTM Model across the customer base must be established.  It must be capable of producing a clear vision of desire route-to-market outcomes.  It must have a comprehensive understanding of the roles and functions of the employees staffing the routes.

It must have a systematic approach to GTM Model analysis, design, implementation, and management.

The 4 Core Pillars of a Go-to-Market Platform

1. Market-driven. An effective GTM Platform must be market-driven.  When this is market-driven, GTM Model designers are forced to identify and define their company’s customer segments.

2. Coherent. A coherent GTM Platform supports the achievement of corporate goals. Coherence in the customer service framework ensures that the GTM Model achieves this direction. A GTM Platform must receive the support it needs to operate successfully.

3. Balanced. An effective GTM Platform must enable identification and balancing of competing priorities in the design and operation of GTM Models.  When this happens, proper trade-offs among priorities are determined and an optimal GTM Model is built. Proper balancing of competing priorities sets the GTM Platform on the stable and efficient ground.

4. Flexible. Managers need flexibility when it comes to GTM Model.  A high-quality design platform enables CPG companies to better manage an increasingly diverse customer base with differentiated GTM Models. GTM Platforms must be flexible enough to be adapted in response to changing strategic goals and competitive threats.

Analyzing and designing a GTM Model is very rewarding but it is a complex task. Multiple stakeholders are involved. Experiences of thousands of customers can be affected. Strategic goals, operational capabilities, and other variables must be considered. And lastly, investment in time and resources must be substantial.

However, companies can surpass this if they have a good handle of the 4 Pillars of the Go-to-Market Platform Design.  Learning the features and framework of the 4 Pillars of the GTM Platform can provide companies the necessary tools towards designing an effective and robust Go-to-Market Model.

Interested in gaining more understanding of Go-to-Market Platform Design? You can learn more and download an editable PowerPoint about Go-to-Market Platform Design here on the Flevy documents marketplace.

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