What is go-to-market?

There’s a famous saying in philosophical circles, “education is the kindling of a flame…” The saying comes from one of the great Greek thinkers, Socrates.

It means that learning opens your mind up to possibilities, and by doing so, sparks curiosity.

A few months ago, Sangram Vajre, CEO and Co-Founder of GTM Partners, shared the moment he realized he had gotten go-to-market wrong. That moment led him to found GTM Partners and research the go-to-market problem and its possible solutions.

“I realized go-to-market is way bigger than I originally thought. It’s not a product launch. It’s not product marketing.”

Almost two years later, he and Lindsay Cordell, Partner at GTM Partners,joined us at the Nearbound Summit to share what their research is teaching them.

Lots of B2B professionals still see go-to-market as just one thing, so it’s important to educate the whole industry,

“Go to market isn’t just one thing. It’s a whole bunch of things that drive your business forward.”

Click here to watch the recording and get the slides.

And keep reading to see GTM Partners’ stats on partner-led growth.

Collaborative growth: build faster, with higher margins

People think you need to compromise between speed and margin. What they don’t understand is that “you can do both IF you leverage partnerships.”

Peter Caputa, CEO of Databox and the man behind HubSpot’s partner program, responsible for growing the program from $0 to $130 million ARR, shared a concept last week he calls collaborative growth.

Collaborative growth is a new way of partnering that focuses on your partner’s business, not yours.

When a company decides they’re going to run nearbound plays, often their first undertaking is sales-related. That’s not collaborative growth.

Instead of reaching for the highest-hanging fruit (reselling) which naturally incentivizes short-term thinking, collaborative growth encourages companies start with co-marketing.

3 Steps to Successful Collaborative Growth

Step one: co-marketing

Find your superfans (they already exist!) and make them famous. Include them in your marketing efforts — podcasts, newsletters, research, content.

Step two: enable a business model for partners

Help your partners build a business around your product. It’s not about them re-selling your product. It’s about them selling a service that is enabled by your product.

Step three: customer impact

Your company strategy must have a collaborative growth mindset that puts partners before your short-term interests. Most companies measure software sales and retention. Instead, measure your partners’ customer impact.

Listen to the full recording and get session slides.

Stats on nearbound impact

Research across the industry shows that efficiency exists inside of a nearbound motion.

Take a look at these numbers Sangram and Lindsay shared in their session at the Nearbound Summit.

Download slides here.

Stuff you don’t want to miss!

• Enroll before November 14th —PXP Academy Partner Manager Certification Course— Join the interactive learning session that equips you with everything you need to be successful in your daily job as an operational Partner person. Register here.

• November 16th —Elevate Your Presale GTM with Tech Partners— Learn from industry experts like Kelly Sarabyn (HubSpot), Jared Fuller (nearbound.com and Reveal), Sunir Shah (AppBind), and Alexander Buckles (Forecastable). Evolve your GTM strategy with tech partners. Register here. 

• Enroll by November 17th —Firneo’s Mastering Partnerships Strategy (4-week course)— Registration is now open! Learn how to diagnose and solve your partner program’s biggest challenges from the world’s top partnership leaders. Use the code "NEARBOUND" for a 1:1 Strategy Coaching package (worth $1,000) for FREE. Enroll (or check out a free preview) here 

It’s not your department’s fault!

Share this with someone who needs to know — every department is struggling. It’s not a departmental problem, it’s a go-to-market problem. And we’re going to solve it, together!