Since the pandemic, economic disruption and overall uncertainty have become our new normal. The World Economic Forum, for example, recently conducted a survey that found more than 60% of chief economists expect the global economy to weaken in 2024. So for businesses, the question entering 2024 is nearly the same question faced last year: how can we best orient our go-to-market (GTM) strategies for continued growth amid so much macroeconomic uncertainty?
It’s impossible to predict the future, but below are a few predictions, tips, and tricks that will help position a prosperous, efficient, and effective GTM strategy for growth.
1. Don’t Just Use AI – Become an Expert at AI
A recent Salesforce survey found that 66% of sales representatives feel overwhelmed by the number of tools they have at their disposal. There are a plethora of different sales tools, and many reps are bouncing around between different platforms. The end result? They are wasting valuable time and energy that could be used in other GTM activities. Meanwhile, generative AI has advanced greatly over the last couple of years, and large enterprises should prioritize the use of emerging AI technologies at scale to better manage employees’ time and workload.
Think of GenAI as your co-pilot. Its role is to help sales reps with research, problem-solving, sales outreach, and all the necessary background tasks that often take their time away from what is most important: connecting with their customers and closing deals. Gartner predicts that by 2026, B2B sales organizations using GenAI-embedded sales technologies will reduce time spent on prospecting and customer meeting prep by over 50%. So what does this mean? The companies that embrace AI to do the background heavy lifting, so that the humans can focus on the high-impact parts of the sales cycle, will be the ones that succeed.
2. Automation Will Feed the Sales Cycle
Not only is it “cool” and “technologically advanced” for companies to incorporate the newest AI capabilities into their sales cycles and GTM initiatives, but it’s also now expected. There have been significant advancements and forward momentum in the AI space, which in turn prioritizes the need for automation within the formative parts of the sales cycle. According to a study done by Forrester Research, by automating certain tasks around prospecting, customer research, and engagement channels, the average sales rep. can spend 50% more time on productive actions and creative problem-solving. Of course, it’s even more advantageous to combine and unify tools within the tech stack to improve data quality, shorten the sales cycle, and optimize spending.
3. Interconnected Data Sources Outshine CRMs – At Least for Now
Your customers are likely tired of their CRMs. They are overburdening, outdated, and under delivering. These CRMs are hindering productivity and limiting growth because the data within is often messy and incomplete, offering an incomplete picture of current accounts and prospects. Given this, sales-tech buyers must prioritize investments in the interconnection of customer data outside the CRM – as investing in defining and building data products to optimize user journeys will increase in 2024.
GTM teams are realizing the importance of first-party, second-party, and third-party data. They want all of this data in one unified profile for easy visibility. They want control over the data models (e.g., for lead scoring, account propensity, next logical action, etc.), and what is driving them. Customer data platforms (CDPs) layered on top of sales and marketing tools allow for the “customer 360” dream to become a reality.
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4. Cold Calling is Warming Up
Let’s face it: no one likes to cold call. Even sales reps, who specialize in the field. Luckily, AI and actionable data will make for a dramatic change within the dynamics of cold calling that we know and use today. AI works behind the scenes to prioritize targeted efforts and targeted outreach – allowing for more efficiency and success when picking up the phone.
Informational tidbits like new hires, tech purchases, solution research, and website visits are all pieces of actionable, high-value data points that sellers can use to appropriately contact potential customers. These data points are highly relevant and allow for well-timed outreach and ensure that when a seller or marketer is cold calling, they are already warmed up on their prospect’s information and know that they are likely to be ready and willing to talk.
5. Fuse Sales and Marketing Efforts for the Perfect Blend
As tech stack consolidation becomes a priority, the functions of sales and marketing efforts will be merged, not just aligned. More tools are being built or expanded to address not just one but both sides of the GTM house, so instead of trying to run these two in parallel, it will be essential for teams to unify them on target audiences and messaging for their GTM tech platforms to flourish. Additionally, this allows for more focus on the operations and orchestration of sales functions.
6. Account-Based Tech Becomes the Biggest MarTech Spend
Account-based tech and GTM strategy are taking over lead funnels. No longer does the “one-size-fits-all” approach work. There is more help from AI behind the scenes and research going into GTM efforts that allows for more granular tracking and optimization. GTM teams are focused on delivering the best customer experience, and this strategy helps them to achieve that goal – not to mention being able to close bigger deals – allowing for 2024 to be the year where the GTM industry gets serious about making us more productive, not just busier.
Adopting an omnichannel approach is beneficial as all buyer groups will be engaged, and as an account-based experience (ABX) gets more popular and more companies adopt this approach, targeting and qualifying accounts will require marketing technology to shift toward the “what.” Leads are important of course, but entire buyer groups must be engaged to ultimately win business.
As the silos between sales and marketing fall, what’s left is the need to adopt a more account-based strategy where there is greater demand for actionable signals and prioritization of where to spend time. As GTM operations are more aligned, greater efficiency will result, ensuring a successful 2024.
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