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For buyers of GTM tech, the #1 consideration is integration
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This week’s research note includes:
GTM Research: Our takeaways from G2’s Buyer Behavior Report
GTM Poll of the Week: Do AI capabilities make you want to buy software more?
GTM Problem of the Week: How do I measure the 6 GTM motions?
GTM is Better Together: News and Updates
GTM Events
GTM Research:
A weekly deep-dive into new GTM research and insights
One of our favorite reports of the year is G2’s Buyer Behavior Report, which is a comprehensive survey of more than 1900 B2B software buyers.
So we were honored when Chris Voce and the G2 research team asked our analysts Sarah and Bryan to contribute to shaping the questions and interpreting the data for the 2024 report.
Here are four trends that stood out to us. Whether you are selling software or buying it, these findings can inform your strategy.
#1. Spending will increase, driven largely by investments in AI.
The good news for all the companies struggling out there is that 52% of buyers expect their software and technology spending to increase next year, and another 42% plan to keep spending the same. Only 6% plan to cut spending!
AI plays a major role in these increased budgets. In fact, 56% of buyers said their organization had purchased an AI platform within the last 3 months.
Better yet, 77% of respondents agree or strongly agree that “software companies have genuinely advanced AI technology in their products beyond merely capitalizing on the AI hype.”
Of buyers who said that their organization had purchased an AI platform within the last 3 months, 83% reported that their organization has already seen a positive ROI for their purchased AI platform.
How is AI software or AI-powered software showing ROI?
44% say employee productivity
42% say cost savings
What this means for software vendors:
The money is there. We can no longer blame the bad market conditions of a few years ago for our failure to hit revenue targets.
There is also enormous faith in the legitimate power of AI that may not last forever, so if you have an AI-based value proposition, strike while the iron is hot.
However, software vendors still face a tough environment: heightened scrutiny from buyers, smaller shortlists, longer buying cycles, and lofty ROI expectations.
Differentiation has become key, and the best way to do that is to show ROI.
In fact, 57% of buyers expect to see positive ROI within 3 months of purchase and another 11% expect to see it immediately.
What this means for software buyers:
Look for AI functionality, not AI hype. More and more software vendors will be marketing their solution’s AI capabilities, and you should expect them to show you how AI will fundamentally change your use of their product or the results you’ll experience.
#2. Shortlists are shrinking.
In 2023, 33% of software buyers had one to three products on their shortlist, and 45% of buyers had four to seven products on their shortlist.
This year, those numbers have flip flopped: now 49% of buyers have one to three products on their shortlist and only 31% typically consider four to seven.
What this means for software sellers
This is great news for incumbents or companies that are in the top 3 of their category. You’ll less often be dealing with pesky upstarts.
But this is tough news for the pesky upstarts. It means you’ll need to distance yourselves from the competition early in the buying process.
One way to do that is to think about which GTM Motions you are using, when, and how you are strategically deploying it.
What this means for software buyers
Think strategically about what the right size of a shortlist is for you based on the category of software, the competitive space, and your needs. If you’re facing increased scrutiny from the c-level like most companies are, a bigger list strengthens your case and informs your decision. But also, we get it, we’re all busy and it doesn’t make sense to expand your list just for the sake of it.
#3. the C-level has more power than ever to scuttle a deal.
The dreaded executive veto is a real threat.
41% of buyers identified a C-suite employee or the CFO or highest-ranking financial officer as the person ultimately responsible for signing off on a purchase decision. And 79% say the CFO has the final say most of the time.
What this means for software sellers
Software sellers must distance themselves from the competition early in the buying process. Look at the 6 GTM motions through this lens: not only which motions will produce the best pipeline, but which will give you the visibility and credibility you need to be early enough in critical deal cycles.
What this means for software buyers
Just as the sellers need to be prepared to present ROI to your CFO, you also need to anticipate that question. We usually talk about ROI in terms of the sellers convincing you to buy, but it’s also useful for internal champions to think about preparing an ROI story for internal stakeholders as well.
#4. GTM Technology is Better Together
For buyers of GTM software (marketing, sales, and customer success), the top consideration is the ability to integrate with other systems.
You may have heard us talking a lot about how GTM teams and GTM tech are better together, and this validates that notion.
When tech lives in silos, you are realizing such a small fraction of its potential power. The whole can be greater than the sum of its parts, especially if you have a cracker jack RevOps team to pull all the data together.
What this means for software sellers
In addition to leading with ROI, we have another item for your checklist: show where your tech integrates with other tools.
One word of caution: if you do this too early in the buying process or with the wrong stakeholder, you can overwhelm people and make them think that your tool NEEDS a lot of complementary software to work well.
Instead, find out what other tech they’re using in the discovery process and have some ready-to-go examples or case studies of how the power of your tool increases exponentially when combined with something they already have.
What this means for software buyers
Investigate integrations. Ask to speak to customers who use their tool in conjunction with other software to learn where you can amplify its power.
Moreover, consider viewing not only your tech but also your teams without the constraints of silos.
The GTM O.S. is an 8-pillar framework that we have developed to provide organizations with a blueprint to provide clarity and alignment in their strategic planning and execution process.
Look at both your team planning and your technology purchases through this lens.
These are just a few of our insights on a thorough read of the G2 report. We suggest you get it as well and talk through some of the findings at your next GTM meeting.
GTM Poll of the Week
GTM Problem of the Week
Send us your most pressing GTM problem, and you’ll get a short session with an analyst to answer it!
Dear GTM Partners,
I understand that the 6 GTM Motions are supposed to be cross-functional and not necessarily sales or marketing-owned. But how do I measure success?
RevOps in FinTech
Dear RevOps in FinTech
We wrote a research note with a lot of detail on how to measure the 6 motions.
Here’s the overview:
Beyond the 6 motions, if you’re struggling with alignment between GTM teams, one of the first things you can do to get a common language is develop a common scorecard.
Here is a template for a GTM scorecard.
Here is a template for a CMO-CRO scorecard.
Hope that helps!
GTM is Better Together: News and Updates
“GTM is Better Together” is a revolutionary new vision for the future of GTM: it’s better together with teams, tech, and trust. We believe in bringing departments together as a unified team, while bringing technology together as a unified stack. This is a weekly feature where we will share the latest announcements related to this important initiative.
We hope you read our special edition last week, but GTM is Better Together is officially launched!
GTM is Better Together is a breakthrough initiative designed to provide hope and trust to GTM professionals in enterprise companies amongst budget cuts, missed revenue targets, and misaligned teams.
The GTM is Better Together program combines the power of data and benchmarks with an educational conference series across the United States this August-November.
WHEN and WHERE
August 28, 2024: Atlanta, GA
September 10, 2024: Boston, MA
October 22, 2024: New York City, NY
November 20, 2024: San Francisco, CA
WHO Should Attend
This is an invitation-only event (though you can apply for an invitation) for:
Director-level and above GTM leaders in Sales, Marketing, Customer Success, Product, RevOps, and executive leadership at enterprise, B2B companies.
In particular, current customers or companies considering working with Demandbase, Clari, G2, MadKudu, ON24, Technology Advice, Totango + Catalyst, Vidyard and ZoomInfo will learn more about the individual solutions and how they work better together.
WHY should you apply to attend?
Get Inspired: Learn from interactive workshops, frameworks, problem-solving sessions, case studies, and peer networking.
Align your GTM team: Bring together leaders from different functional areas so you can burn down silos and learn how to build a high-performing team.
Build your GTM tech stack: Apply lessons from real-world GTM tech stacks to solve your company’s unique challenges.
GTM therapy: You’re not alone! While this conference won’t solve all the problems in your life, it can help you solve GTM problems that will make work and business a lot more rewarding.
HOW to attend:
If you are a customer of GTM Partners, Demandbase, Clari, G2, MadKudu, ON24, Technology Advice, Totango + Catalyst, Vidyard, or ZoomInfo, ask for a ticket. They have a limited number they can offer you at no cost.
Tickets come in pairs, so we encourage you to bring one or more GTM leaders from your company.
Others can apply here (director-level and up in Sales, Marketing, CS, RevOps, Product, or the executive team; B2B enterprise only).
GTM Events
A list of upcoming events of interest to GTM professionals
July 9-11, London: GTM EMEA from Pavilion
August 28, Atlanta: GTM is Better Together
September 10, Boston: GTM is Better Together
September 18-20, Boston: INBOUND 2024
October 16, Austin: GTM Made Simple Roadshow
October 22, NYC: GTM is Better Together
November 20, San Francisco: GTM is Better Together
Are you a B2B company between $10-100M in revenue who needs help with your GTM strategy and execution? We’d love to chat.
We have been busy this summer preparing for Better Together, for our Leadership Summit next week, and for two new upcoming reports on Outbound and Inbound.
We’d love to hear from you: is your summer relaxing and slow or as crazy as ever?
Love,
The GTM Partners Team
