The Go-to-Market “Bloat” that is Making Companies Miserable

Is your company experiencing the “bloat”? 

I have been seeing and hearing this word a lot lately. It comes in two flavors:

1. Growth bloat - Companies bought more software than they could use and it slowed down their business. 

2. Go-to-market bloat - Companies hired more sales, marketing, and alliance people than their revenue could support.

2023 was all about shedding the bloat, which included people and software acquired during the COVID-infused tech boom. This spilled into 2024 and is far from over.

If you are reading this post, most likely it has affected your company as well. Martech, commerce, and HR software companies were particularly hard hit. It has affected people in sales, marketing, and alliances roles more than other areas of the organization. 

Companies are still purging their tech stacks and staff. They are divided into “must have” and “nice to have” software and people. If your B2B software company is hitting 40-50% of the pipeline goals, you still have the bloat. 

Where do we go from here?

I have seen companies replace CEOs to straighten the ship and cure the bloat. Some C-Suite members announced they took pay cuts, while taking more stock options instead.  

I think most companies must rethink their GTM approach and pipeline generation strategy, including:

1. Nailing your ICP and buying journey is more important than ever. 

2. Creating meaningful bite size content is critical to get attention. 

3. Showing your buyer that you help them save money is a must. 
   

If I can be your sounding board for your Go-To-Market bloat and pipeline generation strategy, don’t hesitate to reach out.

#GTMstrategy, #pipelinegeneration #growthbloat, #GTMbloat