ELG Insider Daily #662: When your own GTM team is your ICP
If you’re implementing an ELG strategy and important internal stakeholders are proving to be a tough nut to crack, think of them as another ICP (Ideal Customer Profile).
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PRINCIPLES
When your own GTM team is your ICP
There’s a reason we talk over and over about the importance of internal cross-functional buy-in around Ecosystem-Led Growth. ELG is a motion that involves and benefits every go-to-market team, and it requires alignment around how to leverage the value of your partner ecosystem.
And sometimes, your toughest customers are your own cross-functional partners within the GTM organization.
If you’re implementing an ELG strategy and important internal stakeholders are proving to be a tough nut to crack, think of them as another ICP (Ideal Customer Profile).
Don’t just give broad examples of ELG benefits — win their hearts and minds by telling stories that are specifically relevant to their own challenges, strengths, and goals. Put yourself in their shoes and share success stories from their peers in or outside of your company. Do your homework on the specific pain points of their role and how ELG can address them.
Do the work you’re best at as a GTM professional, turning your colleagues into both ELG partners and advocates.
TACTICS
How to turn your CRO into an ELG champion
In his Partner Principles newsletter, Airtable’s Head of Worldwide Partnerships Nelson Wang recently shared his discovery of a company’s CRO who had been ignoring his partner ecosystem as a growth channel until he noticed that the referrals coming in from partners had a 9X ROI. That CRO told a compelling story on LinkedIn about his company’s staggering ELG wins and why he was investing in an ecosystem-led strategy across his teams.
This got Nelson thinking about how to turn CROs and other company leaders into champions of Ecosystem-Led Growth to the point where they are evangelizing both across the company and publicly.
Step 1: Win hearts and minds by telling win stories
Storytelling wins people over. And they remember it. It's that simple. And everyone in your company with a point of view on the business can be a storyteller.
-Stories evoke emotions, and when we feel something, we’re so much more likely to remember it.
-Stories follow a logical sequence and our brains are generally wired for pattern recognition.
-Stories help us visualize the solution, which makes it more concrete in our mind and easier to recall too.
-Stories engage us, and when we are engaged, it burns much more deeply in our minds.
Step 2: Leverage data to supplement your stories
Data presents a complete story and makes it nearly irrefutable. People won’t instantly remember the specific numbers as well as they’ll remember the narrative, but the numbers give people a reason to share the story far and wide.
SHARE YOUR INSIGHTS
The Future of Revenue survey
As a GTM leader, your experience and insights are crucial to understanding the direction of revenue strategies in our industry.
We’ve partnered with Pavilion to survey GTM leaders, and we’d love it if you could take 7 minutes to share your thoughts.
It’s completely anonymous, and as a thank you, you'll get early access to the report before its official release PLUS 15% off your ticket for GTM2024 (Oct 14-16 in Austin, TX) where Crossbeam CMO Alex Poulos will share the results LIVE on stage.
Stuff you don't want to miss!
- September 24th — GTMNow Live: The Future of Outbound: An Ecosystem-Led Approach — Outbound is changing and ecosystems have never been more important. Join go-to-market leaders from Crossbeam, Pattern, and Atlan as they discuss the shift towards an ecosystem-led approach in outbound sales. Register now.
- September 26th — Dueling Perspectives: The Great AI SDR Debate — Join Sangram Vajre, Co-Founder and CEO of GTM Partners, and Matt Milen, Co-Founder and President of Regie.AI, as they share the real potential of AI in sales development and its implications for your GTM strategy. Register now.
- October 1st — SalesIntel Annual Summit — SalesIntel is organizing a 100% free and virtual summit where you will find specific tracks curated for sales, marketing, and RevOps and roundtable working sessions focused on sharing actionable ways to build pipelines and achieve growth goals. Save your seat here.
- October 1st - 3rd — RevCon — RevGenius partnered with Common Room, Sigma, Avoma, The Juice, and many more to bring you a 3-day virtual conference to reunite your sales, marketing, RevOps, and cs leaders behind to learn and discuss about the future of SaaS. Save your spot here.
- October 14th - 16th — GTM2024 — Join Pavilion at The Fairmont in Austin, TX to get ahead on your 2025 GTM strategy, learn about market trends, and boost your GTM strategy. Get your ticket here.
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