At LeanData, we recently held our 2021 Revenue Kickoff , and I took the opportunity to run the team through the relay race as a metaphor for the go-to-market (GTM) motions we help our customers to improve. My message to our team was a simple one – at LeanData, we help our customers run a race across the finish line, denoted by a closed/won deal. We help them do this ahead of their competitors by ensuring smooth handoffs of leads. How we empower our customers, of course, depends entirely on the race they choose to enter.
If you’re like most sales and marketing professionals, your GTM strategies have become increasingly complex, requiring a systemic approach that integrates a variety of disciplines and expertise, from demand generation and lead acquisition all the way through to sales interactions and closed/won opportunities.
In today’s hyper competitive environment, your GTM motions act much like a relay race, with your leads being passed from one GTM function to another through your leads’ purchase consideration processes. And, it is certainly a race, for if you and your team aren’t running, you can rest assured your competition is!
When you can quickly, efficiently and seamlessly pass your leads from the beginning to the end of your GTM motions, you close deals faster. You win. Your customers win. And, your competitors lose.
But, if you drop that lead during the process – just once – you’re disqualified and you lose, just like what happens on the Olympic track when a baton is dropped during a handoff in a relay race.
The value of teamwork
The fastest time ever recorded for the 400-meter dash is the world record of 43.03 seconds by Olympic champion Wayde van Niekerk of South Africa. That’s almost 21 miles per hour!
The world record for the 4X100 meter relay, however, where four runners team together to cover the 400 meter distance, is 36.84 seconds, recorded in 2012 by a Jamacian team anchored by Usain Bolt. That’s over six seconds quicker than the individual record, or an improvement of over 14 percent!
As it’s been said, “Teamwork makes the dream work.”
World class GTM teams that include Marketing, Sales and Customer Care epitomize the value of teamwork in winning the relay race against the competition. When you evaluate the entire process of your GTM motions, you’ll see a variety of functions and areas of expertise, including:
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- Demand Gen acquiring a lead and nurturing through to MQL (marketing-qualified)
- A Sales Development Representative (SDR) manager moving a lead from MQL to SAL (sales-accepted)
- An SDR working with a lead through to SQL (sales-qualified)
- An Account Executive working with a lead through to closed/won
Each individual customer journey is a relay race, with the lead signifying the baton, to be passed from one function to another. Even in a very small company, where one person might cover multiple roles, the journey of the lead travels across many different functions or disciplines, each with their own processes and accountabilities. At LeanData, part of our mission is to fully understand the needs of each runner on your relay team and look for ways we can add value.
Handoffs are the difference between winning or losing
In a relay race on the track, the handoffs of the baton from one runner to another are the difference between winning and losing. Likewise, handoffs between functions in the GTM relay races that take place in the open market are the key to successful outcomes – aka, winning!
At LeanData, we’re experts in ensuring smooth handoffs of leads between functions, moving lead and account information through processes in just minutes, and empowering our customers to work their increasingly complex GTM motions to optimum effectiveness. And, at LeanData, in our own races, we don’t win until our customers win.
LeanData has been a pioneer in lead-to-account matching and routing space, and recently analysts TOPO (a division of Gartner) and G2 have established the space as a new software category. I’m very proud to say that both firms have placed LeanData at the very top of the category, as the leader in the space. Additionally, I’m grateful and honored that over 400 customers have taken the time to review LeanData’s solutions on G2 – I invite you to take a look at how they perceive the value they receive from LeanData.
Winning your GTM races comes down moving your leads, the baton, from one function of your motions to another – seamlessly and at the right time. One drop and you’re disqualified; the race is over. The lead, and its engagement with your brand, is the only thing that matters, so do your best preparation to ensure you run your best race.
For more information on the recognition of the Lead-to-Account Matching & Routing software category, please visit our recent G2 post, as well as the TOPO Lead-to-Account Matching & Routing Market Guide.
