2020 and 2021 will go down in infamy. Not only because of the global pandemic, but also because of the lasting impact it will have on the broader business community.
Our economic environment, social systems, consumer behaviors and buyer expectations and demands all changed. These sweeping changes directly impact the foundational business models companies have run for decades.
What does this mean for you as a business owner or CEO in 2022?
It means you must re-evaluate everything. Yes, everything. Your entire go-to-market strategy. Regardless of the type of business, the industry, or the products or services you offer, changes will be required to compete in the future. For some businesses, these changes will be material. For others, minimal. But every business leader must conduct a top-to-bottom inventory and assessment of their go-to-market strategy if they want to succeed.
Recently, Silicon Valley sage John Chambers was asked how COVID would impact businesses. He said …
“It’s time to reinvent or be left behind.”
Call it a reset, restart or reinvention. Whatever you call it, to be successful in the future, your business must adapt or die.
But where do you start? That’s easy … with your customers. You must fully understand how the new normal changed their behavior and mindset. How has it influenced or changed their …
- Personal and professional priorities?
- Budget allocation and investment plans?
- Buying requirements and processes?
- Achieve organizational change
- What they need?/b>
- What they value?
Answers to these and many other questions will inform the material or minimal changes required to your go-to-market strategy. To assess the impact customer and buyer changes will have on your specific business, you must also ask yourself: How do changes in my customer’s world align with our current …
- High-value targets (customers, geographies, industries)?
- Growth platforms and initiatives?
- Product and service portfolios?
- Pricing models?
- Marketing channels?/b>
- Sales models?
- Buying process and channels?
- Revenue forecasts?
- Customer experience?
Once this process is complete, you should have a clear picture of the changes you need to make to align your business strategy with current buyer requirements.
However, your work is not done.
Now, it’s time to align those changes with your go-to-market story. After all, your customers will never know that you’ve changed or why it matters … until you tell them. This is where many leaders will short-circuit their restart plan. They forget the important role their story plays in pulling the new strategy forward. They underestimate the time, energy and investment required to ensure current and future buyers are fully aware of how the business changed to better serve them.
That’s why, much like your strategy, the company story must be rewritten. You must align the story you want to share in the marketplace with the new picture of your customer and strategy. Have changes in your customer’s world required you to reprioritize your high-value targets? Realign the value you deliver with new buying priorities? Make changes in your product or service portfolio? Reinvent how you service customers and how they buy from you?
All of these must be reflected in the story. Said another way, your story must align with the foundational changes you are making in the business, and illustrate how those changes bring value to your customers. That’s why your story is so important. It is the lever you pull in the restart plan that brings to life all of the meaningful changes you have made to better serve your customers. It is how you reconnect with them, establish relevance and earn trust.
Don’t make the same mistake many other leaders are making right now. Don’t reinvent your business and then forget to tell everyone. Now, more than ever, you need to make sure your customers hear your story … loud and clear.
Learn how we can help you bring your go-to-market strategy and story to life in 2022. Speak with one of our experts today
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