Bringing a new product to market is completely different from bringing a service to market.
Most of the advice you read for building a go-to-market (GTM) strategy is geared towards products and consumer-driven behaviors.
Your company doesn’t work that way.
You’re selling your time and expertise — intangible goods — and have your own unique challenges that product-only providers don’t have.
You have things like long sales cycles, high purchase prices, contracts, non-disclosures, and hurdles around communicating your value proposition.
At Sparkitive, we specialize in helping Professional Services Firms execute tactics that generate positive marketing ROI for existing and new services. Let us walk you through some of the key steps to building a GTM quickly.
What is a Go-To-Market Strategy?
A go-to-market strategy is a type of business plan that’s narrowly-focused on delivering a specific service to a targeted customer. It addresses how you’re going to attract and engage potential customers, communicate value, and deliver on your promise.
Let’s dive into the core steps you’ll want to follow to develop a successful GTM strategy for your firm.
Step #1: Define Your Profiles
The first step is, of course, to determine your value proposition for this new service offering. You will want to consider this from a couple of different perspectives.
Your Ideal Customer Profile
Think about the service that you want to offer.
- Who is the best fit for that service?
- What’s going on in their lives right now that’s keeping them up at night?
- How is hiring you going to change their lives for the better?
- How urgent is their decision to hire you — what will happen if they do nothing?
Your Company Profile
Now you want to think about your company and build your profile.
- What real value do you provide over your competitors for this new service? (Don’t use fluff statements like customer service.)
- What trust factors do you have for the new service — like experience, certifications, training, etc.?
- Do you have any testimonials from customers that have used this service during test runs? What favorable things did they say?
Your Demographic Profile
Finally, think about the delivery of this service.
- Is this going to be promoted to existing customers or new customers only, or can it be offered to a mix?
- Do you have any qualifiers like budget, location, experience, or commitment?
- Does this service only apply to customers of a certain age or gender? For example, if you were offering a coaching service for young female CEOs.
Step #2: Refine Your Service Offering
By this point, you’ve taken a hard look at the customers you want to target. You know how you and your new service are perfectly positioned to help them solve a problem or reach a goal.
Now you want to turn around and take a hard look at the new service.
Is there anything about it that you want to change or adjust based on the three profiles you built in Step 1 to help it be higher-performing and more in tune with your target market?
How are you going to position your service? Are you going to be...
- The lowest price? (Hint — this usually doesn’t end well.)
- The best in your industry?
- The best in your niche market?
- The best at delivering this specific service?
- The best at offering this service to a specific job role — for instance, a CEO?
Step #3: Build Your Strategy
You have a firm grasp of the Who, What, and Where of your service offering. Now it’s time to talk about When and How you plan to do this.
When are you going to launch your new service and how are you going to market it?
Think about any time or budget constraints that you may have. Also, examine your resources — who do you have to help you execute your strategies to get this new service to market?
You need to create a Marketing Strategy. It will steer your direction and ensure the things you do to raise awareness will work and generate revenue.
How do you create a Marketing Strategy?
You simply need to download our free guide and follow the five steps to have a complete Marketing Strategy ready to implement.
Download Your 5-Step Marketing Plan
Creating a strategic marketing plan has never been so simple! Our experts have broken down the process into five easy-to-follow steps that you can use to quickly create a comprehensive marketing plan that will get you the return you want.
Download your free copy of our guide now: Fast Track Your Business: The 5-Step Marketing Plan for Professional Services Firms.
As a professional services provider, your billable time is valuable. You don't want to waste it on bad marketing tactics that won't yield the results you're looking for.
