Realigning Sales And Marketing In Search Of Product-Market Fit
After months of concentrated efforts to develop my consulting business, I recognized that I was struggling to align 3 things. I was struggling to find the right fit between:
my services,
the businesses I approach, and
the individuals I interact with within these companies.
I had written 9 case studies from my paid client engagements but was struggling to sign new clients. I couldn’t find the product-market fit or the go-to-market fit.
If I want to continue full-time consulting, I need to find the product-market fit.
To make my consulting business successful, I took a step back to review my actions and consider the next steps for each aspect of my work. I thought about targeting different niches or ideal customer profiles (ICP). In this post, I share my thought process on go-to-market (GTM) strategy.
In an earlier blog post, I share my trials and frameworks and the challenges I faced.
You will need 4 minutes to read this post.
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Discovering Product-Market Fit For Consulting
I used UserSnap’s illustration for product-market fit for a product venture (indirectly from Lenny). I created a Venn diagram showing the product, go-to-market, and market fit for a consulting venture. For my consulting venture, I needed the find the fit between:
Consulting services offered
Sustainable way to reach businesses (GTM)
Persona has awareness and can hire
Businesses in need
I couldn’t find this fit for my consulting venture at Spark Creative Technologies by May 1st, 2024, so I reviewed my plan. I had set a May 1st date for reviewing it in my annual OKR planning.
I wrote more about the challenges I faced in finding the fit here.
Revamping Consulting Go-To-Market Strategy
I have 3 levers to change for my go-to-market (GTM) efforts:
The services I offer
The businesses I target
The steps I take to go to find prospects and convert them to clients.
I’ve visualized this below.
Niche 1 - (As-is) Marketing Strategy & Product-Led Growth (PLG)
I can target CPaaS companies like Twilio or Raven. I could target paid Chrome extensions or Android apps like Distill.io.
Sales motion steps: Make a prospect list using freelancers, Crunchbase, and PitchBook.
Find mutual connections using Sales Navigator, ask for warm introduction.
LinkedIn ads using case studies
Cold email outreach to decision makers
Niche 2 - Marketing Strategy
I can target non-tech companies, e.g., construction, F&B, SMBs, insurance.
For these, I can attend events like V-BON, Ikea B4B, or Chambers. I can pitch on Catalant, BTG, Fiverr, Upwork
I can target B2B SaaS companies with ACV < $1k p.a.
Sales motion steps: Make a prospect list using freelancers, Crunchbase, and Pitchdeck
Find mutual connections using Sales Navigator, ask for warm introduction
Cold email outreach to decision makers
Niche 3 - Product-Led Growth (PLG)
I can target freemium SaaS businesses
Sales motion steps: Make a prospect list using freelancers, Crunchbase, and Pitchdeck
Find mutual connections using Sales Navigator, ask for warm introduction
Cold email outreach to decision makers
Thanks to AnnArborUSA for the below illustration.
Updating Consulting Marketing Tactics
I reviewed my marketing approaches and thought of different ways to grow my presence and credibility.
I grouped marketing activities in 6 groups in the table below:
Content creation
Linkedin engagement
Marketplace or platform
Podcasts
Talks
Ads
I thought of 2 to 3 activities in each that I should start, accelerate, or continue. I tagged them by emojis:
🟢 emoji for start.
🚀 emoji for accelerate.
🔁 emoji for continue.
Content Creation
Continue Blog Writing 🔁: Keep up regular blog posts to provide updates.
Accelerate Case Studies for Projects 🚀: Increase production and sharing of project case studies to strengthen my portfolio.
Accelerate Videos of Blogs and Case Studies 🚀: Create video content from blogs and case studies to reach a wider audience.
LinkedIn Engagement
Continue LinkedIn Posts 🔁: Keep posting on LinkedIn to maintain visibility.
Engage More with Others’ Posts 🚀: Actively engage with others' posts to build relationships and increase visibility.
Marketplace or Platform
Start Sharing Content on Reforge, Pinterest 🟢: Use platforms like Reforge and Pinterest to share content and expand reach.
Start Modifying Content for Gumroad 🟢: Adapt and sell content on Gumroad to create visibility. I am not looking to generate revenue.
Start Profile on Topmate 🟢: Establish a presence on Topmate for visibility.
Podcasts
Start Reaching Out to Appear on Podcasts 🟢: Seek opportunities to be a guest on podcasts to share expertise.
Accelerate Hosting Podcasts Similar to Earlier 3 🚀: Increase the frequency and quality of podcast episodes, building on previous successes.
Start Section on Website with Podcasts 🟢: Create a dedicated section on my website to feature all podcast appearances and episodes.
Talks
Accelerate Reaching Out to Give Talks e.g. V-BON 🚀: Pursue speaking engagements at events like V-BON to share knowledge and increase visibility.
Start Section on Website with Past 5 Talks 🟢: Add a section on my website to showcase past talks, demonstrating expertise.
Ads
Start Ads on LinkedIn Using Case Studies 🟢: Use LinkedIn ads to promote case studies and target a professional audience.
Start Ads on Google Towards Popular Blogs Like CJM 🟢: Run Google ads to drive traffic to popular blog posts and increase visibility.
Consulting Business As An Equation
I talked to friends including Kevin O’Flynn (sales director), who helped me think of my business as an equation.
The equation:
Price per day I can charge
X number of days I want to work in the year
X efficiency of how many days I’ll work with clients vs time spent in finding clients.
Variables that go into this include the years of experience I have in doing the service I offer. I evaluated my expertise, years of experience, and income target.
Reflections And Next Steps
I reflected on the challenges I faced in finding the product-market fit and go-to-market fit for my consulting business. I realized the importance of reviewing and revising my GTM strategy. I could explore new futures by considering different niches, ideal customer profiles, and sales motions.
I did the “Designing your life” exercise as my next step.
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