AMA: ServiceNow Director, Platform and AI Product Marketing, Sharadhi (Gadagkar) Patel on Go-To-Market Strategy

This can vary from company to company, but the typical core GTM stakeholders are usually leaders from Product, Sales, Marketing, and CS. Product makes sure the story connects to the roadmap, Sales gives you the reality check on what lands with prospects, Marketing drives amplification, and CS brings in the post-sale customer perspective. For a Tier 1 launch, what really matters is not just looping your stakeholders in at the beginning or end, but having regular touchpoints along the way, even if ...Read More

When you’re new, the key is to show value quickly without trying to solve every PMM problem: A few approaches that have worked for me: Start where you’re needed most. Look for the biggest GTM gap; maybe messaging feels generic or the same competitor is heating up in deals. Step in there and deliver something concrete like an updated first call deck or competitive battlecard. Quick wins earn you a seat at the table. Be the voice of the customer. Most GTM discussions default to product features or ...Read More

Candidly, I think breaking assumptions after launch is just part of the job! A GTM plan is never “full baked”, I think of it as a hypothesis (backed by market research and data, customer conversations, competitive research, etc...) that you test in the wild. Once you launch, you should iterate to respond to what the launch and market response is teaching you: A few things I’ve found helpful: Anchor to your launch north star, but flex the tactics. Don’t rewrite the whole GTM plan, go back to your ...Read More

I love the idea behind this question! Here are some ways I've done this in the past: Create teaser content. Short clips, "launch trailer", planting the customer challenge....tactics that spark curiosity without giving everything away that the product solves. Develop AE and CS champions. Arm a few reps with early messaging so they can test it in real conversations and bring back unfiltered feedback on what’s landing and more importantly, what's not. Plant the problem in communities. Drop the chal ...Read More

For me, the most effective way has been getting as close to the customer conversation as possible. I test my messaging with customer focus groups, listen to sales calls, sit in on customer meetings, and ask open-ended questions in the moment. The nuance you get from hearing tone, objections, and word choice is hard to capture any other way. Packaging up win/loss interviews is also immensely valuable to not just understand why we won or lost, but to hear what part of our story stuck, what was con ...Read More

When budget is tight, the first filter I use is audience: where are my buyers actually paying attention, and what will feel credible coming from us. This of course can vary from company to company and even based on what product you are launching. If your buyers are c-suite, I'd prioritize channels like thought leadership, analyst engagement, and high-quality exec events where we can create trust and influence. If it is practitioners, I would lean more on community, peer stories, and hands-on pro ...Read More