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How do you successfully engage other teams (Design, Product Management, Engineering) in a Go To Market plan?

3 Answers
Harsha Kalapala
Harsha Kalapala
AlertMedia Vice President Product MarketingApril 15

The first step to engaging other teams is to make sure they are a key contributor to the go-to-market plan, and they are not just on the receiving end being told what to do. I
try to understand the organizational goals of a launch, and also pay attention to what are the success metrics/criteria for each team involved. Every team involved in a GTM plan has to get a win out of it. It's also important to understand teams = people. I get people excited by bringing them along the journey, sharing the why behind key decisions. This really helps people on teams like engineering and design, who are typically removed from the customer-facing activities see the potential outcome of their work and get fired up about it. 

Product management is a critical partner to work with the entire way. I have had success engaging PM teams by being involved with product development from the early concept and research stage. Being engaged with customer conversations early on helps you develop strong positioning well before you reach the actual launch. One exercise that always makes a big impact is to write a mock press release along with the product team well before the product is made. Imagine you launched the product today - what story would you tell the world? That informs product development as well - and is a great way to build the right product.

The risk with this approach is creating an environment where decisions are made by committee - which is not a productive situation. The way I avoid that is to be clear that everyone's input is being considered, but decisions are going to be made by a smaller set of people accountable for the success of the GTM plan.

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Daniel J. Murphy
Daniel J. Murphy
Marketing Strategy ConsultantJune 8

I think this one's simple: you include them in the plan. No better way to get aligned with another team than planning with that team. The GTM plan doesn't work without product, design, and R&D, so make that clear to them and build a plan that aligns with the product roadmap. Successful engagement is when your both executing on a strategy in tandem that helps the business grow.

464 Views
Nicole Gallow
Nicole Gallow
Cisco Group Product Marketing ManagerDecember 21

COMMUNICATE! Early and often! 

In a successful GTM plan you're collaborating up front with PM, design, engineering, PMO, NPI, senior leadership, integrated marketing (demand gen), regional marketing, and so many more! From a technical counterpart perspective, I've worked with design teams to work through customer feedback since PMM is talking to customers and to sales so often. Having regular syncs with engineerings helps you not only gain a more techincal perspective that you can then 'uplevel' into marketing speak, but gives you a more concerete timeline for launch. EVERY time, I'm collaborating with the PM team from the point of PRD, so getting through GTM planning is icing on the beautiful product launch cake. 

As we all know, everyone is unique and different. Every TEAM is different as well. Developing relationships with technical team has been one of the best things I've done with my PMM career. Having regular syncs so there aren't surprises and we all get to share what's happening in our different worlds is incredibly valuable. My PM and engineering teams love being part of the GTM planning process and our relationships between teams have grown stronger because of it. I get my technical counterparts excited about how I'm showing off their product and in turn I have even more marketing advocates that will share content, social media and stories with their networks. 

945 Views
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