We are no longer in an era of the zero interest rate policy (ZIRP) environment – which was characterized by a growth-at-all-cost approach and when raising capital was cheap. Fundamental inefficiencies are harder to hide with capital. Companies must now approach GTM differently. More accurate planning and agile optimization are needed to drive success. And that means data, and requires an increased emphasis on GTM KPIs. 

Alignment is critical when building a plan and as you execute, optimize and adjust the plan as the year gets underway and performance and conditions inevitably change. All of GTM, not just the revenue organization, needs to speak the same language when reviewing, analyzing and making decisions based on performance data. This avoids misinterpretation of information or contradictory insights allowing everyone to focus on how to improve based on this common understanding. 

The KPIs you use to measure your go-to-market function are not standalone; they need to be viewed in an integrated manner, as one KPI can impact another. For example… 

• If we are hiring net new sales reps per the plan, do we have enough pipeline and pipeline generation capacity to support them? 
• If ramps are taking longer than expected, will we be building enough sales quota capacity to hit our targets next quarter? 
• If cost per lead is increasing, are we seeing a corresponding increase in win rates to offset the cost, or do we need to drive more efficiency in lead generation and conversions? 

In short, every plan has inherent risks and opportunities – and every plan will see deviations almost from day 1 of the new fiscal year. A high-performing company uses past actual results on these KPIs as inputs to build better-informed plans. Strong KPI measurement helps you understand performance and trends, capturing signals that allows you to be more agile throughout the year. That means making adjustments sooner and with better information – or initiating efforts to mitigate problems and double down where things are going better.

On the flip side, inaccurate or incomplete KPI inputs into your plan can drive risk. . For example, plugging in a win rate increase of 5% without your company ever previously achieving that new target adds risk. Or, expecting to hire 20 new sales reps in Q2 when you have never hired more than 6 in any prior single quarter also adds risk. The ability to identify these risks during planning is critical in creating actions to mitigate them. 

Measurement against your plan, once the year is underway, will determine if your actions are successful in achieving your goals. Going back to those examples: if you are not tracking the increased win rate, you must know this as quickly as possible and take corrective action. If you are not able to manage the recruitment of the new 20 sales reps, you need to adjust hiring priorities and recruiting team capacity. 

The net of this is that failure to perform against the fundamental assumptions – the KPIs that inform your plan – will result in failure to achieve your plan. Continuously staying on top of these KPIs is critical to staying on track, making adjustments and mitigating risk. 

It can be a challenge to capture and keep these KPIs updated so you can report on them and dive deeper whenever needed. Revcast is designed to be the GTM hub to monitor the KPIs across your revenue ‘supply chain’ – you can get a personalized walkthrough based on the KPIs that are priorities to you.