We had the opportunity to converse with and learn from some of our community members for our AI for Go-to-Market Playbook, gathering insights and top tips from professionals on what they think the future of GTM looks like.

One of these contributors, Anne Hunter, shared some of her thoughts on AI and GTM (so make sure to check out our playbook if you haven't already!)

But we've caught up with her again to see what other invaluable advice she can give our lovely GTM community.

Happy reading, and thanks, Anne!

Please tell us a bit about yourself and your role at Ipsos.

I am responsible for taking the Ipsos line of business-to-business (B2B) research products to market, including capabilities such as brand health tracking, customer experience assessment, message testing, and product development research.

I came to this role with a deep background in market research as well as senior product management, sales, and marketing roles, making GTM leadership a perfect synthesis of my skills across multiple departments.

Fundamentally, GTM is a cross-discipline function centered on understanding your target customer so well that your strategies pull them in to want to do business with your company over the long term. Even when launching an individual product, I keep in mind that retention and upsell opportunities must be part of GTM planning as well, so every aspect of GTM should align with building a lasting customer relationship.

What’s one aspect of your role that you really enjoy? And what leadership qualities do you find most essential in and for your role?

I love that GTM work is a multi-disciplinary function, and I need to use technical, creative, analytical, and persuasive skills in new combinations every day.

In addition, I get to work with all departments and meet amazing people with unique skills of their own. For someone who loves learning, GTM is a great spot where you get to be both student and teacher simultaneously, but, most importantly, always an optimistic champion of a better future.

What key piece of advice do you have for GTM professionals and our community members?

Centering your decision on the customer is crucial.

GTM professionals who have successful products execute market research in advance of their launch to understand their target audience far deeper than what customers might share on sales calls.

Some research can be passive, such as examining top search terms, etc., but active research with real prospects and, separately, customers is critical to understand not only your offer but how it fits into your prospect's overall jobs to be done. This can be accomplished with in-depth, moderated interviews with prospects, several of whom should not be familiar at all with your company, as they represent your future sales.

You can also use qualitative market surveys to gain statistical insights into your prospects' needs and, through multi-variate analysis, understand the key drivers of choice in your category. Often, this uncovers hidden desires you wouldn’t know to ask about.

And what advice would you give GTM professionals for the coming years?

Alignment is the hardest part of a GTM strategy and deserves the most attention.

While AI can optimize social copy for a launch, it can’t get five senior executives to all be enthusiastically singing from the same songbook.  That takes human skills GTM experts are uniquely suited for.

How do you get alignment?  

Start by getting agreement on the process you will use to build your GTM plan. When executives agree on the process, 80% of the alignment is already done. Ask others for feedback early and iterate, ensuring people know where you are in your process so they don’t think rough drafts are final.

Link milestones directly to revenue, but when there isn’t data to do so, align on secondary metrics and communicate your progress toward them at a regular cadence.

Want to contribute?

At Go-to-Market Alliance, we're always looking for more community members to share their experiences and expertise with us!

If you're interested, let's talk! Look through how to contribute to our page or get in touch with anyone from the team.

As well, why not explore some of our upcoming events to network with like-minded pros?