Fifty-four wooden blocks make up a Jenga tower. It starts balanced and steady, settled squarely on the table. Remove the wrong block, and it all crumbles.

An organization’s go-to-market strategy operates much the same way. From afar, it appears seamless, devoid of any weaknesses or cracks in the construction. Look closer, and notice that it, too, is composed of any number of interlocked wooden blocks — the initiatives that ladder up to support the overarching strategy.

Fail to effectively execute one (or a handful) of those key go-to-market initiatives, and the whole strategy comes crashing down. The stakes are high, especially because 70% of all the change initiatives making up this tower fail.

This high likelihood of failure makes every GTM strategy vulnerable — inspiring organizations everywhere to seek new avenues for executing initiatives. As they do, enablement is positioning itself as an essential function poised to take the lead.

To successfully drive the GTM initiatives — new product launches, cross-sell efforts, strategic rebrands, and more — that lead to revenue, take a page out of the enablement playbook and equip every arm of the GTM organization to build stronger, together.

Break Down Operational Silos

It seems counterintuitive to recommend breaking things to build stronger. That said, when operational silos impede efficiency, slow agility, and result in GTM teams running in opposite directions, maybe the status quo is in need of disruption.

Enablement teams offer an escape from the rut of siloed operations. By nature, the function aims to build connective tissue, bridging the gap between sellers and the knowledge and resources they need to be effective. When applied to the problem of silos, this unique skill set is essential.

“Don’t stay siloed to just your enablement department and not branch out cross-functionally,” said Christian Palmer, senior manager of global sales enablement at Justt. “Teams that don’t necessarily interact with enablement often could benefit from having an enablement voice in the room.”

Overcoming the historic disconnects between GTM teams isn’t easy — those silos exist for a reason. That said, enablement professionals know that tackling change resistance begins from a position of curiosity, understanding each team’s:

  • Priorities: What business outcomes do they prioritize, and how does their work ladder up to it?
  • Pain Points: Where do they notice gaps in communication or impediments to collaboration?
  • Potential: Where do they see opportunities for closer communication and collaboration?

By approaching with curiosity, enablement teams can identify the root causes that maintain operational silos. From there, they can synthesize these conflicting perspectives into a shared strategy, one that breaks down old barriers and mends long-held rifts.

Defining and aligning on a shared strategy, however, is equally challenging. Every team, from marketing and sales to operations and product, may have a different perspective on what the core business objective is and the initiatives they’ll need to execute to achieve it.

Align on Shared Priorities and Initiatives

Every GTM team should use the company’s stated objectives and goals for the future as its North Star.

However, not every team does — it’s easy to become caught up in the granular, day-to-day details of each function’s priorities. That said, they can’t supersede the overarching goal of the business. That’s step one: ensure every team understands what objectives are most important to the business.

“Make sure you are aligned with your company’s strategic initiatives, whatever it is that you’re rooted in,” said Julie Birney Cecilio, vice president of revenue enablement at Crowdstrike.

Step two is a bit more challenging: Bring stakeholders from across the GTM organization together to determine how their team’s work rolls up into the various initiatives supporting that shared objective. Draw connections between the desired outcome, the initiatives driving it, and each team’s role in bringing them to life. Consider how cross-functional alignment might improve the outcome of the following common GTM initiatives:

  • Landing the Product Launch: How might marketing and product teams come together to ensure an upcoming product launch drives the cross-sell revenue it was intended to?
  • Maximizing Methodology Investments: How could enablement and operations teams streamline the implementation of a new methodology to ensure the investment tangibly improves seller attainment?
  • Captivating During Cross-sell Conversations: How would an improved dialogue between sellers and marketers enable reps to tell stronger cross-sell and upsell stories with existing customers?

Every change initiative — whether a new product launch, a methodology rollout, or an adjustment to topline messaging — happens for a reason. Each is a strategic investment that, with the right cross-functional support, can drive a significant impact on high-priority business objectives.

When every GTM team understands the importance of these initiatives and ladders their efforts towards driving them, those long-held silos dissolve, replaced by the new bond created by those shared goals.

“Keep the initiative front and center: These are the KPIs, and this is how it’s going to make our customers happier, you more successful, and the company able to reach strategic objectives,” said Birney Cecilio.

Deliver Business Outcomes, Together

With leaders across marketing, sales, operations, and enablement aligned on a clear goal for the future, all that remains is to enable reps to achieve it — and inspire them to want to do so.

“It’s important to align with what reps will care about,” said Palmer. “Whatever it is you’re asking of them, consider how it is going to benefit them. That should be at the forefront of every initiative you’re trying to push.”

Lean on the tried-and-true strategies for empowering seller execution and driving buy-in. However, remember that every arm of the organization is now in enablement’s corner, all pushing to help reps land these initiatives in the field.

Without GTM silos impeding operations, sales and marketing leadership is now bought in and can supply the authority and reinforcement. No matter how effective the enablement, their support is key to driving the desired behavior change — whether methodology usage, product launch know-how, or cross-sell competence — necessary for the initiative’s success.

“Make sure you have sponsorship upfront for those initiatives,” said Birney Cecilio. “Work with leaders to establish quick wins and success stories you can highlight as proof points, because sellers are often motivated by the shortest route to closing the sale. Oftentimes that doesn’t drive the right behavior, which is, let’s say we want to drive NPS or expansion behaviors with our customers.”

An aligned GTM organization can achieve incredible results. With the full force of every team backing each of the organization’s key initiatives, success isn’t just a possibility, it’s an inevitability.

Achieving the cross-functional collaboration and single-minded doggedness that lead to those outcomes, however, is a task enablement is best equipped to accomplish.

Approach every team with curiosity to understand their current state; then, bring everyone together to set shared sights on an improved future state — one that executes initiatives effectively and never risks sending the GTM strategy tumbling down.