A classic Product + GTM mistake is going after “all the customers” simultaneously.
Each segment wants something different. Sometimes, the differences are very, very subtle. Sometimes, they are really obvious. However, in all cases, the different requirements take time and money to implement well (both in Product and in GTM).
So, if you try to sell to every segment, your team will be thrashed with never-ending random requirements, your product will never be polished, and you will never build something great that wins in its category. You’ll be spinning your wheels.
If you sell to one narrowly defined segment at a time, you will hit your sales targets while giving your product team enough time and space to polish what they have - ensuring that your product will become a category leader at scale.
Here's how you do it.
Answer the following 2 questions...
Question 1. What is the embarrassingly narrow target segment we want to win - this segment should have 2 characteristics
a) Mostly satisfied by your product *as is*.
b) Large enough Total Addressable Market within the segment that you have room to hit your growth/sales targets (assuming you successfully penetrate the segment).
Question 2. What will it take to accelerate and de-risk winning as much of that segment as possible as quickly as possible? This will require changes to your go-to-market strategy and tactics as well as careful refinement of your product roadmap.
Questions you do NOT need to answer...
1. What’s the largest TAM? The largest TAM is not necessarily accessible to your product in the short term.
2. Where are opportunities to grow? There are opportunities EVERYWHERE. The question is which opportunities are available to you RIGHT NOW.
3. Relative market sizing of a particular segment vs. any other particular segment. You are eventually going to go after EVERY segment - you just need to get them in a methodical way - one after the other.
Success looks like...
1. An exhaustive list of narrowly defined segments - along with their unique requirements.
2. Those same segments plotted out on a roadmap (an ordered list mapped out over time) - you want to be working from one segment to the next to the next, each time just adding 1 or 2 features to unlock the next adjacent segment.
3. A fully aligned team (especially product and GTM) that is working from the same definitions and roadmap of segments.
Example...
You might be selling a transport solution that gets people from Point A to Point B.
Your Segments and Segment Roadmap might include:
1. Pragmatist/Lower socioeconomic buyer with a short 2-5 block commute
2. Pragmatist/Lower socioeconomic with a longer cross-city commute
3. Middle class/status chaser with short 2-5 block commute
4. Middle class/status chaser with longer cross-city commute
5. Rich snob with short 2-5 block commute
6. Rich snob with longer cross-city commute
So what are you going to build?
1. Persona: Pragmatist/Lower socioeconomic buyer with a short 2-5 block commute -
Product Changes: Low cost simple scooter with short battery life
2. Persona: Pragmatist/Lower socioeconomic with a longer cross-city commute
Product Changes: Low cost simple scooter with longer battery life and some creature comforts
3. Persona: Middle class/status chaser with short 2-5 block commute
Product Changes: Mid cost simple scooter with longer battery life and nicer materials
4. Persona: Middle class/status chaser with a longer cross city commute
Product Changes: High cost scooter with long battery life and nicer materials
5. Persona: Rich snob with short 2-5 block commute
Product Changes: Super fancy scooter with long battery life and limited edition black on black packaging
6. Persona: Rich snob with longer cross city commute
Product Changes: A 2 person scooter that comes with a Chauffeur
For each of the above, there would also be GTM messages and tactics that align with the persona.
Hopefully, it's obvious that subsequent product versions naturally build on the previous versions with minor variations (E.g., a longer battery life on the same basic scooter).
You build each one, one after the other. You CAN'T do it all at the same time.