Welcome to GTM Survivor Island—the place solely the certified survive.
This 3-part weblog sequence is customized from our webinar, “GTM Survivor Island: 3 Lead Gen Performs to Win the Pipeline Sport for Good.” Over the course of 39 days and three key performs, we’ll present you learn how to:
- Outplay the chaos by separating actual purchaser indicators from noise.
- Outqualify the noise by forging an unshakable Gross sales–Advertising and marketing alliance.
- Outconvert the competitors by constructing a GTM system that scales like a loop, not a lottery.
“Wanna Know What You’re Enjoying For?”
Every a part of this sequence builds on the final—strolling you thru the identical methods that a whole lot of demand gen leaders are utilizing to show clicks into credibility, and credibility into pipeline that wins.
Able to go deeper? Obtain the playbook: Extra Than MQLs: The HQL Playbook for Trendy B2B Lead Gen and get 12 confirmed performs to show purchaser indicators into actual pipeline.
On this sequence, we’re exploring how B2B entrepreneurs can outplay the chaos, outqualify the noise, and outconvert the competitors—drawing from the identical methods shared stay with a whole lot of demand gen leaders.
In Half 1, we explored learn how to gentle the sign fireplace by qualifying leads with timeline, ache, and urgency, so Gross sales will get fireplace, not smoke.
Now, it’s time to leap ahead within the sport to Day 20, the place we learn to Forge the GTM Alliance.
“In This Sport, Fireplace Represents Your Life”
Picture by Aleksandr Khomenko on Unsplash
Similar to within the sport of Survivor, fireplace alone received’t preserve you alive.
To win, Gross sales and Advertising and marketing should merge into one tribe, aligning on what “certified” actually means, and constructing a system of belief that turns indicators into motion. By Day 20 on GTM Island, fireplace alone received’t preserve you alive.
You’ve sparked a sign, however now comes the actual take a look at: are you able to align with Gross sales and transfer as one?
Within the sport, Day 20 sometimes marks the merge—when outdated tribes collide, alliances are examined, and belief decides who lasts. In B2B, it’s no completely different. Your leads are flowing, but when Gross sales doesn’t belief what you’re handing over, your fireplace burns out quick.
That is the place most advertising and marketing groups stumble.
They generate leads however ship them with out readability or urgency. Gross sales seems on the handoff, shrugs, and strikes on. Now, as a substitute of an ally you’ll be able to depend on, you’ve probably created an apathetic (or worse) collaborator who isn’t desirous about working with you shifting ahead.
The query isn’t: Did you generate sufficient leads?
It’s, “Can Gross sales and Advertising and marketing win this sport collectively?”
Why Most Alliances Collapse
For all of the power that will encompass it, the unlucky actuality is that almost all GTM alliances break down earlier than they even begin.
The tribes that develop aside are inclined to:
- Outline “certified” in a vacuum, with out Gross sales enter.
- Toss uncooked leads over the fence with zero indicators.
- Blame the rep when conversion stalls, as a substitute of fixing the system.
However the tribes that develop as one? They work in live performance. They don’t merely hand issues off and neglect about it. They’ve belief as a result of it’s been established, nurture, and paid off earlier than.
Successful tribes:
- Co-build qualification guidelines.
- Route leads with full purchaser context, mapped straight into the CRM.
- Align on SLAs, so everybody is aware of what occurs subsequent.
Once more, it’s not about extra leads. It’s about shared belief and execution.
The Alliance Framework: Rising Collectively
So how do you flip finger-pointing into partnership?
Consider your GTM system like an epiphytic plant. These crops thrive not by competing for soil, however by rising with their surroundings—sharing gentle, sharing construction, scaling by means of assist.
That’s what an actual Gross sales–Advertising and marketing alliance seems like.
Right here’s the framework that retains the alliance alive:
- Shared Language: Outline “sales-ready” collectively. Not simply job titles, however declared ache, shopping for stage, and urgency.
- Sign-Primarily based Routing: Let purchaser habits—not division possession—determine who strikes subsequent.
- SLAs That Stick: Set the rhythm for follow-up. When will we reply? How? Observe it.
- CRM Activation: Make indicators seen within the CRM. Push ache, urgency, and timeline straight into the rep’s workflow.
- Coordinated Execution: Joint performs, joint visibility, seamless purchaser expertise. You don’t simply move the torch—you run the relay collectively.
That is how Gross sales stops asking “Are these leads any good?”—and begins saying, “Ship me ten extra similar to that.”
Three Traps That Break Alliances
Even with the appropriate framework, unhealthy habits can break every part. Be careful for:
- Scoring in a silo. If Gross sales wasn’t within the room when scoring guidelines have been constructed, your rating doesn’t matter.
- Burying purchaser indicators. If Gross sales can’t see timeline or ache, they’re flying blind.
- Blaming Gross sales for damaged stream. If leads stall, the issue is normally the system—not the rep.
Most blindsides aren’t betrayal. They’re miscommunication.
Day 20 Guidelines: What Actual Alignment Seems to be Like
Right here’s how your alliance is definitely working:
- ✅ You’ve agreed on sales-ready standards collectively.
- ✅ Leads are routed based mostly on urgency, not job title.
- ✅ CRM exhibits the complete purchaser image—timeline, ache, urgency.
- ✅ SLAs are outlined, enforced, and on the clock.
This isn’t a handoff. It’s a handshake.
The Day 20 Readiness Scorecard
Earlier than you progress into endgame mode, pressure-test your alliance:
- Have you ever outlined sales-ready standards collectively?
- Are you routing based mostly on sign energy?
- Are SLAs energetic, tracked, and visual?
In the event you can’t reply “sure” throughout the board, your alliance is fragile. And fragile alliances don’t survive Day 39.
The Merge Is Your Turning Level
Picture by Aidan Smith on Unsplash
On Survivor, the merge adjustments every part—alliances are examined, and solely essentially the most strategic survive. In GTM, Day 20 is your merge.
You’ve constructed the hearth. Now it’s worthwhile to construct belief. With out it, pipeline slows. With it, you speed up towards the win.
Day 20 is about alignment, not lead quantity. And alignment is the one strategy to make it to the Ultimate Tribal.
You may view the complete GTM Survivor Island: 3 Lead Gen Performs to Win the Pipeline Sport for Good on-demand webinar above.
