New Research: CEOs Gear for Growth, but Grapple with Talent Questions
By Matt Sommi, Bespoke Partners, and Rahul Puri, SBI
The good news is that most CEOs see growth ahead and are happy with their growth strategies and operations.
The not-so-good news is that far fewer CEOs are happy with the Go-to-Market talent executing on those growth plans.
These recent research findings underscore a significant spike in GTM leadership turnover appearing in the latest talent market data.
Our companies, Bespoke Partners and SBI Growth Advisory, just released a new batch of research that highlights the conundrum facing leaders as they look forward to growth in 2024. Both sets of research focus predominantly on companies with private equity sponsors.
Simply put, the tools are in place, but trust in talent is lacking.
Let’s dig into the findings and consider how companies can address GTM talent shortcomings.
Back on the Growth Path
SBI’s CEO Value Creation Pulse report released in March reveals that C-suite leaders are once again feeling optimistic about growth as demand indicators are on the rise.
More than half of the CEOs responding to the survey say demand is accelerating in 2024, almost twice the proportion with this optimistic outlook a year ago.
After a challenging 2023, these leaders see improving demand signals in the market and are once again gearing up to grow.
Further, SBI’s data shows that most CEOs have confidence in their GTM strategies, Product-Market Fit, Operating Models, and Technology Infrastructures.
But the optimism is tempered by concerns over talent.
Specifically, more than 80% of the surveyed leaders view talent as a critical factor for execution on growth plans.
Yet only half believe they have the right commercial team in place to execute on growth strategies. Primary concerns indicated in SBI’s findings are whether the GTM organization has the right skills and the right people, and if they are using their time in the right ways.
Further, SBI’s survey results show a marked decrease of CEOs’ confidence in their Chief Revenue Officers and Chief Marketing Officers when compared to this time last year.
Addressing the Talent Gap
SBI’s report indicates that the majority of CEOs are focusing on addressing the gap in talent by managing out lower performing GTM staff and hiring in better performers.
Indeed, talent market data verifies this trend, especially among senior GTM leadership.
Bespoke’s findings in its recent Private Equity Talent Report Market Update show that GTM leaders are being turned over at a higher rate than most other senior executives. The report focuses on leader turnover at 794 software and SaaS companies in the United States.
The data shows that GTM leaders have experienced the largest increase in turnover in recent months, running 34% higher now than in mid 2023.
Guidance from clients is that this spike in turnover is being driven by the need to uplevel GTM teams. The trend aligns with SBI’s finding that CEOs are relying heavily on new hires to fill the GTM talent gap.
GTM Skills in Demand
The trend begs the question: if present talent does not inspire confidence, what are CEO’s looking for?
Bespoke’s research indicates that software and SaaS companies are increasingly focused on recruiting GTM leaders with strong track records in driving capital-efficient growth, to grow revenues while using resources wisely to enhance margins.
This is in contrast to the “landgrab” strategy that has been common in years past, based on the idea that grabbing market share is key almost at any cost because profit will follow once customers are engaged.
SBI’s research focuses on companies beyond software and SaaS but it still indicates a similar trend, with a rise in CEOs who say they want to accelerate growth without increasing expense.
Both sets of research are showing evidence of a closely related trend: emphasis on GTM leaders with a focus on customer retention.
Enhancing the relationship with existing customers enables revenue growth without new customer acquisition costs, a proven formula for capital-efficient growth.
This strategy has given rise to the Customer Success function in many companies and Bespoke’s data shows increasing recruiting interest in these roles and for CROs with a track record in customer retention. These GTM team members own renewal transactions and generate upsell and cross-sell opportunities by enhancing the engagement with customers after the initial sale.
Success Factors
The research and analysis from SBI and Bespoke indicate several critical considerations for GTM success in the evolving environment. They include:
1. Optimizing productivity & efficiency of GTM teams.
SBI’s research in particular revealed the uncertainty that senior leaders have about whether their GTM teams are spending their time the right way to drive growth. Bespoke’s work with clients underscores this point with the finding that data-driven GTM leaders are in high demand. Executives need to establish clear and measurable Key Performance Indicators for sales teams and then track and optimize to maximize efficiency.
2. Tapping technology innovations such as generative AI.
While AI has been riding high on the hype curve, some of the immediate practical applications for the technology has been in the rapid development of content. Thought leadership material, industry trend analysis and similar content can be very helpful for GTM teams to engage with customers. In more advanced applications, AI can support richer customer interaction and engagement such as through chat functions and similar customer-facing use cases. These help keep the cost of sales low and promote profitable growth.
3. Accelerating new hire onboarding.
Time is of the essence in growth execution so leaders need to focus on helping new hires achieve maximum productivity as fast as possible. This is especially important since CEOs have indicated that their preferred approach to improve sales performance in today’s environment is by upleveling GTM teams with new hires.
Looking Forward to Growth
The trends analyzed by SBI and Bespoke indicate that companies see a return to growth this year as market headwinds lessen. But maximizing growth in the evolving environment will require finding the right GTM talent, accelerating onboarding, and driving efficient execution of GTM plans.
Looking forward to growth in 2024? SBI offers proven growth strategies and Bespoke provides access to proven GTM leaders. Click on one of the Contact Us buttons below to learn more.
About SBI
SBI builds multi-year value creation plans anchored to strategic bets and ongoing execution for GTM leaders to make the right decisions and get results quickly.
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About Bespoke Partners
Bespoke Partners can help companies seize emerging opportunities by staying ahead in the software and SaaS leadership market.
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Bespoke Partners Named in Top 10 of the “Top 49 Retained Executive Search” 2-Years Running by C-Suite CV Secure.
Author:
Matt Sommi
Senior Vice President
Based in Philadelphia, Matt helps lead Bespoke’s client engagement efforts across the firm’s suite of services.
Prior to joining Bespoke, Matt spent 8 years in research and business development at GLG, supporting private equity due diligence efforts and building relationships with GLG’s middle market private equity firms.
Author:
Rahul Puri
Partner – Growth & Private Equity Practice Co-Head
SBI, The Growth Advisory
Strategic leader responsible for driving initiatives from ideation to execution across all functions driving revenue at SBI Growth Advisory. Consistent performer and over achiever in driving sales, client relationship, operational and productivity improvements and building teams.