3 GTM Strategies Used by Unicorn Company Leaders
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By: Tom Peterson

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3 GTM Strategies Used by Unicorn Company Leaders

Categories: Sales Leadership  |  Differentiation  |  Sales Training Initiative  |  Unicorn Companies

Less than 1,600 companies have ever achieved Unicorn status, which means they achieved a $1B valuation benchmark without going public. While the number of Unicorns has tripled over the past six years, they remain incredibly rare—fewer than 1% of tech startups get there. The ones that reach Unicorn-level don’t just grow—they scale with precision through a go-to-market (GTM) strategy that elevates a great product into a market leader. 

At Force Management, we’ve partnered with over 140 of these elite companies. Across these engagements, three common strategies consistently emerge: cross-functional alignment on customer value, managers are equipped to coach, and executive buy-in that drives the initiative from the top down. Here’s a breakdown of how our Unicorn clients implemented these strategies: 

1. GTM Alignment is a Top Priority

Misalignment across product, marketing, customer success and sales leads to long sales cycles, missed forecasts, smaller deal sizes, and higher churn—all of which stall growth. Unicorn leaders know that to scale, they must unify their teams around a shared understanding of the problems their solution solves, how it solves them better than the alternatives, and how that is communicated and executed in a way that aligns to customer outcomes. It’s about aligned messaging across customer engagement and throughout each pre- and post-sale handoff.

That’s where Command of the Message® comes in. This sales messaging methodology ensures that every customer-facing team member can articulate value in a way that resonates with key stakeholders. With buying committees averaging five members—and often exceeding ten—teams must be equipped to tailor their sales messaging to diverse priorities and coach champions to sell internally.

Here are two resources for improving messaging alignment in today’s B2B tech landscape:

2. Investment in Manager Enablement

Your front-line managers are the linchpin to increased sales productivity. They are your boots on the ground, your force multiplier that ensures margins are preserved and revenue numbers are met. Many sales organizations make the mistake of telling managers what to do, without telling them how  to do it. Change initiatives lose momentum when front-line managers lack the tools needed to deliver great coaching. 

Unicorn companies avoid this pitfall by investing in manager enablement tools that integrate with their tech stack, provide data to direct manager-coaching, and reinforce the desired skills and best practices. Some of the tools leaders can employ to ensure their managers are equipped to drive execution are:

3. Executive Buy-In: Lead From the Front

If you want change, you need to own it. Don't delegate it to enablement. If you want results, you need to own the initiative that's going to get you there. If you aren't demonstrating the importance of the initiative by making it a priority, showing up to meetings, talking the language in meetings, etc… your team is not going to see it as a priority.

We call this Leading from the Front—when leaders are actively involved in the development, rollout, and reinforcement of the GTM strategy. Don’t make the mistake of letting your initiative and execution plan fall flat because it lacked the critical, ongoing support of the most visible and influential executives.

Here’s how three of our Unicorn customers achieved success by leading from the front:

project44: Shortly after achieving Unicorn status, project44 saw an opportunity to capture white space by aligning global teams around a unified messaging framework. CRO Tim Bertrand told the board he was confident Force Management could help them scale—but only if their top executives and key personnel were all-in.

The results for project44: 115% increase in ARR, making them larger than their next seven competitors combined. Read more.

Aptean had worked with a partner for years to develop a strong GTM motion, but leaders recognized gaps in their process were stalling growth. COO and President Bob Kocis collaborated with the Force Management team to assess the existing processes and tools. Subsequently, they restructured the GTM with a customized version of Command of the Message. Here, Kocis and Executive Vice President of the Americas Sean Nappo describe how customization and the draft-in approach were crucial to their decision to bring in an outside partner that helped them reach their desired outcomes:

The results for Aptean: 64% increase in average deal size and 400+ team members trained globally. Read more.

Segment's former CRO Joe Morrisey describes, “I know you only get one shot as a sales leader at this level, so that’s what prompted my call to Force Management.” By bringing a cross-functional group of leaders together for the early workshops to build the Value Framework, Morrisey was able to solidify alignment around the value and differentiation Segment provided to their most important buying audiences. Here he describes the process of getting the top executives bought-in:

The results for Segment: 150% Growth in ARR and a $3.2B acquisition by Twilio.

 

Leverage the Strategies of the Top 1%

Unicorn companies achieve the unthinkable by ensuring alignment and manager enablement are topline organizational priorities. And they drive their initiative into unicorn-level growth with leaders who are committed to leading their revenue team by example in their day-to-day. Dig into more leader strategies from our partnerships with over 140 unicorn companies and witness the transformational outcomes they achieved. 

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