Why GTM teams fail – and the three key steps to align and win

But as the excitement of a new year fades and teams begin working towards execution, an alarming question arises: are we truly aligned? As the future of work continues to evolve, the real challenge isn’t whether teams work in-office, remotely or hybrid; it’s about aligning teams to the right priorities and achieving measurable impact that drives business results.

 

A common misconception is that better collaboration is the solution. Collaboration, in theory, brings people together to be aligned in their goals. However, teams are already collaborating. They’re just not aligned. Collaboration that doesn’t directly align teams leads to confusion, scattered priorities and stalled execution.

 

My team collaborates. Are they still struggling?

 

Teams collaborate to complete their everyday initiatives. However, even with daily syncs, there are misses due to silos. Nearly 80 per cent of companies have siloed teams, with many relying on disparate tools and systems that hinder seamless communication. Departments such as sales, marketing, and customer success often use different platforms, operating in isolation and neglecting collective data. Additionally, not everyone is aligned around the same core focus – the customer. Without unified priorities, collaboration quickly devolves into disjointed efforts with teams working in parallel without harmony. In this fragmented landscape, achieving true alignment becomes problematic, making it harder for organisations to appropriately execute their strategies.

 

Why collaboration isn’t enough: the alignment gap

 

We’re all collaborating, but no one seems to be getting the alignment they need for the best return on investment. So, why is this happening?

 

Collaboration doesn’t always guarantee alignment and action. Teams frequently work together without a clear focus, shared priorities and mutual accountability. This often results in a bigger time-spend and a smaller ROI. For GTM teams, alignment is consistently an issue between marketing and sales teams, with these teams only collaborating in three out of 15 commercial activities, resulting in 80 per cent of key activities missing contributions. That’s a lot of disconnection. Without alignment, teams work ineffectively and inefficiently, wasting time, resources and energy on things that don’t drive results.

 

Guaranteeing alignment through collaboration

 

GTM leaders need to focus on three core pillars: collaborate, align, execute. This means ensuring teams come together to ideate under a unified understanding of the plan with a clear path to execution across the GTM function. Here are some guiding principles:

 

Ensure follow-through from inspiration to execution

While leaders might provide strategic visions, execution often fails because teams lose focus on their ROI. To bridge this gap, they need to intentionally bring teams together. For working sessions that result in the best ROI, using tools that templatise your GTM strategies will productively and visually align your team on a singular platform. Instead of trying to gather scattered information on your GTM strategy, bringing your team’s work onto one central repository can speed up your GTM process.

 

Get to alignment faster with AI

 

When properly applied, AI can analyse data across GTM teams, identifying key trends and risks that would otherwise go unnoticed. By providing actionable insights and automating repetitive tasks, AI helps teams align quickly around monumental initiatives, enabling them to make smarter decisions, adjust strategies on the fly and execute tasks faster. With AI, your speed to market will be markedly swifter. Rapid execution through AI-enabled, aligned teams will result in promptly completed tasks, driving greater ROI.

 

Identify collaboration moments during the GTM process

 

With increasing targets and leaner teams, GTM leaders cannot waste time. Alignment is a necessity. That’s why intentionally identifying when cross-functional teams should come together to collaborate are essential to continued alignment to the point of execution. Our teams use Mural to collaborate and centralise GTM planning. An important part of these collaboration moments should be tracking shared key metrics, refining go-forward strategies and operationalising workflows. For example, you could use your quarterly business reviews (QBRs) as a time of reflection, identifying teams’ struggle areas and creating optimal plans of attack. These insights help teams identify critical adjustments and make smarter, more efficient decisions centred around shared goals.

 

Achieving true alignment through collaborative execution

 

Across the board, our teams are already collaborating. But collaboration alone isn’t enough – success comes from ROI-driven action through true alignment. As GTM leaders shape the future of work, they must move beyond dissonant collaboration and focus on aligning around shared priorities, key metrics and strategic goals. By fostering real-time alignment through AI, centralised workflow platforms and structured reviews such as QBRs, teams can bridge the gap between collaboration and execution.

 

Collaboration that doesn’t result in alignment and execution is wasted time. Teams need to cut through the noise of constant communication and focus on how to get the entire GTM function working in a unified way to accelerate results.

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To learn more about how Mural helps empower cross-functional GTM teams to ideate, plan, and execute faster together, visit mural.co

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