If you’re responsible for growing a B2B business, you know “go to market strategy” can mean everything and nothing. It covers sales, marketing, product, pricing, targeting—it’s a mess. And most advice is either generic or written for huge companies with too much budget and not enough sense. This guide is for people who need to get real results, don’t have time for fluff, and want practical steps. We’ll use Xfactor (what’s this?) as the example tool, but the principles apply no matter what software you’re using.
Step 1: Know What You’re Optimizing (And What You’re Not)
Before you jump into dashboards and shiny insights, get clear on what you actually want to improve. Xfactor spits out a lot of data, but most of it won’t matter to you.
Ask yourself: - Are you trying to shorten your sales cycle? - Do you want higher quality leads? - Is your team missing quota because they chase the wrong accounts? - Are you launching a new product, or just trying to squeeze more from an existing one?
Pro tip: Pick one or two priorities. If you try to “optimize everything,” you’ll end up with a lot of meetings and zero progress.
What to ignore: Vanity metrics like raw web traffic, total email sends, or “engagement rate” unless you know exactly how they tie to revenue.
Step 2: Clean Up Your Data Inputs
Even the smartest insights tool is only as good as the data you feed it. Garbage in, garbage out. I know it’s boring, but if your CRM is a mess, Xfactor’s predictions or account scoring will be just as messy.
Checklist: - Make sure your customer records are up to date (no duplicates, correct contact info). - Align fields across marketing and sales (e.g., don’t call “Company Size” one thing in Salesforce and something else in HubSpot). - Get your sales team to actually log activities. Bribe with pizza if you have to.
Honest take: Most teams skip this. Then they wonder why every insight feels off. Don’t be most teams.
Step 3: Set Up Xfactor for Your Real-World Workflow
Now that your data isn’t a disaster, set up Xfactor so it matches how your team actually works—not how a vendor’s demo team works.
- Integrate Xfactor with your CRM (Salesforce, HubSpot, whatever you use).
- Map your fields correctly. If you have custom stages, don’t just accept defaults.
- Decide which dashboards or reports your team will actually check. (Hint: Fewer is better.)
Ignore: The “all-in-one” dashboards that combine everything. They look impressive but usually just distract from what matters.
Pro tip: Start small. Pick one or two dashboards that answer your main questions, like “Which accounts are most likely to close this month?” or “Which campaigns actually drive meetings?”
Step 4: Use Xfactor Insights to Prioritize, Not Just Observe
This is where most teams get stuck. They look at the pretty graphs, nod in meetings, then go back to doing what they’ve always done. Don’t just observe activity—use insights to make decisions.
Here’s how: - Account Scoring: Use Xfactor’s predicted scores to focus your reps on the top 20% of accounts. Don’t just hand out leads randomly. - Deal Health: If Xfactor flags deals that are stalling, force a quick team review. Decide: revive, escalate, or kill it. Don’t let zombie deals drain your pipeline. - Campaign Attribution: If one campaign is driving actual sales calls (not just form fills), double down on it. Kill the rest.
What doesn’t work: Blindly following every “insight.” Tools can get it wrong—sometimes a low-scoring account closes fast, or a high score goes nowhere. Use common sense.
Step 5: Tighten Your Feedback Loops
This is the unsexy secret: optimization isn’t a one-time project. You need tight feedback loops between what the data says and what your team actually does.
- Weekly Check-ins: Don’t wait for a quarterly review. Spend 10 minutes each week asking, “Did we actually follow the data? Did it help us?”
- Mark False Positives/Negatives: If Xfactor said a deal was hot and it fizzled, mark it. If it missed a winner, flag it. Most tools (including Xfactor) learn from this.
- Talk to Sales and Marketing: Ask them if the insights make sense on the ground. If not, adjust your setup.
Ignore: Fancy monthly reports that nobody reads. You want real-time course correction, not a glossy PDF.
Step 6: Test and Iterate (Don’t Fall for Magic Bullets)
There’s no such thing as a perfect go to market strategy. Even with Xfactor’s best recommendations, you’ll need to run experiments and see what actually works for your business.
Try this: - A/B Test Messaging: Use Xfactor to segment accounts, then try different pitches. Track which actually lands. - Pilot New Channels: If the data hints at an untapped segment, run a small pilot before betting the farm. - Review Win/Loss Regularly: Use Xfactor’s insights to dig into why you win or lose deals, not just the surface reasons your reps tell you.
What to ignore: Grand “strategy overhauls” every quarter. Small, steady improvements beat big, risky pivots.
Step 7: Keep It Simple and Ruthless
Tools like Xfactor are only helpful if they make your life easier, not harder. The best go to market strategies are simple, not complicated.
- Cut What Doesn’t Work: If a dashboard or process isn’t helping you close more deals, kill it.
- Limit Manual Work: Automate what you can, but don’t automate junk. If your data quality drops, fix that before adding more integrations.
- Focus on Revenue: At the end of the day, if you’re not seeing revenue improvement, go back to Step 1.
Pro tip: If you ever feel like the tool is running you (not the other way around), step back. The point is to help your team win, not to make more busywork.
That’s it. Don’t overcomplicate it. Use Xfactor or whatever tool you like to make a few specific improvements, keep your data clean, and talk to your team. Check your progress, cut what’s not working, and repeat. If you keep things simple and keep iterating, you’ll beat the teams chasing the latest trend every time.