If “go to market” makes you think of bloated slide decks, endless meetings, and lots of hand-waving, you’re not alone. Most B2B teams talk a big game about data-driven decisions but wind up following gut instinct, the loudest exec, or last quarter’s playbook. If your job is to actually hit targets (not just talk about them), you need real insights, not wishful thinking.
This guide is for B2B marketing, sales, and product folks who want to cut the noise and actually optimize. We’ll focus on using Xiqinc insights—not because it’s magic, but because its data can keep you honest. Here’s how to avoid busywork, figure out what’s working, and make decisions you won’t regret a quarter from now.
Step 1: Get a Clear View of Your Real Pipeline
Before you even think about “optimization,” you need to know what’s actually happening in your sales pipeline. Not what you wish was happening. Most teams mess this up by relying on CRM data that’s full of fantasy deals, sandbagging, and old contacts that should’ve been disqualified months ago.
With Xiqinc, you can: - See which accounts are actually active (real people clicking, responding, moving through the funnel—not just “open opps” that are collecting dust). - Spot ghosted deals early. Xiqinc highlights accounts that have gone cold, so you don’t waste time chasing dead ends. - Get a sense of where your leads are really coming from, not just the first form fill.
Pro tip: Don’t bother with “vanity metrics” like raw traffic or social shares. Focus on movement—who’s progressing through the funnel, and who’s stuck.
What to ignore:
- Deal stages that haven’t updated in 90 days (just call them dead).
- Salespeople “feeling good” about a deal with zero engagement.
Step 2: Map Insights to Real Buyer Behavior
It’s easy to imagine your ideal customer journey. Reality is always messier. Xiqinc can show you what your buyers actually do, not just what your playbooks say they should do.
Here’s what matters: - Which touchpoints actually drive meetings? (You might be surprised—often, it’s not the expensive campaign.) - Where do prospects drop off? Is it after a demo, during the trial, or when legal gets involved? - What content gets shared inside accounts? (If your case studies never get opened, stop making more.)
How to use Xiqinc here: - Run reports that track engagement by account and by stage. - Identify “hidden influencers”—contacts who aren’t on calls but read everything you send. - Compare winning deals to lost ones. Look for patterns in activity, not just titles.
Pro tip: Don’t just look at what’s popular. Look for what’s consistent in closed-won deals.
Stuff you can safely ignore:
- “Top content” that doesn’t move deals forward.
- Internal hype about a new campaign until you see actual impact.
Step 3: Sharpen Your Targeting (and Stop Wasting Money)
Most B2B teams target too broadly. Then they wonder why their conversion rates are flat. Xiqinc helps you zero in on the segments that actually engage and buy.
What to do: - Use Xiqinc’s segmentation to group accounts by industry, size, and real engagement—not just firmographics. - Cut spend on segments that never progress past the first email. - Double down on the verticals or regions where deals actually close faster and at higher value.
Example workflow: 1. Pull up Xiqinc’s account scoring dashboard. 2. Filter by accounts showing high multi-threaded engagement (more than one person involved). 3. Compare to your current paid ad and outbound lists. 4. Prune ruthlessly: if a segment hasn’t moved in 60 days, reallocate budget.
Pro tip: It’s better to have a smaller, highly engaged audience than to spray and pray. Chasing “coverage” is a great way to burn cash.
Step 4: Tighten Alignment Between Sales and Marketing
Let’s be honest: “alignment” usually means “we had a meeting and agreed to disagree.” The only way to actually get sales and marketing on the same page is to look at the same numbers.
Using Xiqinc, you can: - Build shared dashboards that show funnel conversion, deal velocity, and stuck accounts. - Agree on what counts as a qualified opportunity—backed by engagement data, not just activity quotas. - Set up alerts for when a target account goes cold, so SDRs don’t waste their time.
Practical tips: - Review Xiqinc dashboards together every week. Keep it to 30 minutes, max. - Kill any campaign or tactic that isn’t moving real pipeline. Don’t get sentimental.
What doesn’t work: - Pointless “MQL” handoffs. If sales ignores your leads, stop generating them and figure out why. - Reporting on activity for activity’s sake.
Step 5: Run Experiments—And Actually Learn From Them
B2B teams love to talk about being “data-driven,” but most experiments never get a fair shot. Either nobody measures the right thing, or everyone just cherry-picks results that fit the story they want to tell.
With Xiqinc, you can: - Set up simple A/B tests (like new messaging or offers) and measure real downstream impact: meetings booked, deals closed. - Track how changes in process (like shorter forms or new demo scripts) actually affect funnel progression. - See early if your experiment is a dud, so you can cut losses and move on.
How to actually do this: - Before you launch anything, define the one metric that matters (e.g., demos set, not just clicks). - Use Xiqinc to set up cohort tracking—so you’re not confusing seasonality or random spikes for real results. - Share honest results, good or bad. You’ll learn faster if you’re not sugarcoating.
Pro tip: Don’t run a bunch of tiny, unfocused tests. Pick one or two high-impact experiments per quarter and actually see them through.
Step 6: Close the Loop and Keep Improving
Optimization isn't one big reveal; it’s a habit. The teams that win aren’t the ones with the best tech—they’re just the ones who keep fixing what’s broken and doubling down on what works.
How to use Xiqinc to keep improving: - Set up recurring reviews where you actually look at what’s changed (not just what you hope will change). - Rerun your targeting and pipeline analysis every month. Markets shift fast, and so do buyer behaviors. - Don’t be afraid to kill your darlings. If a tactic or segment used to work but is now flatlining, move on.
What to avoid: - Endless “strategy” sessions that never result in action. - Waiting for perfect data—you’ll never have it. Use what you’ve got and adjust as you go.
Wrap-Up: Keep It Simple, Iterate Relentlessly
You don’t need a 50-slide deck or a six-figure consulting project to optimize your B2B go to market strategy. You just need to see what’s really happening, act on it, and repeat. Xiqinc isn’t a silver bullet, but it’ll keep you honest—and that’s half the battle.
Start small. Focus on what moves the needle. Review, refine, repeat. And don’t buy the hype—most teams are still guessing. Now you don’t have to.