Welcome to GTM Survivor Island—the place solely the certified survive.
This 3-part weblog collection is tailored from our webinar, “GTM Survivor Island: 3 Lead Gen Performs to Win the Pipeline Recreation for Good.” Over the course of 39 days and three key performs, we’ll present you methods to:
- Outplay the chaos by separating actual purchaser alerts from noise.
- Outqualify the noise by forging an unshakable Gross sales–Advertising alliance.
- Outconvert the competitors by constructing a GTM system that scales like a loop, not a lottery.
“Wanna Know What You’re Taking part in For?”
Every a part of this collection builds on the final—strolling you thru the identical methods that a whole lot of demand gen leaders are utilizing to show clicks into credibility, and credibility into pipeline that wins.
Able to go deeper? Obtain the playbook: Extra Than MQLs: The HQL Playbook for Fashionable B2B Lead Gen and get 12 confirmed performs to show purchaser alerts into actual pipeline.
On this collection, we’re exploring how B2B entrepreneurs can outplay the chaos, outqualify the noise, and outconvert the competitors—drawing from the identical methods shared dwell with a whole lot of demand gen leaders.
In Half 1, we explored methods to mild the sign fireplace by qualifying leads with timeline, ache, and urgency, so Gross sales will get fireplace, not smoke.
Now, it’s time to leap ahead within the recreation to Day 20, the place we discover ways to Forge the GTM Alliance.
“In This Recreation, Fireplace Represents Your Life”
Picture by Aleksandr Khomenko on Unsplash
Similar to within the recreation of Survivor, fireplace alone gained’t preserve you alive.
To win, Gross sales and Advertising should merge into one tribe, aligning on what “certified” actually means, and constructing a system of belief that turns alerts into motion. By Day 20 on GTM Island, fireplace alone gained’t preserve you alive.
You’ve sparked a sign, however now comes the actual check: are you able to align with Gross sales and transfer as one?
Within the recreation, Day 20 usually marks the merge—when previous tribes collide, alliances are examined, and belief decides who lasts. In B2B, it’s no totally different. Your leads are flowing, but when Gross sales doesn’t belief what you’re handing over, your fireplace burns out quick.
That is the place most advertising groups stumble.
They generate leads however ship them with out readability or urgency. Gross sales seems to be on the handoff, shrugs, and strikes on. Now, as an alternative of an ally you possibly can depend on, you’ve doubtlessly created an apathetic (or worse) collaborator who isn’t eager about working with you transferring ahead.
The query isn’t: Did you generate sufficient leads?
It’s, “Can Gross sales and Advertising win this recreation collectively?”
Why Most Alliances Collapse
For all of the vitality which will encompass it, the unlucky actuality is that the majority GTM alliances break down earlier than they even begin.
The tribes that develop aside are inclined to:
- Outline “certified” in a vacuum, with out Gross sales enter.
- Toss uncooked leads over the fence with zero alerts.
- Blame the rep when conversion stalls, as an alternative of fixing the system.
However the tribes that develop as one? They work in live performance. They don’t merely hand issues off and overlook about it. They’ve belief as a result of it’s been established, nurture, and paid off earlier than.
Successful tribes:
- Co-build qualification guidelines.
- Route leads with full purchaser context, mapped instantly into the CRM.
- Align on SLAs, so everybody is aware of what occurs subsequent.
Once more, it’s not about extra leads. It’s about shared belief and execution.
The Alliance Framework: Rising Collectively
So how do you flip finger-pointing into partnership?
Consider your GTM system like an epiphytic plant. These crops thrive not by competing for soil, however by rising with their surroundings—sharing mild, sharing construction, scaling by help.
That’s what an actual Gross sales–Advertising alliance seems to be like.
Right here’s the framework that retains the alliance alive:
- Shared Language: Outline “sales-ready” collectively. Not simply job titles, however declared ache, shopping for stage, and urgency.
- Sign-Based mostly Routing: Let purchaser habits—not division possession—resolve who strikes subsequent.
- SLAs That Stick: Set the rhythm for follow-up. When will we reply? How? Monitor it.
- CRM Activation: Make alerts seen within the CRM. Push ache, urgency, and timeline instantly into the rep’s workflow.
- Coordinated Execution: Joint performs, joint visibility, seamless purchaser expertise. You don’t simply go the torch—you run the relay collectively.
That is how Gross sales stops asking “Are these leads any good?”—and begins saying, “Ship me ten extra identical to that.”
Three Traps That Break Alliances
Even with the fitting framework, unhealthy habits can spoil every little thing. Be careful for:
- Scoring in a silo. If Gross sales wasn’t within the room when scoring guidelines had been constructed, your rating doesn’t matter.
- Burying purchaser alerts. If Gross sales can’t see timeline or ache, they’re flying blind.
- Blaming Gross sales for damaged move. If leads stall, the issue is often the system—not the rep.
Most blindsides aren’t betrayal. They’re miscommunication.
Day 20 Guidelines: What Actual Alignment Appears to be like Like
Right here’s how you recognize your alliance is definitely working:
- ✅ You’ve agreed on sales-ready standards collectively.
- ✅ Leads are routed primarily based on urgency, not job title.
- ✅ CRM exhibits the total purchaser image—timeline, ache, urgency.
- ✅ SLAs are outlined, enforced, and on the clock.
This isn’t a handoff. It’s a handshake.
The Day 20 Readiness Scorecard
Earlier than you progress into endgame mode, pressure-test your alliance:
- Have you ever outlined sales-ready standards collectively?
- Are you routing primarily based on sign power?
- Are SLAs energetic, tracked, and visual?
If you happen to can’t reply “sure” throughout the board, your alliance is fragile. And fragile alliances don’t survive Day 39.
The Merge Is Your Turning Level
Picture by Aidan Smith on Unsplash
On Survivor, the merge adjustments every little thing—alliances are examined, and solely essentially the most strategic survive. In GTM, Day 20 is your merge.
You’ve constructed the fireplace. Now you should construct belief. With out it, pipeline slows. With it, you speed up towards the win.
Day 20 is about alignment, not lead quantity. And alignment is the one approach to make it to the Ultimate Tribal.
You may view the total GTM Survivor Island: 3 Lead Gen Performs to Win the Pipeline Recreation for Good on-demand webinar above.
