Where Are You Really on the Growth Curve?
Are You Aligned?
Have you noticed that growth often feels harder than it should?
You’ve read the books, listened to the podcasts, been to webinars and talked with other leaders. You know what you should be doing, but despite following these approaches, you might still feel like things aren’t ‘in flow.’
Have you also noticed that even when you get your leadership team together, there’s a surprising lack of agreement about what the real priorities should be?
This post is for you if:
Growth feels harder than it should
Your team isn’t fully aligned on priorities
I have seen this a lot when working with CEOs and leadership teams of growing B2B tech and services firms.
There’s often a really simple issue going on, and that is:
>>> You’re not aligned on where your business actually sits on its growth journey right now.
If you don’t have this alignment around your growth strategy, you probably don’t have a clear set of product development, sales or marketing actions that are right for your business right now.
I believe this can be exacerbated by the fact that many leaders don’t have a deep understanding of the nuances and complexities of sales and marketing disciplines. That’s not a criticism, but most of us aren’t experts in all aspects of everything.
One of the most helpful frameworks I’ve found to bring clarity is Geoffrey Moore’s book Crossing the Chasm.
Crossing the Chasm - Explainer
Crossing the Chasm is a model originally developed for B2B technology companies. It describes how new products and services are adopted over time and how to approach the market depending on which stage you are in.
Moore also explains why so many businesses stall before reaching mainstream success - in essence because their approach is not fit for purpose at the stage they are currently in.
As businesses grow they tend to move through stages:
The Early Market
Innovators - these are your beta clients, who are really excited about the solution and are happy to be guinea pigs with all the ‘rough edges’
Early adopters - who want to be ‘the first’ and think this might give them an advantage in the market
The Mainstream Market
The early majority - they will buy because they think there is a good ROI argument, but they are risk-averse and want a fully-functioning offering
Late majority and laggards - this is when you are so mainstream that there’s very little question about who to buy - you are the industry default!
The Chasm
Between the two markets is a ‘chasm’ which businesses have to cross. Before crossing you need a ’whole product’ solution, including clear value, customer support, documentation, case studies etc. Moore argues that many businesses try and reach the mainstream before they are ready and therefore flounder in the chasm.
I think the key takeaway for businesses is this: each stage requires a very different sales and marketing approach.
What works brilliantly with early adopters often fails completely with more pragmatic buyers. And trying to scale before you’ve crossed the chasm is a fast way to burn cash, exhaust your team, develop an offering that buyers won’t pay for and lose market confidence.
It Fits Most B2B Businesses
Although the model came from tech, I’ve found it just as useful when working with B2B services firms, engineering-led businesses, and organisations with complex, high-value offerings and relationship-led sales.
I have also found it useful where you have an existing and established ‘mainstream’ business develop a new offering. The two products/services will need two very different approaches, as one may be right back at the start of the curve and need a different approach to its older sibling.
Why This Matters for Leaders
I definitely don’t think CEOs and leaders struggle because they lack ideas. Mostly I see the struggle is with implementation - where effort and resources get spread too thinly. We all have the same number of hours in the day. And whether you have $10,000 or $10million to spend on growth - trust me, you still will need to prioritise.
You need a shared agreement on what matters right now.
As we kick off a new year, I think it’s really important to ensure you and your team understand and agree where you are now and where you are going next.
Sure, you need to agree on where you are going in the long-term, but you need to get there. Jumping ahead too soon might mean you never reach that point, or it might take you a lot longer than you want.
Used well, I have seen this framework help with:
Alignment – getting leadership, sales, marketing and product teams on the same page
Clarity & focus – stopping mismatched activities that keep people busy, but drain energy and budget
Confidence – knowing your priorities actually fit your current reality
That clarity feeds directly into outcomes leaders care about: revenue growth, pipeline health, effective use of spend, and confidence in front of boards or investors.
How To Tell Where You Sit?
OK, so this might all sound theoretical, so below are some indicators and questions for you to ask to help identify where your business sits, and therefore what actions to prioritise.
I’ll start with a story.
A professional services business who was already highly successful in their field globally. They were entering a new geography and leading with a product that was relatively early stage. We all agreed that Crossing the Chasm was a useful framework for us to work to, but yet we still seemed not to agree on what our priorities were.
One person was off courting big organisations - exciting blue-chip names we’d love to have on our website, but it was taking time. A lot of time and effort and as yet, little payback. They wanted trials, meetings and case studies.
Another person was flying all over the place doing demos and meeting with a range of ‘prospects’ - from small to mid-sized, and in different segments. He was exhausted and crying out for resources to support his conversations - from case studies to datapoints, to flexible pricing.
We wanted to consolidate our approach. Surely it should be easy as Crossing the Chasm has a playbook approach of what to do at each stage?
But when we looked at the Crossing the Chasm diagram, we all stabbed our fingers in a different position! And therein lay our problem.
And that was when I developed these questions. Step one was getting agreement on where we were.
Once we did this, it was much easier to agree on our priorities and to have a shared language of what we were trying to do and WHY.
Once used with them, it has provided a useful guide to a range of conversations with businesses.
Where Am I?
I have just focused on the initial stages here, as this is where I think many of the businesses I see need most help.
Questions
Rather than debating opinions, I’ve found it far more useful to ask structured questions of the team and see what evidence you have of where you are.
Often, the value isn’t just in the answers, but in the discussion they trigger.
👉 [Download the full set of diagnostic questions here] (insert link).
Next Steps
If this resonates, I suggest these next steps:
Ask the questions – get your ‘growth’ team (leaders, sales, marketing, product etc) and ask everyone the questions and see where you land.
Get alignment - agree where you are on the curve.
Agree on priorities - once you know your stage, identify your priorities. This may be a reinforcement you are on the right track, or it may be a big shift
Focus on the next 90 days – identify what you need to do right now in the next 90 days
This year should not be about doing more, but about doing the right things for your business right now.
And if you’d value an external perspective to help guide your discussions, prioritise action or just sense-check your thinking - get in touch; I’d love to help.
Get in Touch
We partner with CEOs and leaders of B2B tech and services companies who are ready to grow.
We have a particular sweet-spot for helping teams where there is a low-volume, high value offering that involves a personalised sales approach. ♥️
We help you get a plan that is aligned with your business objectives, and build a ‘growth engine’ that turns your marketing and sales activity into something that scales with you as you grow.
If you are looking to grow your business and are interested in building a sustainable approach to growth, then I’d love to chat.
Give me a shout, Helen
021 900335
helen@shorthouse.co.nz