What strategies can eliminate go-to-market bloat and improve CAC?

In today's competitive market, B2B companies are facing increasing pressure to streamline their operations while improving efficiency. One area that often faces scrutiny is the go-to-market (GTM) strategy. Many companies experience "GTM bloat," where excess spending and inefficient processes negatively impact profitability and customer acquisition costs (CAC). This post explores key strategies that can help companies eliminate GTM bloat, improve CAC, and ultimately drive profitable growth.

Understanding Go-To-Market Bloat

Go-to-market bloat happens when companies over-invest in sales, marketing, and customer acquisition resources without getting a proportional return. This often includes spending too much on headcount, technology, events, and marketing channels that don’t generate effective results. For instance, many businesses overstaff their sales teams based on inefficient models that project unrealistic pipeline growth. When there is too much focus on low-quality leads, it necessitates hiring more sales development representatives (SDRs) to chase a minimal conversion rate, creating further inefficiency.

Chris Walker, a recognized expert in revenue leadership, points out that many companies fail to recognize this issue until their financial performance deteriorates. Often, marketing and sales teams operate in silos with each department justifying its own spend and proving its worth. However, when these reports are consolidated, they paint a misleading picture of success, masking the inefficiencies that exist across the broader GTM engine.

Key Strategies to Eliminate Go-To-Market Bloat

1. Reassess Marketing Spend with a Focus on ROI A significant part of GTM bloat comes from inefficient marketing spend, such as excessive investment in events, digital performance marketing, and ineffective content syndication. For instance, many companies spend heavily on trade shows, building expensive booths, and sponsoring events, but the return on these investments is often minimal when measured against the broader GTM strategy.
   To reduce this inefficiency, companies should perform detailed analyses of their marketing expenditures. Look at each marketing channel's contribution to pipeline and revenue generation and cut back on those that deliver low ROI. For example, many businesses rely on LinkedIn ads and content syndication to generate leads, yet these tactics can be highly ineffective when pursued without proper evaluation.
   Redirect these funds toward more productive initiatives, such as high-quality content marketing, community building, or targeted campaigns that align with your buyers’ behaviors. Instead of chasing MQLs through lead generation ads, invest in strategies that educate and engage buyers where they spend most of their time.
2. Right-Size the Sales Team Based on Effective Pipeline Many B2B companies struggle with bloated sales teams, often hiring more reps than needed due to faulty demand forecasting models. Walker explains that companies frequently overspend on SDRs and account executives because their marketing efforts aren’t generating enough high-quality pipeline, leading to salespeople working on fewer deals than their quotas suggest.
   By realigning the sales team's size with the actual productive pipeline, businesses can significantly reduce costs. For instance, if only 35-45% of your sales reps are meeting their quotas, you likely have too many reps relative to the pipeline you generate. Focus instead on generating more quality leads and pipeline through marketing, which will naturally improve the productivity of your existing salesforce.
   In this context, sales enablement becomes crucial. Sales teams should receive regular, high-quality leads from marketing, not a flood of unqualified ones. Streamlining lead generation and qualification processes will allow companies to optimize the number of salespeople they need.
3. Shift to a Top-Down Approach for GTM Analytics Another source of GTM bloat is fragmented analytics. Many companies rely on bottom-up reporting from individual channels, which paints an overly positive picture of marketing and sales activities. However, this approach overlooks key financial metrics, such as CAC payback period and the real cost of acquiring customers.
   Adopting a top-down GTM analytics model allows businesses to prioritize revenue and business impact first. Walker emphasizes the need for top-level business metrics—growth rate, net revenue retention (NRR), and CAC payback period—as the guiding factors for GTM decisions. By starting with these core financial indicators, companies can better assess which marketing and sales efforts drive profitability and which contribute to bloat.
   For instance, rather than measuring success by the number of MQLs generated or the volume of leads from content syndication, businesses should measure the actual revenue impact and sales velocity improvement. This approach encourages companies to identify which strategies truly move the needle on CAC and revenue.
4. Automate Low-Value Tasks in Sales Development Sales development teams often spend too much time on repetitive, low-value tasks, such as manual lead follow-up, cold calling, and list building. In the past, it was common to use a high-volume, low-quality approach to pipeline building. However, in today’s efficiency-driven market, these strategies create massive inefficiencies.
   Automating SDR tasks can significantly improve CAC and streamline GTM operations. For instance, using AI and automation tools to handle routine tasks—such as research, basic outreach, and appointment setting—frees up SDRs to focus on more meaningful, higher-value activities. This can reduce the size of your SDR team while improving the quality of pipeline generated, as fewer resources are spent chasing unqualified leads.
5. Invest in Demand Creation Instead of Lead Generation In recent years, there’s been a shift from traditional lead generation strategies, which are often transactional and short-term, to demand creation strategies that focus on long-term brand building and market education. Companies that invest heavily in transactional lead gen tactics—such as paid advertising for email addresses or gated content—often experience low conversion rates and high CAC.
   Walker suggests focusing on demand creation strategies that build brand trust and educate buyers throughout the funnel. Hosting webinars, creating educational content, and building a strong presence on social media platforms like LinkedIn are effective ways to generate demand. When potential customers are educated and engaged, they are more likely to convert into high-quality leads, reducing the need for an overly large sales team and cutting down on acquisition costs.
6. Leverage Technology Efficiently Over-bloated tech stacks are another contributor to inefficient GTM strategies. While marketing and sales technologies are crucial for scaling operations, companies often overspend on tools that don’t provide tangible results. Walker highlights the tendency for companies to buy numerous tech tools—CRM systems, sales engagement platforms, marketing automation tools—without fully utilizing them or assessing their actual impact on revenue.
   Conduct a thorough audit of your tech stack to identify underused or unnecessary tools. Consolidate platforms where possible, and focus your technology spend on tools that directly support your pipeline-building and revenue-generating activities. This not only reduces wasteful expenditures but also simplifies processes across marketing and sales.

Conclusion

Eliminating GTM bloat and improving CAC is not a one-time fix—it requires a holistic approach that addresses inefficiencies across sales, marketing, and analytics. By reassessing marketing spend, right-sizing the sales team, adopting a top-down analytics approach, and focusing on automation and demand creation, businesses can cut costs while improving their overall go-to-market efficiency.

Companies that succeed in reducing GTM bloat not only improve profitability but also become more agile and responsive to changes in the market. This streamlined approach ensures that every dollar spent on customer acquisition delivers a meaningful return, positioning businesses for sustainable growth in a competitive landscape.