Stop Treating Symptoms. A Proper Diagnosis is Everything.
Stalled growth for a B2B tech company can have many root causes. A marketing problem, a sales problem, a strategy problem. They all look the same from the outside. But the fixes are completely different.
I use a specific diagnostic framework for each common GTM failure pattern. This ensures we’re solving the right problem. Not wasting time on symptoms.
Why a System is Better Than a Guess
Most companies try to fix stalled growth symptom by symptom. They hire more reps, increase ad spend, or push for more features, hoping something works. These are expensive guesses that rarely address the systemic cause of the problem.
I’ve seen this fail too many times. There’s a better way. It requires a fundamental shift in thinking.
First, we stop treating symptoms and start diagnosing the system. We get to the root of why growth has stalled.
Second, once we understand the real problem, we approach the solution like a research and development project. This philosophy, called Revenue R&D, is the difference between hoping for growth and engineering it. It’s a disciplined process to objectively evaluate, test, and refine solutions until we have a validated, profitable growth model ready for scale.
The frameworks below are the engine for this process. They provide the shared map and repeatable steps to diagnose the cause, build the solution, and create a predictable revenue machine.
“It finally felt like we had a playbook, not a patchwork. Our sales cycles are shorter, and our win rates are higher because we’re speaking the customer’s language.”
“6 Keys” Framework: The Diagnostic
This is the foundation. It’s the diagnostic lens that reveals why your go-to-market motion has stalled and provides the blueprint for a predictable B2B revenue engine. For many deep-tech firms, it is also the essential framework for successful technology commercialization, turning raw innovation into a marketable solution.
It’s a sequential, six-step process that shifts a company from selling technology to enabling customers to purchase.
- Meaningful Problem: Stop selling a solution nobody is looking for.
- Compelling Solution: Articulate your value in a way that creates urgency.
- Best Industries: Go narrow to go wide; stop selling to everyone.
- Clear Message: Craft a message that is understood by and resonates deeply with your target vertical.
- Right Channels: Be where your buyers actually buy.
- Effective Sales Motion: Build a sales process that generates positive cash flow for your business.
Proof of the effectiveness of the 6 Keys framework:
- Manufacturer of manufacturing systems, experienced $250K to $10MM in bootstrapped growth
- AgTech materials manufacturer secured $40MM in multi-year contracts after a strategic pivot
Once the 6 Keys are aligned, your entire GTM system operates with coherence instead of friction.
“Feature-to-Vertical” Framework: The Transformation
This is the cure for the trap many companies fall into when they have a technology or service applicable to too many potential customers. This framework operationalizes the shift from talking about what you build to selling solutions your ideal customer buys.
Tech companies fall into the “Feature-Selling Trap” because they expect the buyer to do the hard work of translating features into value. Customers are non-committal, worried you can’t address their problems. Marketing doesn’t know where to invest to generate awareness and leads. Sales teams are frustrated by a lack of repeatable playbooks. This framework fixes that.
It’s a sequential, six-step process that shifts a company from selling technology to enabling customers to purchase.
- Identify & Qualify: We use a data-driven process to find and select the 2-3 verticals with the highest growth potential.
- Develop the Playbook: We apply the “6 Keys” to build a unique GTM plan, messaging, and sales motion for each chosen vertical.
- Launch & Iterate: We execute the vertical-specific campaigns and create a feedback loop for continuous improvement.
Proof of the effectiveness of selling Solutions, not Features:
- AI Sales tool experienced 3X increase in overall win rate
- Professional services consultantcy saw a 50% reduction in sales cycle length in just nine months
You stop relying on heroic sales reps to “make it make sense.” Your focused story does the heavy lifting.
“Partnership Flywheel”: The Expansion
Once your direct sales motion is stable and predictable, the next growth multiplier is a scalable partnership program. This framework turns partnerships from a hopeful experiment into a professional, revenue-generating engine.
It’s a structured process to design, operationalize, and manage partnership strategies that generate incremental revenue without diluting focus. The core insight is simple: partnerships are a profession, not a side-project.
This framework answers the hard questions:
- Are you truly “partner-ready,” or are you trying to use partners to fix a broken direct sales model?
- Which partner models, like Referral, Reseller, or Co-Sell, will actually amplify your sales motion?
- What organizational systems and assets are required to make partnerships a sustainable, profitable function?
Results of adding partner channels to direct businesses:
- 6X increase in margins for a Ticketing infrastructure provider.
- 10X revenue increase and strategic acquisition by a major fintech (Credit Karma).
This process turns partnerships from a series of one-off deals into a repeatable, scalable growth engine with a powerful competitive moat.
Which growth challenge are you facing right now?
Let’s apply the right framework to your current go-to-market problem.
A structured, confidential conversation to diagnose your current state. No sales pitch, guaranteed.