Gtm Plays

GTM Plays

When to activate

Account prioritization workflows, building trigger-based sales sequences, daily prospecting cadences, territory planning, and sales kickoff planning. Use when you have identified a specific trigger signal (funding announcement, job posting, role change, tech stack shift, intent signal, leadership action, event attendance, contract milestone, or board change) that indicates buyer readiness or strategic shift.

When NOT to use

Account research from scratch without a trigger signal. Do not use this skill for cold outreach to random prospects or accounts with no detected trigger activity. Do not apply these plays to accounts where the trigger event happened 6+ months ago (staleness reduces relevance). Do not use if your product is purely self-serve or has no sales motion.

Instructions

This skill maps 11 discrete trigger events to specific GTM plays, each with clear entry conditions, execution timing, and tactical approach. Each play includes the trigger signal, decision framework, timing window, and messaging angle.

Framework: Trigger + Window + Angle

Every GTM play follows this three-part structure:

1. Trigger Signal — The event that makes this account now relevant
2. Action Window — The days/weeks when outreach is most effective
3. Angle — The specific value narrative for this trigger context

Play 1: New Executive Hire (CMO/CRO/VP)

Trigger Signal:

• Company announces new CMO, CRO, VP Sales, VP Marketing, or Chief Product Officer
• Detected via: LinkedIn job posting closure, company announcement page, press release, LinkedIn profile update showing new role at target account

Decision Framework: This executive has zero installed processes and no legacy vendor bias. They hold a fresh mandate to deliver results within 90 days. The previous vendor (if any) had relationship friction or underperformance — a new hire is explicit permission to question status quo.

Action Window: Outreach day 3–7 post-announcement. Earlier than day 3 feels reactive to press. Later than day 7, they've started building their vendor roadmap with existing sales teams already embedded.

Execution:

1. Research the hire's background: prior company, initiatives led, challenges faced, LinkedIn posts on their pain points
2. Build a one-liner connecting their past challenge to your product:
   • "Saw you joined [Company] as CMO. At [PriorCo], you scaled MQLs from 500 to 4K — we helped [peer] do that in 90 days."
3. Send warm intro from your CEO or mutual connection if available (2x higher response rate)
4. If no warm intro: personalized email → LinkedIn connection 24h later → follow-up call in 3 days
5. Pitch angle: "Fresh start" narrative — "You're inheriting [common problem]. Here's how other CMOs fixed it in your first quarter."
6. Offer: 30-min working session, not a demo. Agenda: "Audit your current [metric] and plot 90-day roadmap together."

Messaging Template: "Hi [Name], Welcome to [Company] — congrats on the CMO role. I noticed you scaled pipeline 3x at [PriorCo]. We just did something similar for [peer company] in 90 days using [one key tactic]. Worth a quick conversation to see if it applies to your current mandate? [CTA: book time]"

Play 2: Funding Announced (Series A/B/C)

Trigger Signal:

• Company raises funding: Series A, B, or C (any size)
• Detected via: TechCrunch, PitchBook, Crunchbase, company announcement, LinkedIn post, press release

Decision Framework: Funding means three things: (1) new budget exists, (2) board has set aggressive growth targets for the next 18 months, and (3) existing tool/vendor relationships are up for re-evaluation. Funded companies hire sales teams, expand marketing, or accelerate product. Your product likely solves a problem their growth depends on.

Action Window: Day 1–2 post-announcement. This is the narrow window before every vendor and competitor reaches out. By day 5, their inbox is flooded. Speed matters.

Execution:

1. Identify the funding amount and use it to calculate likely headcount and budget expansion
2. Map which team grew (sales, marketing, product, ops) — that team will need tools quickly
3. Personalized email angle: "Congrats on [amount] raise. With [growth target], you'll likely need [problem your product solves]. Let's talk."
4. Follow up via LinkedIn within 24h with a connection request + 1–2 sentence note
5. Use founder/CEO email if available (higher open rate than generic sales@)
6. Offer: "Growth planning call" with your CS team, not a product demo. Frame as peer advice.

Messaging Template: "Hi [Name], Saw the news on your $[X]M raise — that's fantastic. With growth targets like [implied growth from funding], companies typically need [problem area]. We help [similar funded company] do this in their first 90 days post-raise. Quick call to share what works? [CTA]"

Play 3: Headcount Spike (10+ Job Postings)

Trigger Signal:

• Target company posts 10+ open roles (any department, any level)
• OR posts 5+ roles specifically in Sales, Marketing, Ops, or Product (your relevant department)
• Detected via: LinkedIn job search, Lever/Greenhouse career page monitoring, Ashby API, or manual check every 2 weeks

Decision Framework: Rapid hiring signals two things: (1) budget is approved and deployed, (2) the company is solving a problem at scale that requires headcount. If you solve that problem, you're better than hiring 5 more people. If it's a sales or marketing hiring spree, they're building pipeline capacity — your product likely plays into that.

Action Window: Day 3–14 post-posting. The hiring manager is actively recruiting (phone screens in progress). This is the window before they onboard the new team and the problem shifts from "we don't have bodies" to "we don't have systems/processes."

Execution:

1. Scan roles and identify the team in growth: Sales, Marketing, Ops, Product, etc.
2. Map what problem that team likely has: If Sales hiring 8 AEs, they need lead routing, CRM efficiency, or pipeline visibility. If Marketing hiring 4 people, they need campaign tools or analytics.
3. Reach out to the hiring manager (pull name from LinkedIn job posting) or VP of that department
4. Angle: "Saw you're scaling [department] from [current size] to [new size]. Most teams in your position also need [problem]. We help you achieve this 40% faster."
5. Offer: "Team efficiency audit" — 15-min call where you identify quick wins in their current process

Messaging Template: "Hi [Hiring Manager], I see you're scaling Sales from 12 to 20 reps — that's ambitious. Most teams at your growth rate need better pipeline visibility to onboard efficiently. Worth 20 minutes to explore? [CTA]"

Play 4: Competitor Displacement (Bad Review/Acquisition)

Trigger Signal:

• Target competitor gets a poor G2 review (2–3 stars) with complaint matching your product advantage
• OR competitor gets acquired by a larger company
• OR competitor has public outage, data breach, or announced price increase
• Detected via: G2 review scraping, Capterra alerts, Twitter/news monitoring, company announcements

Decision Framework: Customers of a competitor experiencing problems are actively in evaluation mode. They've lost trust but haven't committed to a new solution yet. An acquisition triggers re-evaluation (new policies, price increases, integration changes). This is a 30–60 day window to insert yourself into their decision.

Action Window: Day 1–14 post-trigger (after review posted, after acquisition/outage news breaks). Act before they make replacement selection.

Execution:

1. Identify the specific complaint in the review: "Terrible support," "Overpriced," "Missing [feature]"
2. Find companies using the competitor via: LinkedIn searches, BuiltWith, ZoomInfo filters, or Clearbit
3. Craft angle around their stated pain: "Saw feedback about [issue]. We built [product] specifically because previous [competitor] users faced this."
4. Reach out to the user who left the bad review (if their LinkedIn is public) — they're now a champion for change
5. Use language: "Stuck with a tool that isn't working?" → "Let's find better"
6. Offer: Side-by-side comparison call. Bring your Product Manager.

Messaging Template: "Hi [Name], I read the review about [competitor]'s [specific failure]. We've worked with 3 other [industry] companies who had the same issue. Built our platform specifically to avoid this. Want to see how? [CTA]"

Play 5: Champion Changed Jobs (Warm Intro Opportunity)

Trigger Signal:

• Your current champion at Account A gets hired by Account B (usually a lateral or up move)
• This person has already bought your product and advocated for you internally
• Detected via: LinkedIn notifications, CRM notes flagging champion job changes, monthly LinkedIn checkups

Decision Framework: Your champion has already experienced value from your product and likes you. They have credibility at their new company. They can be an internal champion immediately and will likely push to implement your solution within 90 days. This is 5–10x more likely to close than a cold account.

Action Window: Day 1–3 post-move detected. Before they're immersed in new company politics and vendor relationships.

Execution:

1. Track your champions (even inactive ones) on LinkedIn — set reminders to check Q1, Q3
2. When a champion moves, reach out within 24h with a warm congratulatory message on LinkedIn
3. Email within 48h: "Saw you joined [NewCo]. You already know the value we deliver. Let's talk about rolling this out here."
4. Ask for a warm intro to their new manager or peer on the buyer committee
5. Use their internal credibility: "When I talked to [Champion], they said you're facing [similar problem]. They've already seen how we solve this."
6. Offer: "Onboarding call to get you up to speed at [NewCo]" — not a full pitch, a continuation

Messaging Template: "Hey [Champion], Congrats on joining [NewCo]! You already know the impact we deliver. Curious if this is something you'd want to bring over to your new role? Happy to intro you to the team. [CTA]"

Play 6: Tech Stack Change (New Tool Adoption Detected)

Trigger Signal:

• Target account adopts a new tool/platform (detected via BuiltWith, Datanyze, LinkedIn job postings, company announcements)
• New tool is in adjacent space to yours or represents a platform shift
• Examples: switched CRM systems, adopted new analytics platform, moved to new cloud provider, hired a data engineering team

Decision Framework: New tool adoption means budget has been approved for that category and the company is in "build" mode. If your product integrates with the new tool or solves a complementary problem, you have a narrow window to be included in their tech stack design before they've fully deployed.

Action Window: Day 5–30 post-adoption detected. Too early (day 1–4) and they're still in implementation. Too late (day 31+) and they've moved on to other priorities.

Execution:

1. Use BuiltWith alerts or manual checks to spot new platform/tool adoption
2. Determine if your product: (a) integrates with the new tool, (b) solves a gap the new tool created, or (c) requires reconfiguration with the new stack
3. Reach out to the Ops, Product, or Engineering lead who likely championed the tool change
4. Angle: "Saw you implemented [Tool]. If you're integrating [category], we make that 3x faster with a native connector."
5. Offer: "30-min tech stack integration session" — bring your engineers
6. Use founder/CEO credibility: "We've built this same integration for [peer company] — they went live in 2 weeks."

Messaging Template: "Hi [Name], I noticed [Company] recently adopted [NewTool]. We've built integrations for teams doing this — usually cuts implementation from 8 weeks to 2. Want to see how we fit in your stack? [CTA]"

Play 7: Intent Signal (In-Market Buying Activity)

Trigger Signal:

• Target account shows buying intent via: G2 research (profile views), Bombora signals, 6sense account activity, intent data from LinkedIn Ads, website visitor behavior
• Company employee visited your website multiple times, downloaded resources, or attended your webinar
• Multiple people at the same company searched for solutions in your category

Decision Framework: Intent signals mean someone inside the company is actively looking for a solution right now. They're in evaluation mode. Your job is not to convince them they need a solution — they already know. Your job is to insert yourself into their evaluation and prove you're the fastest path to solving their problem.

Action Window: Day 1–7 after intent signal detected. Strike while they're actively researching.

Execution:

1. Identify the person behind the intent signal (if possible) — use LinkedIn Sales Navigator, job title, department
2. Research their specific buying context: Are they replacing an existing tool? Starting from scratch? Addressing a new problem?
3. Reach out with a different angle than your standard pitch: "I see you've been researching [category]. Most teams find it helpful to talk through [specific evaluation criteria] before choosing."
4. Position as advisor, not vendor: "Here are 3 questions most teams ask in evaluation" + "Here's how we compare on these criteria"
5. Offer: 20-min "evaluation framework" call, not a demo
6. Use data: "We work with [peer company] in your space — here's what mattered most in their decision"

Messaging Template: "Hi [Name], Noticed you're actively researching [category] on G2. Most teams find it useful to talk through [pain point] before deciding. I've helped [similar company] through this — happy to share what we learned? [CTA]"

Play 8: Leadership LinkedIn Post (Problem Narrative)

Trigger Signal:

• VP/Executive at target company posts about a problem you solve
• Post gets engagement (comments, shares), indicating it's a real pain point
• Post is recent (within 2 weeks)
• Detected via: LinkedIn Sales Navigator searches, hashtag tracking, keyword alerts

Decision Framework: When a leader publicly posts about a problem, they've signaled: (1) this is a real, painful issue, (2) they're thinking about it, (3) they may be building internal consensus to solve it, (4) you can engage in public without cold-outreach vibes. Your comment becomes visible to their entire network.

Action Window: Day 1–7 post-post. Comment within 48h for algorithm visibility. First commenter gets highest engagement.

Execution:

1. Monitor posts from VPs, Directors, and Founders at target accounts
2. When they post about a problem you solve: (a) Comment thoughtfully within 24h, (b) Add value to the conversation, (c) Don't pitch
3. Comment framework:
   • Acknowledge the problem: "You're touching on something we see constantly"
   • Add insight: "We found [one insight] helps teams solve this faster"
   • Invite further conversation: "Worth a DM to discuss?"
4. After comment engagement (they like/reply), send LinkedIn DM within 24h
5. DM angle: "Your post on [problem] resonates — I think you'd find value in this conversation. [Specific insight]"
6. Offer: "20-min call to workshop this specific challenge"
7. Follow with email within 5 days if no DM response

Messaging Template (Comment): "Nailed it on this one. We see [insight about the problem] drive adoption across [industry]. The difference is usually [one key approach you enable]. Would love to explore this more with you."

Messaging Template (DM Follow-up): "Your post on [problem] is exactly what we're hearing from [peer company]. They solved this by [framework]. Might be worth a 20-min conversation? I have no agenda other than exploring if there's a fit."

Play 9: Event Attendance (Webinar/Conference Presence)

Trigger Signal:

• Target prospect registered for your webinar/event
• OR your account team attended the same event (conference, trade show)
• OR prospect's name appears in event attendee list you have access to
• Detected via: Event registration list, event app, LinkedIn post tagging attendees

Decision Framework: Someone at a target account chose to invest 1 hour of their time to listen to you. That action costs something. They're either (1) curious about your product, (2) curious about the topic (not you), or (3) fulfilling a manager's request. Regardless, you now have context to bridge into a conversation that feels less cold.

Action Window: Day 2–5 post-event. Too soon (day 1) feels pushy. Too late (day 6+) and they've moved on.

Execution:

1. Pull attendee list from event (webinar registration, Eventbrite, event app)
2. Filter for target accounts/job titles
3. Segment by engagement: (a) watched entire event, (b) dropped off midway, (c) registered but didn't attend
4. For those who watched:
   • Email within 24h: Reference specific moment from webinar they attended
   • "I noticed you attended our webinar on [topic] — in particular, the segment on [specific part] seemed to resonate based on timing. That's actually where most teams struggle."
5. For those who didn't attend:
   • Email within 24h: "Saw you registered but couldn't make it. Here's the key insight you missed: [one takeaway]. Curious if this applies to your current [problem]?"
6. Offer: "15-min conversation to talk through [topic from webinar] in your context"

Messaging Template: "Hi [Name], Saw you attended our webinar on [topic] — thanks for joining. In particular, the [specific segment] is where we see most [company type] teams struggle. Curious if this is showing up in your current work? [CTA]"

Play 10: Missed Renewal Window (Contract Cycle Approaching)

Trigger Signal:

• You know (via intent data, partner network, or public info) that a competitor's customer is entering their contract renewal period
• Competitor contract is expiring in 60–30 days
• Account is showing no activity/engagement with competitor (potential dissatisfaction signal)
• Detected via: Contract renewal databases (if available), LinkedIn job postings at competitor customers, partner intel

Decision Framework: A customer mid-renewal with their incumbent vendor is actively evaluating options. The switching cost is lowest right now — they're already comparing. If you can show 2–3x the value, you win the business. This is high-probability selling because the buyer has already approved budget for this category.

Action Window: Day 1–45 before renewal date. Optimal window: 30–60 days before renewal. Too early (90+ days) and they haven't started evaluation. Too late (14 days) and they've already decided.

Execution:

1. Build a list of known competitor customers with renewal dates (use Crunchbase, LinkedIn research, or partner intel)
2. Flag accounts where the company is likely dissatisfied (negative reviews, reduced usage signals, no new hires in that function)
3. Reach out to the person responsible for the renewal decision (Ops, Procurement, VP of that function)
4. Angle: "You're likely reviewing [Competitor] next quarter. Here's what we've learned from [similar company] who recently switched."
5. Reference competitive intelligence: "Their pricing just increased 25% — here's what we charge for comparable value"
6. Offer: "ROI comparison call" — show math on cost difference + value gain
7. Use social proof: "We brought [peer company] on at [metric] and they're now at [metric] in 6 months"

Messaging Template: "Hi [Name], I believe [Competitor]'s contract with your company renews in ~[timeframe]. Before you re-sign, worth looking at what's changed in the market. We've cut renewal costs by 40% for [peer company] while improving [outcome]. Interested in the math? [CTA]"

Play 11: Board Announcement (Strategic Shift Signal)

Trigger Signal:

• Target company announces a new board member (press release, LinkedIn, company website)
• New board member's background suggests strategic shift (e.g., new investor board rep, new industry expert)
• Board member has relevant expertise in your domain
• Detected via: Company announcements, LinkedIn, Crunchbase board member tracking

Decision Framework: A new board member signals strategic priorities are shifting. Boards don't add members casually — they're there to guide the company toward a specific vision. If the new board member's background is in a domain you serve (e.g., product-led growth, enterprise sales, data infrastructure), the company is likely building strategy around that area. Your product probably plays into the new direction.

Action Window: Day 5–30 post-announcement. Let the initial announcement noise settle, then reach out.

Execution:

1. Research the new board member: background, expertise, companies they've been involved with
2. Map how their expertise connects to your product: "This board member has led [outcome]. We enable that."
3. Identify how the board appointment reframes the company's value prop or growth path
4. Reach out to the founder/CEO with a different angle than usual:
   • "Saw [Board Member] joined the board. They have serious expertise in [domain]. We've worked with [peer companies] they'd recognize on [related outcome]."
5. Position as strategic alignment, not product fit: "The direction they're pushing you toward likely requires [problem area]."
6. Offer: "Strategic alignment call" — discussion about how your product maps to the new board-driven strategy
7. Use founder credibility: "I know [Board Member] has worked with [competitor] on this — worth talking through a different approach"

Messaging Template: "Hi [Founder], Congrats on adding [Board Member] to the board — that's a strong signal you're moving in [direction]. We've worked with [peer company] that [Board Member] knows on this exact shift. Worth a quick conversation to align? [CTA]"

Example

Scenario: You're VP Sales at Notion (project management/wiki platform) targeting mid-market SaaS companies. You track a target account: Segment.io (customer data platform) that posted a Series C funding announcement ($85M raise) 48 hours ago, led by a prominent Silicon Valley investor with strong sales/GTM expertise.

Trigger Signals Detected:

• Play 2 (Funding Announced): $85M Series C, 48h post-announcement
• Play 11 (Board Announcement): New investor on board, known for driving sales-led growth

Execution:

1. Hour 1: Pull the funding announcement, identify the board investor
2. Hour 2: Research investor's background and portfolio companies (all with strong sales + ops processes)
3. Hour 3: Email drafted from your CEO (higher credibility):
   • Subject: "Congrats on Series C — noticed [Investor] on board"
   • Body: "With $85M capital and [Investor]'s background in sales ops, you're likely building out enterprise sales infrastructure. We've helped [peer company] scale ops 3x in their Series C year. Worth a conversation? [CEO Name]"
4. Hour 6: LinkedIn connection request from your CEO
5. Day 2: If no response, follow up with warm intro from mutual connection (if available)
6. Day 3: Sales call booked with VP Ops at Segment → discuss "Series C ops scaling framework"

Expected Outcome:

• 35–45% email response rate (vs. 2–3% cold)
• 20–25% conversion to first call
• Higher deal size (Series C budgets are larger)

Why This Works:

• Timing (day 2 of funding) = early in vendor re-evaluation
• Dual triggers (funding + board shift) = multiple proof points for urgency
• Angle (ops scaling for growth) = maps to their stated mandate
• CEO credibility = breaks through noise of 50+ other vendors reaching out

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