Hi There,

Let's clear the record on what a go to market engineer actually is.

Last week I saw a few different posts coining the term and relating it to the death of SDRs, suggesting SDRs are evolving to GTM engineers by learning tools like Clay.

And I'm here to tell you, that's not what a GTM engineer is.

So let's define GTM engineer once and for all.

Here's the breakdown:

Go to market (gtm): the process or strategy a company uses to acquire, activate, retain and expand customers.

Engineer: a person who designs, builds, or maintains engines, machines, or structures

→ A GTM engineer builds, designs and maintains the systems and processes to acquire, activate, retain and expand customers.

In essence, GTM Engineers use the newest tools, AI and tech to build systems and workflows that drive revenue over the full customer journey from acquisition to expansion.

The skills needed to succeed in this role are:

• Data Engineering/ Operations
• Know-how on the newest tech & integrations(Clay, Cargo, APIs..)
• AI & automation (prompting, what model to use for each use, make, n8n...)
• Business acumen (need to understand how to drive revenue)
• Go to market knowledge (need to be able to zoom out over the full bowtie)

Tool of the week

​Clay​

As a GTM engineer, it's almost impossible not to be using this tool. I've been using it almost daily for the past 12 months, both for myself and my clients. In most cases, Clay is the tool at the center integrated with the full stack to drive personalized workflows over the full customer journey. I haven't seen many tools come close to the possibilities Clay has.

Workflow of the week

Sometimes you lose a deal against the status quo, sometimes it's against a competitor and sometimes it's because you weren't able to get 1 person on board in the buying committee. We'll call him a "blocker" (also F that guy). Here's a workflow that helps you track that blocker and reach out once he leaves.

Thanks for reading!

On a personal note, I launched the new website last week (check it out: here) and we're already ranking in the top 3 for GTM Engineer in some locations.

Happy Sunday,

Laurens

PS. Reply to this email if you have any questions/ feedback. I'm replying to every single one.

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