Dissecting GTM for Successful Integration

Go-to-market integration is more than just combining the sales and marketing teams. Many nuances often get overlooked, especially in the back office. To increase integration success, there has to be a detailed understanding of the go-to-market system. In this article, Dustin Delewski, Director of M&A Integration Management at Cardinal Health, gives a comprehensive view of how to dissect a GTM for successful integration. 

"If you plan to grow inorganically through M&A, you need to sit down and define your back-office execution requirement early on in the process." - Dustin Delewski

Business Assessment Mapping

According to Dustin, all companies should have a business map of two of the most important processes of their back office: prospect-to-customer and order-to-cash. See the image below and learn the details of each of the processes:

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1. Prospect to Customer
   It is the process that supports all the steps from reaching potential customers to winning the business and onboarding the customer. 

2. Order to Cash
   ‍It comprises all the steps from ingesting an order from a customer to collecting the cash for that order.

Go-to-market Assessment

For effective integration, Dustin follows a framework that assesses both businesses across eight different go-to-market areas:

1. Market strategy
2. Customer
3. Distribution channel 
4. Products and services 
5. Value drivers 
6. Organizational structure & employees 
7. Sales incentives
8. Sales process and enablers 
   

Each of these areas directly affects the prospect-to-customer and order-to-cash process. Use these areas to identify integration points based on the deal's overlaps, differences, highlights, and opportunities. 

The last thing you want is to find yourself in a situation where the sales team executes flawlessly, and then the customers have a terrible experience when they start interacting with your back office.

It is also important to note that every change introduced to the prospect-to-customer and order-to-cash will impact multiple functions. Involving the right people during functional integration is critical to success.

‍Biggest Advice

Don't skip this mapping exercise. The worst thing to do is make assumptions about how the company does business, further complicating the integration execution. This mapping exercise takes time, so there must be complete leadership buy-in.

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