The Fastest Way to Fall Behind: Running the Same Old GTM Tactics
Most SaaS CROs aren’t falling behind because their go-to-market playbooks are broken.
Their playbooks still technically work… but just not fast enough to keep up with the market.
As Everett Berry, Head of GTM Engineering at Clay, told me, the shelf life of trusted GTM tactics is collapsing. In this market, speed is everything. If you’re not set up to experiment faster than the tactics expire, you're losing (even if your pipeline says otherwise).
The Shelf-Life Crisis
There was a time when you could run the same outbound motion for years. You’d deanonymize web traffic, plug it into a sequencer, and watch the meetings roll in.
That time is over.
“Go-to-market tactics have always stopped working over time," Berry said. "What's different now is that their shelf life is so much shorter.”
With every new tactic (think warm outbound, deanonymized site targeting, AI-written cold emails), the rate of adoption is nearly instantaneous. But so is the burnout.
You’re not the only team with access to enriched data and sequencing tools anymore. The edge now belongs to teams that can pivot faster and adopt technologies earlier.
GTM Alpha: What High-Performing Teams Have in Common
Berry and the team at Clay call this GTM Alpha—the pursuit of competitive advantage by constantly experimenting with tactics before they hit mass adoption.
The companies pulling this off (like Intercom, Canva, and Clay itself) share three traits:
1. Unique Data Signals
They don’t just use firmographic data. They build custom data points based on their motion, market, or insight from top reps. Berry explains:
Most companies already have some insight trapped in the heads of their best sellers. The winners find a way to test and scale that data signal quickly.
Canva pulls data from case studies. Clay builds industry classifiers and custom fields. Intercom sources usage signals from its own product. In a burnout market, the right signal buys you time.
2. Internal Tools and Automation
The smartest GTM teams are building their own tools thanks to AI platforms like Loveable and Cursor.
We’re seeing a move away from bloated tool stacks. Companies are building rep-facing apps internally using AI tools. It’s faster, cheaper, and way more integrated.
That shift isn’t just about cost savings; it’s a strategic play. If reps live inside one interface, GTM leaders can control the data and automate workflows with precision. This helps alleviate the age-old issues of multiple data sources, incomplete data, and syncing issues.
3. Embedded Experimenters
This is where the real unlock happens: they have people dedicated to testing, not just executing.
It’s not enough to have a product marketer updating messaging every quarter. You need someone constantly running fast tests with data and AI workflows.
At Clay, that person is often a GTM Engineer. This role is best suited for a scrappy technical IC who can build workflows, automate enrichment, and test messaging in real time. At Intercom or Canva, that person might live in a hybrid ops/growth role.
But to Berry, the pattern is clear. RevOps sets the strategy, then GTM Engineers implement, iterate, and evolve it at speed.
AI Isn’t the Strategy. It’s the Wedge.
GTM Alpha isn’t about completely overhauling your operating systems overnight. It's about incrementality. In fact, Berry argues that most teams only need one success to start the shift.
The first time AI content works—whether it’s a follow-up email, research brief, or enriched record—that’s the moment the org starts to believe. It creates a muscle.
That’s the wedge. The door opens. And soon, teams realize they’re capable of far more than just improving the playbook. They can rewrite it.
So Why Aren’t More CROs Doing This?
Because their current motion still kind of works.
“That’s what causes analysis paralysis,” Berry says. “It’s not that your tactics don’t work, it’s that they’re not meeting the new standard. And your competitors are moving on.”
The longer a CRO waits, the harder it becomes to catch up.
You don’t need to burn your funnel to the ground. But you do need to build the infrastructure to evolve faster. Try to find:
- A signal your competitors don’t have
- A tool that removes friction or comp time
- A person who can test and ship weekly, not quarterly
Playbooks Don’t Win Anymore. Velocity Does.
The best GTM leaders aren’t betting on durability. They’re betting on speed of adoption, iteration, and failure.
They aren’t asking, 'What’s the best tactic?'. They’re asking, 'How many tactics can we test before everyone else catches on?'.
“If your competitors are running the same playbook and layering in new techniques, you might still grow, but you’re losing ground without even realizing it,” Berry warns.
For companies like Clay, GTM Alpha isn’t a framework. It’s a survival strategy. And the longer you wait to build it, the harder it becomes to catch up.
