We'd bet on the mid-market. The pipeline wasn't showing up.
Expansion budget going in, not enough pipeline coming out. Here's how customer evidence picked the customer to win, doubled marketing-qualified leads and shaped the biggest launch in the company's history.
We need mid-market pipeline. But despite the investment, we're still short of target.
Mid-market was the growth bet, and money was going into it. But pipeline wasn't following, and every region was chasing a different buyer with its own personas and campaigns. It looked like a messaging problem.
But getting every region to say the same thing would only have made everyone consistently vague. Nobody had agreed which mid-market customer the company was built to win, or what that customer needed that the product didn't yet do. So I went and found out. I interviewed hotel groups and combined those conversations with Sales feedback and product-adoption data. A distinct customer emerged, with two needs that kept coming up: running multiple properties, and supporting long-stay guests.
The question changed from “Why has mid-market growth stalled?” to “Which customer should we build for, and what do they need?”
This is where the company could have spent another quarter aligning regional messaging. The real decision was where to place the bet: which mid-market customer the product could win, and what it needed to build for them.
Listen first. Then build, package and launch.
I recommended concentrating the expansion on one customer the evidence said we could win, instead of spreading budget across the whole mid-market. Then I took that decision into product priorities, packaging, campaigns and sales.
Interviewed hotel groups, then combined it with Sales feedback and product adoption data. Three sources, one picture.
Groups running multiple properties, and properties with long-stay guests. One answer for every team.
Set product priorities and packaging around those needs, shaping the multi-property product.
Led the largest launch in the company's history, adopted across 4 regions with one story.
The right customer. The right product. Real pipeline.
Demand and pipeline from the mid-market launch, before and after. The security add-on figure is a separate result, shown on its own.
More than doubled, with 29% engagement among target prospects.
Packaging was rebuilt around the new customer's needs.
From the largest launch in the company's history.
Check where you're placing the bet.
If you're putting money into a new market or segment and pipeline isn't following, more campaigns may not be the answer. I use customer, sales and product evidence to find the buyers you're best placed to win, then build the product priorities and go-to-market around them.
Growth in a new segment has stalled, every region tells its own story, and your research hasn't changed what you build.
Fresh thinking on product marketing, GTM and growth.
Real-world lessons, practical ideas and the occasional uncomfortable question. One worthwhile read, delivered every Friday.