Annual Planning Prep: Diagnose to Plan
- Scott Shaul
- Oct 9
- 3 min read
As CEO, your annual operating plan is the blueprint for your company's future growth. But the planning session itself should not be where the hard thinking begins. For your Go-to-Market strategy, successful planning demands a proactive, data-driven diagnosis of your current bottlenecks and growth gaps. You must walk into that room with a clear understanding of what’s broken and why—not just what you want to achieve.
Identify Your Growth Constraints
The key to preparing for GTM annual planning is understanding that growth often stalls due to one of four predictable Growth Gaps in the customer journey: CREATE → MARKET → SELL → DELIVER → RENEW/EXPAND. Your immediate task is to identify which gap you're in and, more importantly, what organizational or strategic immaturity is causing it.
Growth Gap | Core Issue | Simplified Diagnosis | Maturity Assessment Warning Sign |
Invisibility Gap | Cannot create enough demand for a great product. | Great product, invisible to the market. | Strong Product Strategy but weak GTM Motions/Sales & Marketing. |
Conversion Chasm | Generating demand but failing to close enough sales. | Great buzz, poor close rates. | Strong Market Analysis but weak Revenue Acceleration & ROI. |
Value Erosion Gap | Closing customers but struggling with execution and delivery. | Great promises, poor execution. | Strong Revenue Acceleration but weak Realized Value. |
Expansion Ceiling | Can deliver and renew, but expansion is limited. | Great satisfaction, limited growth. | Strong Realized Value but weak Product Strategy for expansion. |
Data Points to Prepare
To diagnose your current constraint and prepare for the annual plan, you must bring a foundational set of data points. The biggest mistake is over burdening everyone with data. Focus on these 3 sets:
1. Market & Customer Data
This data validates your positioning and targets.
Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) Performance: Which customer segments (industry, size) offer the best market fit and highest value realized?
Target Audience Pain Points: The top 3-5 specific problems your product solves, quantified with customer feedback.
Competitive Win Rates: A clear metric on why you win, why you lose, and how your unique value proposition stands against competitors. This directly impacts the Market Analysis and Value Proposition maturity scores.
2. Financial & Revenue Data
These metrics reveal the health and predictability of your revenue engine.
Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) / Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) Ratio: This essential metric demonstrates the fundamental efficiency and profitability of your GTM strategy.
Net Revenue Retention (NRR) / Churn Rate: A critical measure of post-acquisition success, retention, and expansion health.
Sales Cycle Length & Conversion Rates: Measure the length of your sales cycle and conversion rates at each stage of the funnel to identify pipeline inefficiencies.
Revenue Predictability: Your ability to accurately forecast revenue for the next two quarters, which directly correlates to GTM Process maturity.
3. Alignment & Delivery Data
This data checks for internal breakdowns and value realization.
Team Alignment Score: An assessment of whether Sales, Marketing, and Customer Success are truly synchronized on strategy and handoffs (a key operational foundation).
Realized Value Score: Quantify the ROI your customers receive at renewal time to prevent the Value Erosion Gap.
Expansion Metrics: The percentage of revenue from cross-sell/upsell to identify if your Delivery-Expansion Limitation is a problem.
Your CEO Mandate: Focus on the Constraint
Your annual GTM strategy should not be a wishlist, but a focused plan to close the single biggest gap to your next stage of growth. Leadership must provide clarity, alignment, and confidence. Your annual strategy must be a commitment to building the capabilities that prevent the recurrence of GTM problems.proach ensures a more focused and scalable path to success.
