A well-defined commercial strategy should be the heart of every business. However, what that means is not often well understood.

A basic commercial strategy starts with an understanding of the customers needs, competitor capabilities and organizational potential – more commonly referred to as a “strategic analysis”.

This strategic analysis helps to ground employees across an organization on the target customers, why, competitors, financial opportunities, drivers, headwinds, risks and associated mitigations. A very important first step, it is often overlooked because the assumption is made that all those that need to know – already know. However, it is often a fairly large and inaccurate assumption as many individuals may have a slightly different perspective.

When agreement has been reached regarding the needs assessment, a more formal go-to market (GTM) plan should be assembled. This plan will entail the offering, price, channels to market, customer targeting strategies and early thoughts on positioning. This is where marketing tends to lend a helping hand by assisting in market research and analytics to validate the strategic analysis and provide tangible benchmarks and revenue targets.

While many believe a GTM is a commercial launch plan, it is in fact not the case. A commercial launch plan is a focused plan that identifies the process for developing brand strategies, messaging needs, sales training and enablement, content needs and costs.

Once the commercial plan is identified, organizations can begin to execute and engage with resources necessary to make the plan a reality. This includes engaging with early adopters, soliciting feedback and tracking performance.

With some early wins in hand, organizations should accelerate and pivot (if necessary) based on early findings. This means incorporating feedback from the early launch into the messaging and positioning strategy.

Finally, as the organization gains confidence in its commercial strategy, it should scale and expand its strategy. This may entail cross-selling or up-selling customers, expanded messaging to target larger audiences and emphasizing winning regions as a focus area.