Stop Guessing: A CRO’s Guide to Diagnosing GTM Chaos in 30 Days

Your average Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) doesn’t have a lot of time to get things going in the right direction. In fact, most last just 18 months. 

So when a CRO spots a problem, they need a specific plan for how to solve it.

One of the usual problems that a CRO is faced with is Go To Market (GTM) chaos within an organization. 

Instead of scrambling for answers, imagine that CRO had a 30-day action plan to pinpoint exactly where the breakdowns were happening.

Well the following guide is that plan. It’s a blueprint for diagnosing and addressing GTM dysfunction in a structured, high-impact way. Without wasting time on guesswork.

This framework breaks down your GTM assessment into four week-long tactical phases.

By the end of 30 days, you’ll have a clear, data-backed diagnosis of where your GTM strategy is thriving, and where it’s failing.

How CROs Can Diagnose GTM Framework Problems in 30 Days

Week 1: The Baseline

Right now, you’re not worried about fixing anything yet. You’re just pulling the key metrics that’ll tell you where your biggest problems are.

Here are some non-negotiable, panic-button indicators you need to check immediately to see if your GTM strategy is garbage:

Sales Team Turnover Rate 

If your annual turnover rate is above 25%, your sales org is in trouble. A healthy GTM motion starts with people, and if they’re leaving in droves, something (comp plans, leadership, enablement, etc..) is broken.

Employee Churn Rate (GTM-Wide) 

If more than 20% of your total GTM team (marketing, sales, customer success) has peaced-out in the last six months, you’re likely dealing with a mix of misalignment, over-promised revenue targets, and unrealistic workloads.

Sales Quota Attainment 

If less than 60% of reps are hitting their numbers, then either your quotas are unrealistic, your pipeline isn’t strong enough, or your sales team is struggling with execution. 

Win Rate Trends 

A 15%+ drop in the last 30 days means something is going off the rails. This could mean anything from bad messaging, to increased competition, or a mismatch between your product or service and what the market actually wants (ICP fit and messaging). 

Pipeline Velocity

If pipeline velocity has slowed down by 30%, that means slower revenue….which means slower growth….which means….trouble. 

Typically this means your reps are spending too much time on the wrong prospects, your sales process is too complex, or there are delays in lead handoffs between marketing and sales.

Desired Week 1 Outcome

By the end of Week 1, you should have a clear idea of whether your GTM issues are rooted in:

• Execution breakdowns (slow follow-ups, weak sales process, unprepared reps)
• Misalignment (bad leads from marketing, ignored by sales, lost by Customer Success (CS))
• Product-market fit problems (wrong ICP or getting outplayed by competitors).

Week 2: The GTM Engine

By Week 2, we’re moving past the diagnosing phase. 

This week is all about asking: “Are we actually working together, or just coexisting in silos?” and these four GTM alignment indicators will expose the answer:

Lead Quality Disputes 

If sales is rejecting 30%+ of marketing’s leads, you’ve got a serious misalignment problem. This means either:

• Marketing is driving the wrong leads (bad ICP targeting).
• Sales is cherry-picking leads instead of working them.
• Teams can’t agree on what makes a lead “qualified.”

MQL to SQL Conversion Rate

If your MQL-to-SQL conversion rate is below 20%, your funnel is busted. A low conversion rate tells you one of two things:

• Marketing campaigns are attracting the wrong audience. 
• Sales isn’t following up properly. 

Marketing-Sales Handoff Time 

If it takes sales longer than 24 hours to contact a marketing lead, you’re actively losing money. The longer the delay, the colder the lead gets. This is where using automation to assign leads instantly comes in handy.

Cross-Functional GTM Meeting Attendance

If less than 75% of key players are attending your GTM syncs, your teams are likely working in silos. Here’s why that matters:

• If marketing and sales aren’t meeting regularly, leads get wasted, handoffs break.
• If sales and CS aren’t aligned, churn spikes, upsells vanish.

Desired Week 2 Outcome

By the end of this week, you’ll know:

• Are marketing and sales working towards the same goals?
• Are leads being handed off efficiently?
• Are sales and CS collaborating to drive expansion revenue, or letting churn happen?

Bottom line = If the answer to any of these is "no", your GTM motion isn’t aligned.

Week 3: The Reality Check

By now, you’ve diagnosed the alignment (or misalignment) of your GTM teams and identified the biggest execution gaps. But alignment and activity don’t mean much if they aren’t producing profitable, scalable growth.

This week is all about one question: Is your GTM strategy actually generating sustainable revenue, or are you spending more to close deals than you’re making?

These four KPIs will tell you if your GTM strategy is actually profitable….or just propped up by aggressive spending:

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) 

If CAC has jumped 25% or more in the past 30 days:

• You’re spending more to acquire customers through the wrong market channel, but closing less.
• Your pipeline is clogged with bad-fit target customers, leading to longer sales cycles and lower conversion rates.
• Your GTM motion might be too expensive to sustain if payback periods are creeping up.

Net Revenue Retention (NRR)

If NRR is below 100%, it means churn is offsetting growth, and upsell and expansion opportunities are being missed.

Common causes?

• Poor onboarding leads to early-stage churn.
• Customer success isn’t driving expansion conversations.

Upsell/Cross-Sell Rate

If it’s down 20% or more, you’re missing opportunities. Expanding existing customers is the most profitable revenue source, and a drop in upsells means either:

• The customer success team isn’t prioritizing expansion.
• The product isn’t justifying add-ons.
• Sales isn’t setting the right expectations upfront, leading to low trust post-sale.

Average Contract Value (ACV) 

If it’s dropped 15% or more, your pricing or positioning is off. A decline in ACV means either:

• Pricing strategies have shifted toward discounting to win deals.
• Sales is closing smaller deals due to weaker positioning.
• Competitors are offering better value.

Desired Week 3 Outcome

By the end of Week 3, you’ll have a clear answer on whether your GTM model is:

• Efficient – Your revenue motion is sustainable and scalable.
• Breaking Even – You’re growing, but the foundation is fragile and dependent on high spend.
• Burning Cash – Your revenue growth is artificial, driven by unsustainable CAC and churn.

Week 4: The Deep Dive

Ok, at this point you’ve checked for GTM misalignment, evaluated revenue efficiency, and spotted any pipeline leaks. Now, it’s time for the final test: Is your sales team actually closing?

If your sales execution is off, no amount of pipeline volume or marketing spend will save you. These metrics will tell you if your reps are gettin’ it done:

Sales Call Frequency Per Rep 

A 30% drop means either pipeline is drying up or reps aren’t engaged.

What to Check:

• Are reps following up on leads, or wasting time on deals outside of the ideal customer segment?
• Is the flow of new leads slowing down, leaving them with nothing to work on?
• Are low morale or bad incentives causing them to check out?

Proposal Generation Rate 

A 25% decline means deals are stalling. Fewer proposals going out means fewer serious buying conversations. 

What to Check:

• Are reps getting stuck on objections that stop deals from moving forward?
• Is red tape around approvals, pricing, or contracts slowing things down?
• Are buyers holding back because they don’t see enough value?

Customer Onboarding Time 

A 25% increase means post-sale execution isn’t great. The longer it takes to onboard, the higher the risk of churn before customers even see value.

What to Check:

• Are sales teams making big promises that don’t match reality?
• Is the onboarding team stretched too thin or working inefficiently?
• Is the product harder to use than customers expected?

Client Engagement Score 

Below 3/5? Your GTM messaging needs some work. If customers aren’t engaging, your sales team either sold the wrong solution, set the wrong expectations, or failed to deliver real value.

What to Check:

• Are customers using the product as sales promised?
• Is there a gap between what was sold and what they’re experiencing?
• Are CS and marketing keeping customers engaged after the sale?

Dashboard Usage by Clients 

If it's below 50%, customers are disengaged and churn risk is at level critical.

What to Check:

• Is the product easy to use, or are customers struggling?
• Is customer success helping drive adoption, or is it being ignored?
• Are dashboards and reports providing real value, or just adding clutter?

Customer Support Ticket Volume 

A 30% spike in 30 days means product-market fit or messaging issues. Either customers weren’t set up for success, or they’re realizing post-sale that the product isn’t what they expected.

What to Check:

• Are new customers running into the same onboarding issues?
• Are product gaps frustrating users because they weren’t flagged during sales?
• Are team members in support overloaded, creating a bad customer experience?

Desired Week 4 Outcome

By the end of Week 4, you’ll have a data-backed view of how sales execution, deal flow, and customer experience shape GTM success.

The 30-Day GTM Plan Scorecard: Where Do You Stand?

At the end of the month, CROs can use the scorecard below to categorize their company’s GTM health:

• If 70% or more of your metrics are in the "Critical" zone, your GTM strategy is broken and needs an urgent fix.
• If 50-70% fall under "Needs Attention," you have weaknesses that require a strategic reset.
• If 70% or more are in the "Healthy" zone, your GTM is strong, but ongoing improvements will keep it that way.