Knowledge

Go-to-Market Steering Model

A shared model that shows where a go-to-market initiative stands, what matters in this phase and how the next decisions are steered.

The Go-to-Market Steering Model is a method developed by Hosang Consulting. It gives everyone involved (product management, Marketing, Business Development, Sales, Delivery and Customer Success) a shared mental model and answers seven questions:

Where does the initiative stand?
Which phase is it in right now?
What can realistically be expected in this phase?
Which questions need to be settled now?
Who carries which responsibility?
When does the transition to the next phase make sense?
Where is the actual cause when something does not work?

Turnover is a result of later phases, but not the core of the method. A problem often only shows up in sales, although it arose earlier: in a problem that was understood only vaguely, in a product that cannot be delivered or in an offer that no two people explain in the same way. The model helps to work on the problem where it arises.

Insight and foundationsPhases 1–4

System and turnoverPhases 5–8

Feedback and learningPhase 9

9
Feedback and optimisation
The system learns and improves
“If we change nothing, we have learned nothing.”
Typically driven by: Everyone involved

Nine phases, three areas

Insight and foundations (phases 1–4). This is where it becomes clear which problem is to be solved for whom and whether an offer holds up in the market at all. The aim is clarity, not turnover. Mistakes made in this area can hardly be compensated for later.

System and turnover (phases 5–8). A validated offer is turned repeatably into demand, qualified sales opportunities and realised customer value. Marketing, Sales Development, Sales and Delivery work hand in hand, each with clear responsibility. Lead generation creates interest, Sales Development qualifies and prioritises, and only then does closing begin.

Feedback and learning (phase 9). This phase closes the loop. Insights from the market, sales and Delivery flow back and improve product, offer and process. Without this phase the system stagnates.

Transitions are decisions

Each phase has a precondition with which it begins and results with which it ends. The transition to the next phase is therefore not a question of time but a deliberate decision: are the results in place, or is a phase being skipped whose gap will be expensive later?

This is particularly clear in phase 4. It does not begin automatically, but only after the deliberate decision to test the offer actively in the market. What is tested is whether the offer resonates in real conversations, not how capable the sales team is. At the end there is a clear decision: focus, adjust or stop. Only then is scaling worthwhile.

What the model connects

What is meant is the whole path from the product idea to realised customer value, not marketing or sales on their own:

Product and market understanding: What do we solve for whom?
Positioning and messages: Why should anyone take an interest in it?
Demand generation: How does demand arise?
Sales Development: How does demand become a sales opportunity?
Sales and closing: How does that become a closed deal?
Delivery and Customer Success: How is the promised value realised?
Feedback into product, marketing and sales.

Responsibility and expectations

The roles in the model describe responsibilities, not positions. One person can hold several roles at the same time. What matters is that in each phase it is clear who is responsible for the result, who contributes and who is informed. Unclear responsibility leads to conflicting expectations, stalled decisions or responsibility that is taken on tacitly.

What can realistically be expected of a role depends on the maturity level of the process phase concerned, not primarily on the person. Anyone who already expects a pipeline and a forecast in phase 1 is setting an expectation that this phase cannot meet.

Maturity level per process phase (0–4)

What is meant is the maturity level per process phase, not a general maturity model for the whole company. Each of the nine phases is assessed individually. A company can thus already work repeatably in offer design and still be at the stage of first hypotheses in lead generation.

Level	Description	Typical evidence
0 Hypotheses	assumptions, no reliable signals yet	assumed target group, untested value proposition
1 First signals	individual successes, highly manual	first conversations, first prospects for a pilot
2 Repeatable	the approach works repeatedly	recurring patterns, a defined Ideal Customer Profile (ICP), simple playbooks
3 Measurable	the process is backed by key figures	key figures, clean handovers, consistently maintained customer data
4 Scalable	growth without a linear increase in staff	channels scale, clear responsibilities

What the model is for

It shows where an initiative stands in the overall sequence.
It prevents problems from being looked for where they become visible instead of where they arise, for example turnover problems in sales.
It creates a shared language between executive management, product management, marketing, sales and Delivery.
It separates cleanly between understanding, validating, scaling and delivering.

The model is a shared mental model, not a methods manual and not a linear checklist. Insights from later phases flow back into earlier ones, for example from demand validation back into the offer.