| name | gtm-motion-picker |
| description | Decide between PLG, sales-led, hybrid, or community-led GTM motion based on ACV, time-to-value, buyer complexity, and self-serve readiness. Use when launching or repositioning a product, or when sales costs are out of whack with ACV. |
| tier | core |
| category | strategy |
| rr_companion | none |
| needs_mcp | [] |
| license | MIT |
| version | 1.0.0 |
| maintainer | jarektkaczyk |
| created-by | jarektkaczyk |
GTM Motion Picker
A GTM motion is the system through which a product reaches its market -- not a single channel. The wrong motion creates compounding waste: PLG with too-high ACV burns customer acquisition costs you can't recoup; sales-led with too-low ACV burns headcount on deals that can't pay for the AE.
When to use
- Pre-launch: deciding initial motion
- ACV much less than CAC payback target -> motion is too expensive for price point
- Self-serve signup with 0% activation -> product can't be PLG yet, or onboarding is broken
- Sales team selling deals < $5K ACV with full demo cycles -> motion is too heavy
- Hybrid drift: started PLG, accidentally hired AEs, no one knows who owns what
When NOT to use
- You haven't shipped yet and are doing hypothesis work -- answer the 4 scoring variables first, then run this
- You want to plan a single marketing campaign, not a go-to-market system -- channel tactics don't require a motion decision
- ACV/TTV are completely unknown -- gather data first; scoring without numbers produces wrong recommendations
Use this instead
- icp-definer -- if you don't know who you're selling to, fix that before deciding how to reach them
- positioning-canvas -- if the question is how to describe the product, not how to sell it
- pricing-teardown -- motion choice has pricing implications (PLG requires a self-serve tier; sales-led allows "contact us"); run after this
The 4 deciding variables
Score each. The combination determines the motion.
1. ACV (annual contract value)
- <$1K -> PLG strongly favored (sales economics don't work)
- $1K-$15K -> PLG with sales assist (PLS)
- $15K-$100K -> hybrid (PLG top-of-funnel + AE close)
- >$100K -> sales-led (relationship-driven, multi-stakeholder)
ACV is the dominant variable. If ACV < $1K and you want sales-led, you're wrong about the motion or the price.
2. Time-to-value (TTV)
- <10 minutes -> PLG viable (user can hit "aha" alone)
- 10 min - 1 day -> PLG with onboarding investment
- 1 day - 1 week -> PLG hard, hybrid or services-assisted onboarding needed
- >1 week -> sales-led or implementation-led (can't expect self-serve)
If TTV > 1 week, PLG is fantasy without major product investment. Either invest in shortening TTV or accept sales-led economics.
3. Buyer complexity
- 1 buyer = 1 user (individual contributors, freelancers) -> PLG
- 1 buyer, not 1 user, same team (manager buys for team) -> PLG with team-upgrade flow
- Multi-stakeholder, single department -> PLS or hybrid
- Cross-functional buying committee (security, legal, procurement, finance) -> sales-led
You cannot self-serve through a procurement review. Beyond a certain buyer complexity, sales-led is the only motion that closes.
4. Self-serve readiness (product side)
A 5-checkpoint test:
5/5 -> PLG-ready. 3-4/5 -> PLG with friction; fix gaps. <3/5 -> not PLG-ready regardless of what you call it.
Decision matrix
ACV -> low ($1K-$15K) mid ($15K-$100K) high (>$100K)
TTV: minutes/hours PLG / PLS PLG + AE assist Sales-led, PLG-influenced
TTV: days PLS Hybrid Sales-led
TTV: weeks+ Probably wrong product Sales-led Sales-led + services
Adjust toward sales if buyer complexity is high. Adjust toward PLG if buyer = user.
The motions defined
PLG (Product-Led Growth)
User signs up, activates, and upgrades themselves. Sales mostly absent. Examples: Linear, Notion (early), Figma (individual).
Implementation moves:
- Activation event defined and instrumented
- Free tier with usage-based upgrade gate (not feature-based -- feature gates feel punitive)
- In-product upgrade prompts at moments of value
- Self-serve checkout (Stripe / Paddle)
- Help docs > sales calls; community > AEs
- North-star metric tied to product usage, not pipeline
PLS (Product-Led Sales)
PLG funnel plus sales-assist on accounts showing buying signals. Examples: Slack, Atlassian, Loom.
Implementation moves:
- Activation event triggers PQL (Product-Qualified Lead) scoring
- Lightweight sales team focused on expansion, not new acquisition
- Self-serve up to a threshold (seats, usage, $X ACV); sales kicks in above
- Reverse trial: start premium, downgrade if not used (forces conversation)
Hybrid (PLG + traditional sales)
Two motions running in parallel for different segments. PLG for SMB/individual, sales-led for mid-market+. Examples: Notion (now), Datadog.
Implementation moves:
- Clear segmentation rule (size? ACV? industry?) with no overlap
- Separate funnels with separate metrics
- Compensation model that prevents AE poaching of PLG accounts
- Different pricing tiers for each motion
Sales-led
AE-driven from first touch. Long cycles, multi-call, custom pricing. Examples: Salesforce, ServiceNow, most enterprise.
Implementation moves:
- ICP locked tight (every AE hour is expensive)
- Outbound + ABM as primary channels
- Custom pricing / "contact us" -- public pricing optional
- Implementation/CS team for post-sale (high-ACV customers expect handholding)
- Quota-carrying AEs with multi-quarter cycles
Community-led / Developer-led
Special case where the user community is the channel. Open-source-driven (Hashicorp, MongoDB, GitLab) or developer-tools (Vercel, Supabase). Usually a flavor of PLG with heavy investment in DevRel.
Process
- Score the 4 variables with the user. If they don't know one, that itself is a signal -- usually they don't have the data.
- Apply the matrix to get a motion candidate.
- Pressure-test: do they have the team and product to execute it? PLG with no growth team and no instrumentation will fail. Sales-led with no sales hires will fail.
- Pick the motion. Be opinionated -- "hybrid" is the default cop-out, only choose it when the segmentation rule is clean.
- List 3-5 implementation moves specific to this product, not generic ones.
- Identify metrics that prove the motion is working (and lagging metrics that say it's not).
Output format
GTM MOTION RECOMMENDATION: [Product]
Date: [YYYY-MM-DD]
1. INPUTS
- ACV: $[X]
- Time-to-value: [duration]
- Buyer complexity: [1 buyer = 1 user / team / multi-stakeholder / committee]
- Self-serve readiness: [score]/5 -- gaps: [list]
2. RECOMMENDED MOTION
[PLG / PLS / Hybrid / Sales-led / Community-led]
3. WHY THIS, NOT THE OTHERS
- vs [other motion]: [reason it's wrong here]
4. IMPLEMENTATION MOVES (do these next, in order)
1. [Move + owner + timeframe]
5. METRICS TO WATCH
- Leading: [metric] (signal that motion is working)
- Lagging: [metric] (proof that motion is working)
- Tripwire: [metric] (signal motion is failing)
6. WHAT TO STOP DOING
[Activities that fit a different motion and now waste resources]
Common failure modes
- PLG cargo-culting -- calling everything PLG because it's fashionable. PLG requires <$15K ACV, low TTV, and self-serve product. Without all three, it fails.
- Sales-led on a $50/month product -- the AE costs more than the customer is worth. Fix by raising ACV or moving to PLG.
- Hybrid as a hedge -- choosing hybrid because you can't decide. Hybrid only works with clean segmentation; otherwise it's two half-funded motions.
- Ignoring buyer complexity -- beautiful PLG product that hits a procurement wall at $50K. Add sales-assist before hitting the wall, not after.
- Motion mismatch with comp plan -- PLG product with quota-carrying AEs creates AE behavior that breaks the funnel (forcing conversations on PQLs that wanted self-serve).
Handoffs
- Motion choice changes pricing structure ->
pricing-teardown
- Motion choice changes who you target ->
icp-definer
- Motion choice changes how you describe the product ->
positioning-canvas
- Motion implementation requires team/process changes -> user owns this; this skill stops at the recommendation
