It may feel productive, but it doesn’t compound.

And many teams stay stuck because they “perform” all quarter — and “train/build the system” one day at SKO/QBR.

Here’s the contrast I keep seeing across ISVs: firefighting vs building a repeatable Cloud GTM system.

Firefighting deals

• Marketplace comes up at Stage 5/6: “Can we push this through Marketplace?”

• Sellers ping alliances: “Need a private offer ASAP”

• Cloud rep gets a messy co-sell request: no buyer context, no clear ask

• Customer procurement involved in the last week: “Who can accept the private offer?”

• The “win” depends on one operator who knows the maze

It creates chaos:

• Unpredictable outcomes

• Sellers conclude: “Marketplace is extra work”

• Cloud teams get flooded with low-quality asks (“spray and pray”)

• Zero compounding: the next deal starts from scratch

Building a Repeatable System

• Marketplace identified as a default path early (Stage 2/3 check)

• Sales drives the motion; alliances enable + orchestrate where needed (not “save” deals)

• Sales talk track + checklists is MEDDPICC-native

• Deal sharing is structured: status + next step + specific asks

• Procurement + private offer approver identified before endgame

• Cross-functional support is pre-wired: Finance (comp neutral + rev rec), Ops (automations), Product (marketplace packaging), Marketing

It builds leverage:

• Faster cycles, less noise

• Higher adoption across the sales team

• Better co-sell response from hyperscalers

• Real compounding: every deal makes the motion stronger

Firefighting saves a deal. Systems scale a motion.

Don’t treat learning and system-building as the opposite of “performing.”

It’s the engine behind performance.

Scalable Cloud GTM system includes:

People: reps know the play; alliances enable and reinforce it; ops support it, finance/legal aren’t surprised later

Enablement: onboarding + refreshers + call templates + deal reviews that teach the motion

Process: stage rules, checklists, automation workflows

Cadence: enablement, co-sell rhythms + always-on channel for questions

Tools: CRM automations, templates, structured co-sell submissions

A simple gut-check:

• Most teams: 90% firefight / 10% build

• Scaling teams: 70% execute / 30% build the system

Reality check (baseline B2B):

Salesforce’s State of Sales says reps spend only ~28–30% of their week actually selling (the rest is admin + internal work).

Seismic found that without enablement, sellers spend ~10 hours/week just searching for content.

If that’s true in “normal sales,” it’s usually worse in Marketplace motions that don’t have a system.

Are you building your repeatable Cloud GTM system?

Ready to transform your growth on cloud marketplaces?

Join our 5-week course for Alliance and Cloud GTM leaders and build your repeatable marketplace + co-sell growth engine on AWS, Microsoft or Google Cloud.

Cloud GTM Leader Cohort 14 kicks off on Jan 20!