01
First ThoughtStruggling Moment
The earliest recognition — often subtle or subconscious — that the current way of achieving progress is no longer sufficient. Dissatisfaction, new opportunities, or changing circumstances create awareness that something needs to change.
GTM read Nobody is in-market yet. Content that names the struggle in the customer's own words gets found here. Product messaging does not.
02
Passively Looking
The buyer becomes more attentive to potential solutions without actively researching them. They notice conversations, content, peers, vendors, or industry trends related to their struggling moment but have not yet committed time and effort to finding a solution.
GTM read You're being noticed, not evaluated. Category education and discoverability compound here — months before any measurable intent signal appears.
03
First EventActivation
A specific event or accumulation of pressure causes the buyer to transition from passive awareness to active search. This trigger may result from increasing Push — pain, risk, inefficiency, missed goals — or increasing Pull: seeing a better way, competitive pressure, executive direction, peer success.
GTM read The single highest-leverage signal in the cycle. Once triggers are named and dated across interviews, they become targetable. Timing beats targeting.
04
Actively Looking
The buyer deliberately invests time and effort exploring potential solutions. They clarify desired outcomes, identify requirements, educate themselves on available options, and begin forming opinions about different vendors or approaches.
GTM read Comparison starts. Your positioning is now being tested against a set of alternatives you did not choose and often did not know about.
05
Second EventDecision Readiness
Another event or increasing urgency moves the buyer from exploration to evaluation. Decision criteria become clearer, viable options narrow, and the forces pushing and pulling toward change begin competing directly with the habits and allegiances already in place and the anxieties that switching creates.
GTM read The shortlist forms here. Anything not already in the consideration set won't be added — which means the real competition for this deal happened earlier.
06
Deciding
The buyer evaluates shortlisted solutions against their decision criteria. They compare capabilities, implementation effort, cost, risk, vendor credibility, stakeholder alignment, and expected business outcomes before selecting a preferred solution.
GTM read Trade-off criteria are set here, by the customer. Proof, pricing structure, and risk reduction do the work. Feature lists mostly don't.
07
Hiring / Firing Event
The moment of commitment. The organisation hires a new solution to enable desired progress while simultaneously firing an existing product, process, vendor, or internal approach that no longer adequately serves the job.
GTM read What got fired is your real competitive set. If it's a spreadsheet, an agency, or nothing at all, your battlecard is aimed at the wrong opponent.
08
Onboarding & Product Adoption
The organisation implements the solution and begins integrating it into everyday workflows. Users learn the product, stakeholders adopt new behaviours, integrations are completed, and the customer evaluates whether the solution delivers the expected outcomes and business value.
GTM read Onboarding either confirms or contradicts the promise that won the deal. Gaps found here are usually messaging debt, not product debt.
09
Continuous Use
The solution becomes embedded in normal operations and everyday work. Users consistently achieve desired outcomes, new habits form, switching costs increase, and the organisation becomes less receptive to competing solutions until a new struggling moment emerges.
GTM read Habit formation. Retention, expansion, and the referral language other buyers will hear all originate here — then feed the next customer's first thought.
