Why Private Equity-Backed Companies Struggle with GTM — and How to Fix It!

The Evolving Private Equity Landscape in the U.S.

The U.S. private equity (PE) market has witnessed a strong rebound, with deal values increasing by 26% in 2024, alongside a 24% rise in transaction volumes compared to 2023 (EY). Technology, healthcare, and financial services continue to dominate, with technology alone accounting for 29% of total PE deal volume.

Despite this resurgence, PE-backed companies often struggle to unlock their full revenue potential due to weak or underdeveloped go-to-market (GTM) strategies. While PE investors are exponents of financial engineering, operational efficiencies and cost optimization; sales acceleration remains a consistent challenge. According to Bain & Company, 67% of PE-backed companies fail to meet their revenue growth targets post-acquisition, highlighting the need for a more structured GTM approach.

For PE firms and senior executives of portfolio companies, refining GTM execution is no longer optional—it is a strategic imperative to maximize enterprise value.

Why GTM Breaks Down in PE-Backed Companies

Many PE-backed firms face significant friction in their go-to-market motions due to the following challenges:

1. Fragmented Sales Processes

Post-acquisition, portfolio companies often struggle with integrating the sales teams and methodologies. This is particularly common when roll-up strategies combine multiple smaller firms into one entity. Without a standardized approach to lead generation, qualification, and pipeline management, sales performance becomes unpredictable.

A study by Forrester shows that companies with standardized sales processes achieve 28% higher revenue growth than those without. However, many PE-backed firms lack a uniform sales playbook, leading to inefficiencies and lost opportunities.

2. Underdeveloped Ideal Customer Profiles (ICPs)

Without a data-driven ICP, sales and marketing teams target the wrong audiences, leading to low conversion rates and high customer acquisition costs (CAC). According to McKinsey, companies that refine their ICPs see a 20-40% increase in sales productivity.

Many PE-backed companies inherit legacy customer bases that may no longer align with their future growth strategy. As a result, marketing campaigns become too broad, sales cycles lengthen, and customer churn increases due to poor product-market fit.

3. Misaligned Sales and Marketing Efforts

Alignment between sales and marketing is key necessity for accelerating growth, yet only 36% of B2B companies report strong collaboration between these functions (HubSpot).

Common symptoms of misalignment include:

• Marketing generating leads that sales teams don’t follow up on
• Sales teams focusing on quick wins instead of long-term pipeline development
• Lack of shared KPIs, leading to finger-pointing instead of accountability

For PE-backed companies, this disconnect creates friction that slows revenue growth and diminishes enterprise value.

4. Lack of Scalable Demand Generation

Many companies struggle to scale demand generation due to an overreliance on outbound sales and manual prospecting. While cold outreach can be effective, it is labor-intensive and difficult to scale. Data from Gartner shows that companies leveraging a balanced mix of inbound and outbound marketing grow 2x faster than those reliant solely on outbound.

PE-backed companies often inherit outdated demand-generation practices that lead to an overreliance on expensive sales efforts rather than scalable digital marketing strategies.

5. Limited Use of Sales and Marketing Technology

Despite the availability of advanced sales enablement and marketing automation tools, only 40% of companies fully utilize their CRM capabilities (Salesforce). Many PE-backed firms operate with outdated or disconnected systems, making it difficult to track sales performance, measure marketing ROI, and optimize customer interactions.

Without proper technology integration, teams waste valuable time on manual processes, reducing productivity and increasing acquisition costs.

How PE-Backed Companies Can Fix GTM

1. Standardize Sales Processes with a Proven Playbook

A structured sales process improves consistency, shortens sales cycles, and increases close rates. Leading PE firms work with their portfolio companies to implement:

• Defined sales stages with clear exit criteria
• Lead scoring models to prioritize high-value prospects
• Pipeline forecasting tools to improve revenue predictability

Companies that implement formal sales methodologies, such as MEDDIC or Challenger Selling, see up to 30% higher closure rates (Gartner).

2. Develop a Data-Driven ICP and Target Market Strategy

To refine their go-to-market approach, PE-backed firms should analyze customer data to identify:

• Highest-value segments based on deal size, retention, and lifetime value
• Industry verticals with the greatest growth potential
• Common pain points that sales and marketing can address proactively

Companies that continuously refine their ICPs see 30-50% higher sales efficiency (McKinsey).

3. Align Sales and Marketing Around Shared KPIs

A strong GTM strategy requires seamless coordination between sales and marketing. This can be achieved by:

• Implementing service level agreements (SLAs) between sales and marketing teams
• Defining shared KPIs such as pipeline contribution and conversion rates
• Running regular alignment meetings to review performance and adjust strategies

Companies that achieve strong sales-marketing alignment see 208% higher marketing-generated revenue (Marketo).

4. Scale Demand Generation with Digital Channels

Modern GTM strategies should incorporate scalable digital marketing efforts, including:

• Account-based marketing (ABM) to target high-value accounts
• Inbound content marketing to drive organic leads
• Paid digital advertising to generate demand efficiently

Companies investing in ABM see a 171% higher average contract value than those using traditional marketing approaches (ITSMA).

5. Investing in Sales and Marketing Technology

Leveraging in AI-powered sales tools and marketing automation platforms can significantly improve S&M efficiency. Some of the key investments include:

• CRM optimization for better lead tracking and management of sales pipeline
• AI-driven sales enablement tools to improve prospecting accuracy
• Marketing automation software to scale campaigns and improve lead nurturing

Companies that adopt AI in sales are seeing 50% higher conversion rates at a 40% lower acquisition costs (McKinsey).

The Bottom Line

For PE-backed companies, a broken GTM strategy can significantly impact revenue growth and ultimately reduce enterprise value. By addressing common pitfalls—such as fragmented sales processes, weak ICPs, and poor sales-marketing alignment—companies can accelerate revenue, improve EBITDA, and create stronger exit opportunities.

Private equity firms that proactively implement structured GTM improvements across their portfolio will see greater returns on investment, reduced risk, and faster value creation. In today’s competitive deal environment, optimizing go-to-market execution is not just an advantage—it’s a necessity.