GTM Blame Loop: Why Marketing, Sales, and Product Keep Pointing Fingers

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Most GTM orgs don’t break because they lack good ideas.

They break because of something quieter:

So teams start pointing fingers:

• Marketing: “Sales didn’t follow up on leads”

• Sales: “Marketing sends low-intent traffic”

• Product: “Retention isn’t a feature problem, it’s onboarding”

Sound familiar?

Welcome to the GTM Blame Loop.

[1] Why the Loop Happens

The loop forms when GTM roles aren’t tied to shared outcomes.
Each team optimises for their own dashboard, not revenue.

Examples:

• Marketing optimises for MQLs, but Sales wants ACV-ready leads

• Sales chases close rate, but Product doesn’t improve activation

• Product ships roadmap, but Customer Success owns churn

So everyone thinks they’re succeeding.
But revenue metrics stall.

[2] The Real Fix Isn’t More Meetings. It’s Shared Accountability Design.

GTM orgs don’t need more alignment decks.
They need a system where no single team can hit their goal alone.

Here’s what we do across orgs I operate in:

• Shared Metrics, Split Ownership
  → Trial-to-paid = Product + Sales
  → NRR = Product + CS + Marketing
  → ACV = Sales + Marketing + Pricing

• Weekly GTM Syncs
  → Funnel heatmaps reviewed together
  → Each drop has an owner, contributor, and unblocker
  → Example: Signups drop? Maybe it’s ad targeting + form UX

• Pre-approved Test Zones
  → Avoid bottlenecks by allowing sandbox tests without exec approval
  → E.g. CS can trigger automated winback campaigns without PM loop

[3] One Framework That’s Working

I call it The 3-Layer GTM Sync:

[1] Goal Alignment
→ What are we solving for this month?

[2] Blame Surface → Root Cause Map
→ Drop in conversion? Is it intent, UX, handover, or pricing?

[3] Assigned Fix
→ One team owns, one contributes, one clears roadblocks

This replaces “update calls” with decisions and forward motion.

Final Words

Most GTM teams don’t fail because of bad execution.
They fail because they’re solving for different truths.

If your funnel feels broken, look beyond attribution models.

When the blame loop breaks, the funnel finally moves.

That's it for today's article! I hope you found this essay insightful.

Wishing you a productive week ahead!

I always appreciate you reading.

Thanks,
Chintankumar Maisuria

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