Effective Work Sample Exercises for Hiring Go-to-Market Strategy Managers

The Go-to-Market Strategy Manager role is pivotal for companies looking to successfully launch products, enter new markets, or expand their existing footprint. These professionals serve as the strategic bridge between product development, marketing, sales, and customer success teams, ensuring that market insights translate into actionable plans that drive business growth.

Finding the right Go-to-Market Strategy Manager requires more than just reviewing resumes and conducting standard interviews. Traditional interview methods often fail to reveal a candidate's true capabilities in strategic thinking, cross-functional collaboration, and data-driven decision-making—all critical skills for this role. Work samples and role plays provide a window into how candidates actually approach the complex challenges they'll face on the job.

By incorporating practical exercises into your interview process, you can observe candidates' thought processes, problem-solving approaches, and communication styles in real-time. This gives you valuable insights into how they might perform in your organization and helps you identify those who can truly drive your go-to-market initiatives forward.

The following work samples are designed to evaluate the essential competencies required for a successful Go-to-Market Strategy Manager: strategic thinking, effective communication, collaboration, analytical acumen, and adaptability. Each exercise simulates real-world scenarios that these professionals encounter, allowing you to make more informed hiring decisions based on demonstrated abilities rather than self-reported experience.

Activity #1: Market Entry Strategy Development

This exercise evaluates a candidate's ability to develop a comprehensive go-to-market strategy for a new product or market entry. It tests their strategic thinking, market analysis capabilities, and ability to create actionable plans that align with business objectives. A strong Go-to-Market Strategy Manager must be able to synthesize market data, identify opportunities, and develop clear strategies that can be executed across multiple departments.

Directions for the Company:

• Prepare a brief (1-2 page) document describing a fictional product or service that your company is planning to launch. Include basic information about the product's features, benefits, and target market.
• Provide relevant market data such as market size, competitive landscape, and industry trends. This can be simplified but should include enough information for meaningful analysis.
• Allow candidates 48 hours to prepare their strategy before the interview session.
• During the interview, give candidates 20 minutes to present their strategy, followed by 10 minutes of questions.
• Ensure that the product scenario is relevant to your industry but doesn't require highly specialized knowledge that only internal employees would have.

Directions for the Candidate:

• Review the product information and market data provided.
• Develop a comprehensive go-to-market strategy that includes:
• Target audience segmentation and prioritization
• Positioning and value proposition
• Channel strategy and partnerships
• Marketing and sales approach
• Key metrics for measuring success
• Timeline for implementation
• Prepare a 20-minute presentation outlining your strategy.
• Be prepared to explain your rationale and answer questions about your approach.

Feedback Mechanism:

• After the presentation, provide specific feedback on one strategic element the candidate executed well.
• Offer one constructive suggestion for improvement, such as refining the target audience segmentation or strengthening the value proposition.
• Give the candidate 5 minutes to verbally revise their approach based on this feedback, observing how well they incorporate new perspectives and adapt their thinking.

Activity #2: Cross-Functional Collaboration Role Play

This role play assesses a candidate's ability to collaborate effectively with different stakeholders, navigate competing priorities, and build consensus—essential skills for a Go-to-Market Strategy Manager who must coordinate across departments. It reveals how candidates handle challenging interpersonal dynamics while maintaining focus on strategic objectives.

Directions for the Company:

• Prepare role descriptions for three stakeholders: a Sales Director concerned about quotas and sales enablement, a Product Manager focused on feature development timelines, and a Marketing Director worried about messaging and campaign planning.
• Assign three team members to play these roles, providing them with specific concerns, objections, and priorities to express during the meeting.
• Brief the role players to present realistic but challenging perspectives that the candidate must address and reconcile.
• Allow 5 minutes for the candidate to review the scenario before beginning the 25-minute role play.
• The scenario should involve planning the launch of a new product feature with competing departmental priorities.

Directions for the Candidate:

• You will lead a cross-functional meeting to align on the go-to-market approach for a new product feature.
• Your goal is to build consensus on launch timing, key messaging, and departmental responsibilities.
• Review the brief scenario description and prepare to facilitate the discussion.
• During the meeting, you should:
• Establish clear objectives for the discussion
• Address concerns from each stakeholder
• Find areas of compromise and alignment
• Develop an action plan that all parties can support
• Demonstrate active listening and effective facilitation

Feedback Mechanism:

• Provide feedback on how effectively the candidate built consensus and addressed stakeholder concerns.
• Highlight one area where the candidate could improve their facilitation or stakeholder management approach.
• Ask the candidate to spend 5 minutes reflecting on how they would handle one specific challenging moment differently, then have them demonstrate this revised approach in a brief follow-up interaction with the relevant stakeholder.

Activity #3: Competitive Analysis and Positioning Exercise

This exercise evaluates a candidate's analytical skills, market insight, and ability to develop compelling positioning that differentiates a product in a competitive landscape. It tests their capacity to translate market research into strategic recommendations—a fundamental requirement for effective go-to-market planning.

Directions for the Company:

• Prepare information about 3-4 competitors in your market space, including their product offerings, target customers, pricing strategies, and key messaging.
• Include your own product's features, benefits, and current positioning.
• Provide access to this information 24 hours before the interview.
• During the interview, allow 30 minutes for the candidate to present their analysis and recommendations.
• Consider using actual competitors but removing identifying information if confidentiality is a concern.

Directions for the Candidate:

• Review the competitive landscape information provided.
• Conduct a thorough analysis identifying:
• Key strengths and weaknesses of each competitor
• Market gaps and opportunities
• Potential threats to your company's position
• Develop recommendations for:
• Product positioning that clearly differentiates from competitors
• Key messaging that highlights unique value propositions
• Potential adjustments to feature prioritization or pricing strategy
• Prepare a concise presentation of your findings and recommendations.
• Be prepared to explain your analytical approach and the rationale behind your recommendations.

Feedback Mechanism:

• Provide feedback on the depth and insight of the competitive analysis, highlighting one particularly strong observation or recommendation.
• Suggest one area where the analysis could be strengthened or where positioning could be more differentiated.
• Give the candidate 10 minutes to revise their positioning statement and key messaging based on this feedback, observing how they incorporate the suggestions and refine their thinking.

Activity #4: Launch Performance Analysis and Optimization

This exercise tests a candidate's ability to analyze performance data, identify optimization opportunities, and develop data-driven recommendations to improve go-to-market execution. It evaluates their analytical acumen, problem-solving skills, and capacity to translate insights into actionable strategies—critical for ongoing go-to-market success.

Directions for the Company:

• Create a realistic but fictional dataset showing the first 90 days of performance metrics for a product launch.
• Include metrics such as:
• Sales by channel and customer segment
• Marketing campaign performance
• Customer acquisition costs
• Conversion rates at different funnel stages
• Customer feedback highlights
• Ensure the data contains clear patterns and opportunities for optimization.
• Provide the dataset to candidates 24 hours before the interview.
• Allow 30 minutes for presentation and discussion during the interview.

Directions for the Candidate:

• Analyze the provided launch performance data to identify:
• Key trends and patterns in performance
• Areas of success and underperformance
• Potential root causes of performance issues
• Opportunities for optimization
• Develop a set of recommendations to improve performance, including:
• Specific tactical adjustments to the go-to-market approach
• Reallocation of resources or budget if needed
• Changes to messaging, targeting, or channel strategy
• KPIs to track for measuring improvement
• Prepare a concise presentation of your analysis and recommendations.
• Be ready to explain your analytical process and the rationale behind your recommendations.

Feedback Mechanism:

• Provide feedback on the quality of the analysis and the practicality of the recommendations, highlighting one particularly insightful observation.
• Suggest one area where the analysis could be deepened or where recommendations could be more specific and actionable.
• Ask the candidate to spend 10 minutes developing a more detailed action plan for implementing their top recommendation, including timeline, resource requirements, and expected outcomes.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long should we allocate for these work sample exercises?

Each exercise requires approximately 30-45 minutes during the interview, plus preparation time for both the company and the candidate. For activities requiring pre-work, provide materials to candidates 24-48 hours in advance. Consider spreading these exercises across different interview stages rather than conducting all in one session.

Should we use real company data for these exercises?

While using scenarios relevant to your industry increases the exercise's value, avoid using confidential data or current strategic initiatives. Create realistic but fictional scenarios that test the same skills without exposing sensitive information. This also ensures candidates without inside knowledge can participate fairly.

How do we evaluate candidates consistently across these exercises?

Develop a structured scoring rubric for each exercise that aligns with the key competencies for the role. Have multiple interviewers evaluate the same dimensions independently before discussing their assessments. Focus on the candidate's approach, analytical process, and rationale rather than just the specific recommendations they make.

What if a candidate has limited experience in our specific industry?

These exercises are designed to test fundamental go-to-market skills that transfer across industries. Focus evaluation on the candidate's strategic thinking, analytical approach, and collaboration skills rather than industry-specific knowledge. Strong candidates can apply their skills to new contexts and will demonstrate learning agility during the exercises.

How should we handle candidates who are uncomfortable with role plays or presentations?

Communicate exercise expectations clearly when scheduling interviews so candidates can prepare appropriately. Offer reasonable accommodations if needed, but remember that presentation and stakeholder management are typically essential skills for this role. Consider the candidate's overall performance across all exercises rather than placing too much weight on any single activity.

Can these exercises be conducted remotely?

Yes, all these exercises can be adapted for remote interviews using video conferencing and collaborative tools. For the cross-functional role play, ensure all participants have stable connections and clear audio. For exercises requiring analysis or presentation preparation, use screen sharing or have candidates submit materials in advance.

The Go-to-Market Strategy Manager role requires a unique blend of strategic thinking, analytical capabilities, and collaborative skills. By incorporating these practical work samples into your hiring process, you'll gain deeper insights into candidates' abilities and identify those who can truly drive your market expansion and product launch initiatives to success.

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