Why Most Contractors Don't Need a Go-To-Market Strategy (And What to Focus on Instead)

Why Most Contractors Don’t Need a Go-To-Market Strategy (And What to Focus on Instead)

I once worked with an energy metering company that paid a fancy consultant thousands of dollars to create their go-to-market strategy. The deliverable was impressive - professionally designed, full of market data, customer avatars, blog topics, pages to build, the works.

It looked expensive. It was expensive.

And it sat on a shelf collecting dust while the company struggled to make sales.

Eventually, they found their market - by niching down based on real customer conversations, not from anything in that strategy document. The blogs from the strategy got no meaningful traffic. The elaborate market segmentation? Irrelevant when they discovered their actual customers through trial and error.

Sound familiar?

TL;DR: Most contractors don’t need expensive go-to-market strategies - they need positioning, messaging, and a lead generation system that actually works. Save the elaborate strategy documents for when you’re doing multi-millions and have real data to work with, not consultant assumptions.

The Go-To-Market Strategy Industrial Complex

Here’s what typically happens: A contractor is struggling with growth. Maybe they’re inconsistent with leads, or they can’t seem to break through to the next revenue level. Someone suggests they need a “comprehensive go-to-market strategy.”

So they hire a consultant who conducts market research, creates detailed customer avatars, maps out content strategies, and delivers a 50-page document full of data, charts, and recommendations.

The contractor pays $10,000-$25,000 for this masterpiece. It gets presented in a big meeting. Everyone nods seriously. The document goes on the shelf.

And nothing changes.

Why? Because the strategy didn’t address the actual problem: the business doesn’t have a reliable system for generating and closing leads.

We’ve seen this pattern repeatedly with contractors who come to us after investing in elaborate strategies. They’re talking about brand positioning, market segmentation, and content pillars while struggling to make payroll because they can’t generate consistent leads.

It’s the same trap that we mentioned in the graveyard of logos - investing in expensive strategic thinking before proving you can actually make sales.

What Contractors Actually Need (It’s Not a Go-To-Market Strategy)

Let’s cut through the consultant BS: most contractors can reach $1-3 million in annual revenue - probably much further - with a simple, focused approach. You don’t need elaborate market analysis. You need three things:

1. Clear Positioning and Messaging

Who are you? What do you do? Why should someone choose you over the competition?

This isn’t a 50-page strategy document. It’s a clear, concise answer to “What makes you different?” that your customers actually understand and care about. It’s the messaging you’ll use in your ads, on your website, and when the phone rings.

Most contractors overthink this. Your positioning doesn’t need to be revolutionary - it needs to be clear and relevant to your target customer.

2. A Lead Generation System That Works

Here’s the unglamorous truth: How are you going to get leads, and how are you going to sell them?

That’s it. That’s the strategy that matters when you’re building or growing.

For most contractors, this means:

• A website that converts visitors into calls
• Google Ads campaigns that generate qualified leads at a profitable cost
• Local SEO that captures search demand in your service area
• A Google Business Profile that dominates the map pack

These aren’t sexy consultant deliverables. They’re simple systems that generate leads when you need them.

3. The Ability to Close Those Leads

The fanciest go-to-market strategy in the world won’t help if you can’t answer the phone and close the deal.

Before you invest thousands in market analysis, ask yourself: If we generated 50 qualified leads next week, could we handle them? Would we answer the phone? Could we close a decent percentage? Do we have capacity to do the work?

If the answer is no, you don’t have a strategy problem. You have an operations problem.

The Rebel Ape Approach: Simple Systems, Real Results

When contractors come to us, here’s what we actually do - and notice how different it is from a traditional go-to-market strategy:

Step 1: Build or Fix the Foundation

We create a customer avatar - but not an elaborate consultant version. We identify who buys your services, what problems they have, and what motivates their purchasing decisions. This takes a conversation, not a $15,000 research project.

Then we fix or build the digital infrastructure - website, tracking, conversion elements - that turns visitors into leads.

Step 2: Generate Leads

We launch targeted campaigns that drive qualified traffic. Usually starting with PPC because it’s fast and measurable, then layering in SEO for long-term growth.

We track everything obsessively - where leads come from, what they cost, which messages work, conversion rates at every step.

Step 3: Optimize Based on Real Data

Here’s where strategy actually becomes valuable: after you have real market data from actual customers.

When you’ve run campaigns for 6-12 months, you know which services are most profitable, which customer segments convert best, which messages resonate, and which channels drive ROI. That’s when strategic planning becomes useful - because you’re working with facts, not assumptions.

The energy metering company I mentioned? They didn’t need a go-to-market strategy before they had customers. They needed to test the market, find what worked, and then double down on it. The “strategy” emerged from real-world results, not consultant projections.

When Does Strategy Actually Matter?

I’m not saying strategic planning is always worthless. There are times when a formal go-to-market strategy makes sense:

When You’re Pivoting Based on Real Data: If you’ve been in business for years, have solid revenue, and real customer data showing an opportunity in a new market or service line - then yes, plan that pivot strategically. But you’re working with facts, not theories.

When You’re at Multi-Million Dollar Scale: If you’re doing $5-10 million+ annually and looking to expand into new markets or service categories, the stakes are high enough to justify comprehensive strategic planning. You have resources to execute on the strategy and data to inform it.

When You Have Capital to Deploy: If you’ve raised funding or have significant capital to invest in growth, strategic planning helps you deploy those resources efficiently. But most contractors aren’t in this position.

For the typical contractor doing $500K-$3M annually? The elaborate go-to-market strategy is a distraction from what actually matters: generating leads and closing sales.

The Real Cost of Strategy Theater

Here’s what concerns me most about the go-to-market strategy industrial complex: it gives contractors the feeling of progress without actual progress.

You spend months (and thousands of dollars) on research, analysis, and planning. You have impressive documents and presentations. You feel productive and strategic.

But you’re not generating more leads. You’re not closing more sales. You’re not growing revenue.

We’ve seen contractors who invested in elaborate strategies while:

• Their website couldn’t track conversions
• They had no idea which marketing channels actually worked
• Their Google Business Profile wasn’t even claimed
• They weren’t running any systematic lead generation campaigns

They had strategy. They didn’t have sales.

Strategy feels safe because it’s planning, not execution. It’s thinking, not doing. But thinking doesn’t pay the bills or grow your business.

Start Simple, Add Complexity When It’s Earned

The most successful contractor clients we’ve worked with all followed the same pattern:

1. Start with fundamentals: Clear positioning, working website, basic lead generation
2. Get leads flowing: Launch campaigns, track results, optimize based on performance
3. Master the basics: Improve conversion rates, streamline operations, build capacity
4. Layer in complexity: Add channels, expand services, enter new markets - backed by data

Notice that “comprehensive go-to-market strategy” doesn’t appear until step 4 - and even then, it’s informed by real market experience, not consultant assumptions.

Even our most sophisticated clients - the ones with multiple service lines, complex campaigns, and advanced attribution - are really just running simple systems tied together into one big system.

When any single component gets too complicated or convoluted, it creates friction. We’ve seen this month over month, year after year. Simple works. Complicated breaks.

The Bottom Line

Most contractors don’t need a go-to-market strategy - they need leads and the ability to close them.

Get clear on who you serve and why they should choose you. Build systems that generate qualified leads consistently. Close those leads. Repeat until you have real data worth analyzing.

That’s the strategy that actually grows contractor businesses.

If you’re spending more time planning than executing, more time analyzing than selling, more time strategizing than generating leads - you’ve got the priorities backward.

Want help building a lead generation system that actually works instead of another strategy document for your shelf? Let’s talk. We’ll skip the fancy consultant deliverables and focus on what actually matters: getting you more leads and more sales.

FAQ

Do I need a go-to-market strategy if I’m starting a new contracting business?

No. You need positioning, a basic website, and a lead generation system. Test the market with real campaigns, learn what works, then build strategy around actual results rather than assumptions.

What’s the difference between a go-to-market strategy and a marketing strategy?

A go-to-market strategy is typically a comprehensive analysis of markets, competition, and positioning before entering a market. A marketing strategy is your actual plan for generating and converting leads. Most contractors need the latter, not the former.

When should I invest in formal strategic planning?

When you have real market data from actual customers, when you’re pivoting based on proven opportunities, or when you’re at multi-million dollar scale with capital to deploy. Not when you’re struggling to generate consistent leads.

Can’t I just create my own go-to-market strategy?

You can, but the question is whether you should. If you’re not generating consistent leads and sales, your time is better spent building campaigns and closing deals than creating strategy documents. Strategy emerges from execution, not the other way around.

What if my competitors have go-to-market strategies?

Great - let them spend time planning while you’re generating leads and closing sales. The contractor who executes well beats the one who plans perfectly every time.