Route to Market
You’ve done a lot of the hard thinking already.
You know:
- The pains you solve
- The pain clusters and promises
- Your winnable market and ICP
- Your competitors and positioning
- Why people act now
- Your why, mission, and values
Now we make it real.
This module turns all of that into a simple, focused plan for how you will consistently reach the right clients and create sales conversations.
By the end of this module, you will have:
- A clear, winnable route to market
- One primary route and one supporting route
- A simple weekly rhythm you can actually sustain
The principle: don’t chase everything
You don’t need more channels. You don’t need more services. You don’t need more noise.
You want to get better at the right routes.
The instinct to add more is natural:
- More services should mean more revenue
But it usually creates the opposite:
- Diluted messaging
- Confused buyers
- Inconsistent selling
- Exhaustion and overwhelm
This module is how sales stops feeling chaotic and starts feeling manageable and controllable.
The three ways to sell
There are three broad routes to market:
1) Direct selling
You do the selling.
You speak to the end client directly.
Direct works well when:
- You need quick momentum
- You want direct control of activity and learning
- Your offer is consultative and needs discovery
- You do not need massive volume to win
Examples:
- Email outreach
- LinkedIn outreach
- Calls
- Networking through your own effort
- Asking your existing clients for introductions
2) Partner selling
A partner introduces you to the end client.
You still work directly with the end client.
Partners work well when:
- You solve a problem the partner does not solve
- What you do complements what they do
- Trust is critical and third-party credibility helps
- Your buyer expects recommended suppliers
- Buyers listen to multiple advisors
Examples:
- Accountants, solicitors, consultants
- Managed service providers
- Marketing agencies
- Coaches, web designers, HR consultants
- Specialist suppliers with adjacent offers
Partners take longer to build, but can create higher trust and stronger conversion.
3) Channel selling
You sell through someone else.
They sell it under their umbrella, sometimes under their brand.
Channel works well when:
- Your offer can be packaged and repeated
- You do not need a direct relationship with the end client
- You want higher volume or broader coverage
- Buyers prefer buying through existing suppliers
- Resellers are already normal in the market
Examples:
- Resellers, distributors, wholesalers
- VARs and white-label providers
- Affiliate programmes, marketplaces, procurement frameworks
Important: this programme focuses on direct and partner routes. Channel is a different operational model.
What a route to market really is
A route to market is not a tactic. It is not a campaign. It is not a one-off effort.
A route to market is:
- A repeatable path that reliably puts you in front of your ideal clients
- An engine that produces conversations, not content
- A weekly set of behaviours that leads to sales opportunities
Put simply, it answers:
- Who
- Where
- What
- How
The rules of a good route to market
A strong route to market:
1) Goes where your ideal clients already are
If your ICP is not already there, you have to:
- Find them, and
- Educate them to be there
That is double the work.
A simple test:
- Are your ideal clients already in that place asking questions, seeking advice, researching, complaining, or buying?
2) Reinforces your positioning
Your route to market must match your positioning sentence.
Example:
- If your positioning is “we make things simple” but your buying journey is complex, trust collapses.
Another:
- If you claim you understand their world, you should be present where they gather.
3) Matches your personality and energy
A route only works if you can show up consistently.
If you hate:
- Events, don’t build your engine on networking
- Video, don’t make content your primary route
- Cold outreach, do not force direct as your main route
There are multiple routes to the same destination.
Pick one that fits you.
4) Is weekly and trackable
If you cannot describe the weekly behaviours, it is not a route.
It is a wish.
Avoid lumpy routes that happen once a year.
Little and often wins.
5) Focus on one primary route plus one supporting route
Businesses fail when they try to run five routes at once and do none of them well.
The rule:
- Primary route – where you go all-in
- Supporting route – the safety net and nurturer
How to define your routes
Your route to market must be built using the work you have already done.
You will use:
- Pains and promises (Modules 1-2)
- ICP and winnable market (Module 3)
- Competitors and positioning (Module 4)
- Why now triggers (Module 5)
- Why, mission, values (Module 6)
A key rule:
- Your first route should be linked to a “why now” that is true right now
That gives you the best chance of early wins.
Partner note – revisit ASEIF if you use partners
If you choose partners as a route, do not assume they will refer you just because you are good.
You must answer:
- What pain does the partner feel that you solve?
- What pain do their clients feel that the partner cannot solve alone?
- What do they fear if that problem continues?
- What makes referring you make their life easier?
Think ASEIF – but for the partner.
A simple example of what good looks like
A route to market should end in a single summary sentence like:
My route to market is [primary route] supported by [supporting route], with a weekly rhythm of [numbers].
Example structure:
- Primary – direct outreach
- Supporting – partner introductions
- Weekly rhythm – 10 messages, 2 posts, 1 partner conversation
Simple. Trackable. Repeatable.
What comes next
Next, we finalise your Commercial Blueprint.
One visual plan that brings everything together:
- Who you help
- Why they buy
- How you position
- Where you find them
- What you do each week
Without a blueprint, businesses drift.
With a blueprint, they grow strategically.