5 lessons sales & GTM teams can learn from the US election

Whether you're living in America or not, it's hard to escape the talk of the US election.??

Politics aside, I find looking at the sales and marketing behind their election campaigns fascinating. With millions of dollars behind their campaigns, this is serious money and business!??

So, what can sales & GTM teams learn from the US election??

1. The Campaign??

Neither candidate relies on “hope” that they will receive votes, nor do they take a scattergun approach. The campaign has millions invested in it, and it is strategically planned for months, all building up to the big election day.??

In my experience, very few businesses embrace the same strategic campaign approach for a product/services launch or lead generation campaign, but it pays off when done well.??

Our potential customers need to hear our message over and over again, with over 15 touchpoints on average, before they buy. A successful sales or GTM campaign is strategic, omnichannel and sequenced with the right messaging and touchpoint at the right stage of the buying journey. ?

Top Tip: What are your sales & GTM priority for 2025. What strategic campaign can you map out for 2025 to support your priority with a focused, coordinated effort with multiple touchpoints???

2. The swing state??

We know that Harris and Trump are both very strategic about where they focus their efforts; they are trying to get the swing states that could either make or break their election campaign.?

A business version of this is focusing on your clients with a neutral or slightly positive net promoter score. Forrester's research found that if you focus on elevating the neutral and slightly positive raters to raving fans, you'll earn about 9?times more revenue than if you focus on eliminating the detractors (negatives).??

Top Tip: Identify your high-growth potential accounts where if you doubled down your efforts, you could expand the account and turn them into raving fans across multiple product/service lines. ?

3. The volume PR game??

On the week of his book release, Tony Robbins did hundreds of interviews; he played the volume game for maximum reach. Even with his high profile, he didn't leave it to chance.??

Trump and Harris have been doing interviews by the dozen on T.V, radio, and podcasts. You name it, they are doing it, including high-profile podcasts like Joe Rogan with millions of listeners.? It's pure gold and the extra millions of voters they reach via an omnichannel approach to PR.??

Top Tip:? Which podcasts/ interviews could you be interviewed on to extend your reach? What is your ideal client reading/watching/consuming??

4. Celebrity Endorsement??

With Taylor Swift backing Harris and Elon Musk backing Trump, it doesn't get much better than that!? Celebrities are all backing their favourite candidate and amplifying the message to their millions of followers.??

We've all seen businesses experience huge success by gaining celebrity endorsement or paid influencers, and their sales have consequently roared. But there is lower-hanging fruit than this before you start hitting up celebs on social media.??

As an example, one of the many reasons I love podcasting is that I meet and learn from incredible experts who have engaged audiences. By them sharing our podcast interview, I get to access a new audience of listeners and connect with their "fans" for free.???

Top Tip: Who are the "influencers" or an audience you would love to connect with & how can you do it??

5. The Memorable Message?

I've talked about this one many times. The incredible Maz Speaks Global , whose content has had 8 billion views, makes an epic observation about Trump.??

What is Kamala Harris's campaign message and promise? I'm going to be honest; I don't know! ?

What was Biden's campaign message? What was Hilary Clinton's campaign message? None of us remember.??

If Maz asked you what Trump's campaign message is, would you know??

Have you got it???

Make America Great Again??

It's a simple and memorable message. None of us know what that actually means, but we know what he promised his voters.??

Top Tip: Here's the challenge for sales and GTM teams, can we have a clear memorable message that we become known for and the go-to in the market???

So, there you have it, my top five business lesson takeaways!??

What lesson would you add? Comment below!??

P.S. Before you go, check out this week's Redefining Sales Podcast with Phil Cleary from Salesforce, where we unpack how to create a sales transformation and embed proactive habits that stick. Listen here.??