── SKILL
gtm-planning✓ APPROVED

Write a GTM plan you can actually defend.

Verdict-first: the two or three bets, the motions, the targets, the capacity math, and the risks.

Inside: The verdict, the bets, the capacity math, and the risks.

01 / HOW TO USE

Install it in one line, or paste it in.

1
In Claude Code (one command)
Copy the install line, paste it into your terminal, and restart Claude Code. The skill installs itself to ~/.claude/skills/ and runs automatically when it is relevant.
2
In Claude, ChatGPT, or a Project (no terminal)
Open the file, then upload it to your chat or paste its contents in. A skill is just a markdown file of instructions, so any capable AI can follow it.
New to skills? A skill is a plain-text file that teaches your AI a workflow. Point any capable assistant at it and it follows the steps, on your data.
02 / MAKE IT YOURS

Connect your context. Set it to your motion.

CONNECT YOUR CONTEXT · AND WHY IT HELPS
a CRM

it reads your real win rate, deal size, and cycle instead of using estimates, so the capacity math is grounded.

a product-analytics tool

adds real funnel conversion so the top-of-funnel target is not a guess.

a data-enrichment source

sizes the addressable market so the bets are checked against reality, not hope.

SET IT TO YOUR MOTION

This was built for a B2B SaaS org planning a quarter or a year against a revenue target. Set these to your model:

Set the rates from your own history. Borrowed benchmarks are the fastest way to plan a number you cannot hit.

Set thisWhat it isDefault / Example
PERIODthe planning windowquarterhalffiscal year
TARGETthe number to hitnew ARRnet revenuelogos
MOTIONShow you go to marketinboundoutboundpartnerexpansion
WIN_RATEclose rate by motionyour trailing-quarter actual
DEAL_SIZEaverage dealyour trailing-quarter actual
CYCLEaverage days to closeyour trailing-quarter actual
CAPACITYreps x ramped productivityheads x per-rep numberramp-adjusted
BET_LIMIThow many bets to allow3 (a plan with 7 bets has none)
03 / THE FULL SKILL

Everything the skill does, in full.

── WHAT THIS DOES

Takes your target and your constraints and structures the plan behind them. It forces the plan down to the two or three bets that actually matter, names the motion behind each, sets the targets, runs the capacity math that tells you whether the number is even reachable with the team you have, and lists the risks that would break it. It leads with the verdict: reachable, reachable-if, or not with this capacity.

── THE METHOD
  1. 1
    Verdict first

    The plan opens with the call: REACHABLE, REACHABLE_IF, or NOT_WITH_THIS_CAPACITY. Everything under it is the evidence. A leader should get the answer in the first line and the reasoning in the rest. No burying the gap on slide 14.

  2. 2
    Two or three bets

    The plan is forced down to a BET_LIMIT of two or three bets, each a specific way you intend to hit the number: a segment, a motion, a product line, a geography. A plan that lists everything commits to nothing. Each bet gets a target and an owner.

  3. 3
    Motion per bet

    Each bet names the motion that delivers it and the few activities that motion depends on. Outbound bet, it names the account count and the touch model. Expansion bet, it names the base and the trigger. The motion is how the bet actually happens.

  4. 4
    Capacity math

    The hard check. Ramped-rep capacity times productivity is compared to the target. Working from the target backward through WIN_RATE, DEAL_SIZE, and CYCLE gives the pipeline and the activity the plan requires, then that is checked against the heads and ramp you actually have. If the math does not close, the verdict is REACHABLE_IF and the gap is named in heads, pipeline, or rate.

  5. 5
    Risks that break it

    Three to five risks, each with the assumption it threatens and an early signal that it is going wrong. Ramp slower than modeled, win rate reverts, a bet under-delivers. Risks are tied to the number, not a generic list.

── QUALITY GATES
  • The plan opens with the verdict, never with context.
  • Bets are capped at BET_LIMIT, each with a target and an owner.
  • Capacity math is shown working backward from the target, not asserted.
  • Every rate used is labeled as actual or estimate, and estimates are flagged.
  • Each risk names the assumption it threatens and the signal to watch.
── OUTPUT (EXAMPLE)
EXAMPLE OUTPUT
GTM PLAN · Q_ · target $4.0M new ARR
VERDICT: REACHABLE_IF (short ~1.5 ramped reps, or +8pts win rate)

The bets:
  1. Mid-market outbound      target $2.0M   owner: Sales lead
  2. Install-base expansion   target $1.4M   owner: CS lead
  3. Partner-sourced          target $0.6M   owner: Partnerships

Capacity math (backward from target):
  $4.0M / $40K deal = 100 deals
  100 deals / 25% win = 400 qualified opps needed
  Current ramped capacity covers ~330 opps
  Gap: ~70 opps = ~1.5 reps or an 8-pt win-rate lift

Top risks:
  1. New-hire ramp slips a month -> watch week-6 pipeline per rep
  2. Expansion trigger softer than modeled -> watch base usage trend
  3. Partner motion is unproven -> watch first sourced opp by week 4
── WHERE THE NUMBERS COME FROM

The deal size, win rate, and BET_LIMIT here are illustrative, not benchmarks. The capacity formula is real and the one thing you should not skip: target divided by deal size, divided by win rate, gives the opps you need, checked against ramped heads. Feed it your own rates. The framework does not change. The plan is yours.

── EXAMPLE CHAT
EXAMPLE CHAT
You
Build the Q3 plan, target is $4M new ARR, here's our team and historical rates.
CLAUDE
Verdict: REACHABLE_IF, short about 1.5 ramped reps or 8 points of win rate. $4.0M / $40K deal = 100 deals 100 deals / 25% win = 400 qualified opps needed Current ramped capacity covers ~330 opps Gap: ~70 opps Three bets: mid-market outbound ($2.0M), install-base expansion ($1.4M), partner-sourced ($0.6M). The gap sits entirely in outbound capacity, not the other two bets, so that's where the hiring conversation actually needs to happen. One sharpener: connect your CRM so win rate and deal size come from your actual trailing quarter instead of the estimate you gave me.
04 / GO FURTHER

Where an operator takes this next.

The plan works from the numbers you paste in. Here is where it stops going stale the week after you present it.

The plan stops being a slide and starts being a number you can watch move.

01
Recompute the gap as the quarter moves

A scheduled Claude task reruns the capacity math weekly against live Salesforce pipeline, so the verdict updates before the QBR instead of at it.

02
Ground the rates in real history

Connect Snowflake or your warehouse so win rate and cycle length pull from actual closed-won data by motion, not a single quarter's estimate.

03
Watch the named risk signals

Wire Slack alerts to the specific signals named in each risk (new-hire ramp, base usage trend, first sourced partner opp) so a slipping bet surfaces in week 4, not at quarter-end.

05 / PART OF A BIGGER PLAY

One skill is the on-ramp.

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