v1.2.0 to v1.2.0

---

name: gtm-motions

version: 1.2.0

description: >

Scores your GTM motion stack (Inbound, Outbound, Paid, Community, Partner, ABM, PLG)

metadata:

author: Stefanos Karakasis

context: brain-dependent

quality_gate: true

last_updated: 2026-10-10

---

# GTM Motions

## Overview

Scores the 7 acquisition motions against your ICP's deal economics and

forces a stack decision — one primary motion, at most one secondary,

with a named rejection reason for every motion not selected. A motion

mix picked because it "sounds right" is a budget guess with a launch

attached to it; this skill replaces that guess with gates and scores.

---

## Trigger

- **When:** Choosing which acquisition motion(s) to invest in for a launch, a segment, or a company-wide GTM model.

- **Not for:** Launch tier + full GTM brief → `go-to-market-strategy` (this skill feeds its Channel Strategy section). Choosing the target segment → `beachhead-segment`, run first. Messaging within a chosen motion → `positioning-messaging`, run after.

- **Example prompts:**

- "Which GTM motions should we use for this launch?"

- "Inbound vs outbound — which is right for us?"

- "Should this be PLG or sales-led?"

---

## Inputs

- **Args:** Initiative/segment, ACV band, target sales-cycle length, current motion if any. Free format — Step 1 fills gaps conversationally.

- **Defaults:** If ACV and sales-cycle length are both unknown, block scoring and ask for a rough band first — motion fit runs on deal economics, not preference.

- **Context keys:**

- `/foundation/brain.md` — optional, sharper with it. Sections 2 (ICP), 3 (Alternatives & Positioning). Without it, Step 0 asks two Quick-Brain questions.

- `/context/meta-patterns.md` — optional; guardrails from prior motion decisions.

- **Brain contract:** Reads Sections 2, 3. Writes: a Section 2 stub, only when the Quick-Brain ran and the user says yes in Step 5b. Never the motion stack.

---

## Connectors (Optional)

| Connector | What it adds |

|---|---|

| `~~CRM` | Which motions closed deals |

| `~~email marketing` | Lifecycle motion performance |

| `~~marketing analytics` | Channel performance |

> **No connectors?** Paste the material and I'll work from that. The output has the same shape.

> Pulled facts are drafts: each is tagged with category, tool and date, and nothing is written until you confirm.

---

## Pre-flight

- Load `/foundation/brain.md` Sections 2, 3 if present — see Step 0.

- Load `/context/meta-patterns.md` if present; surface any guardrail fired 2+ times.

- **Brain absent or Section 2 (ICP) empty: continue, don't block.** Say once: "No PMM brain found, so I'll score against two quick answers. Run `product-marketing-context` (a separate plugin) later to build one." Step 0 asks the two questions. Nothing is written to the brain unless the user says yes in Step 5b.

---

## Steps

### Step 0 — Load Context & Surface Guardrails

Load brain Sections 2–3, the confirmed beachhead if `beachhead-segment` already wrote one, and any guardrail from `/context/meta-patterns.md` that has fired 2+ times.

**No brain, or Section 2 empty:** ask the two Quick-Brain questions in one message, then continue to Step 1:

> "1. Who is your best-fit buyer (title), and what kind and size of company?

> 2. Can a buyer start and get value on their own (self-serve), or does it take a sales conversation?"

Echo the answers back in one line. Use them as the ICP input for buyer reachability and the self-serve gate. They live in this session only, unless the user chooses to keep them in Step 5b. Label the output "Built from Quick-Brain answers, not a full brain". Deal size and cycle length still come from Step 1.

### Step 1 — Intake (One Round)

Ask in one message, never score before it's answered:

> "1. Segment or initiative? (uses confirmed beachhead if one exists)

> 2. ACV / deal size band?

> 3. Target sales-cycle length?

> 4. Current motion, if any — working or not?"

Reflect back in one sentence, then score.

### Step 2 — Score Each Motion

Score all 7 motions — Inbound, Outbound, Paid Digital, Community,

Partner, ABM, PLG — on 4 signals, 1–5 each (five-point, not ten, to

force real spread):

| Signal | What it measures |

|---|---|

| **Deal economics fit** | Does ACV/sales-cycle match what this motion is built to close? |

| **Buyer reachability** | Does this ICP actually gather, search, or get sold to in this channel? |

| **Team/tool readiness** | Do you have — or can get in 30 days — what this motion needs to run credibly? |

| **Time-to-signal** | Weeks or quarters until you know it's working? |

Score against real bands, not gut feel: Outbound needs $10K+ ACV to

clear cost-per-meeting; ABM needs $25K+ to clear cost-per-account; PLG

needs sub-$10K ACV or a self-serve entry tier; Partner needs $5K+ to

absorb revenue share. Inbound and Community work at any ACV but compound

slowly; Paid compresses fast below ~$1K ACV without a self-serve close.

### Step 3 — Apply Blocking Gates

A motion that fails its gate is excluded regardless of score — never

average a gate failure away.

- **ABM:** ACV < $25K → exclude.

- **PLG:** no self-serve signup/trial (none planned in 90 days) → exclude.

- **Outbound:** no dedicated SDR/BDR capacity → exclude as primary (secondary still allowed if a founder/PMM runs it part-time — flag the constraint).

- **Readiness floor:** any motion scoring 1/5 on Team/tool readiness is excluded from primary consideration.

State every gate fired and what it excluded before Step 4.

### Step 4 — Select the Stack

Sum each surviving motion's 4 scores (max 20), rank them.

- **Primary** — highest-scoring survivor. Gets the majority of the plan and budget.

- **Secondary (max 1)** — only if within 3 points of primary AND funnel-distinct from it (e.g. PLG + Community for expansion, not PLG + Paid fighting the same top-of-funnel).

- **Rejected** — one sentence each: gate failure, or lowest-scoring signal and why it matters here.

```markdown

## Motion Stack — [Initiative/Segment]

**Primary:** [Motion] — [score]/20 — [why]

**Secondary:** [Motion or "None"] — [score]/20 — [why]

### Rejected

- **[Motion]** — [gate or signal reason]

### Sequencing

[If one motion should precede another, say so and why.]

```

### Step 5 — 90-Day Activation Plan

Selected motion(s) only — a plan covering rejected motions signals the

rejection wasn't real.

```markdown

### 90-Day Activation — [Primary Motion]

| Weeks | Milestone | Owner | Leading indicator |

|---|---|---|---|

| 1–2 | [Foundation work] | [Function] | N/A |

| 3–6 | [First execution wave] | [Function] | [Earliest signal] |

| 7–10 | [Iterate on signal] | [Function] | [Signal] |

| 11–13 | [Scale or cut] | [Function] | [Decision metric] |

**Kill criteria:** [Number, by week 13, below which this motion is cut.]

```

If a secondary was selected, repeat at roughly half scope.

### Step 5b — Offer to keep the answers (Quick-Brain runs only)

If Step 0 used the Quick-Brain, ask once, after the plan: "Keep these two answers as the start of your brain, so the next skill doesn't ask again? (yes / no)". On no, write nothing. On yes:

- No `/foundation/brain.md`: create it with the block below.

- A brain exists with no Section 2: add this Section 2 only.

- Section 2 already has content: write nothing and say why. Never overwrite a Section 2.

- Files cannot be written: show the block and tell the user to save it as `brain.md`. Never say it was saved unless the write succeeded.

```markdown

# PMM Brain — [product name, or "not set"]

🟡 Cold start — built via gtm-motions on [date]. Run `product-marketing-context` to build the other sections.

## Section 2: ICP Definition

Quick-Brain answers, user-stated, not researched.

- Best-fit buyer: [title]

- Company type and size: [..]

- Buying path: [self-serve / sales conversation]

```

### Step 6 — Learning Close

Append one entry to `/context/skill-sessions.md`, in the format defined in

`product-marketing-context/.claude-plugin/skill-sessions-format.md`

(Type A — execution session):

````yaml

type: execution

skill: gtm-motions

session_date: [YYYY-MM-DD]

pattern: [one falsifiable statement about this session, or "none"]

source: [surprised / wrong / missing / N/A]

````

Write directly, no permission needed. Not a brain write — still needs

separate confirmation if the user wants the stack saved elsewhere.

---

## Outputs

- **Files written:** `/context/skill-sessions.md` — one row per session. N/A otherwise; no brain write except the optional Section 2 stub in Step 5b. Stack goes into `go-to-market-strategy`'s brief if the user wants it saved.

- **Chat output format:** Motion Stack block, then 90-Day Activation table(s) — always together.

- **External side effects:** N/A

## Verification

- All 7 motions scored on all 4 signals before any gate applied.

- Every fired gate named with what it excluded.

- With no brain, the two Quick-Brain answers were shown back, the output is labeled as built from them, and nothing was written to the brain unless the user said yes in Step 5b.

- Exactly one primary; ≤1 secondary; every rejection has a stated reason.

- 90-day plan covers only selected motion(s) and includes a numeric kill criterion.

## Do Not Use For

- **`go-to-market-strategy`** — tier assignment and full GTM brief. Run this skill first for real Channel Strategy backing.

- **`beachhead-segment`** — segment selection. Run before this skill if no beachhead is confirmed.

- **`positioning-messaging`** — messaging within a chosen motion.

- N/A

---

## Operating Rules

- **Score all 7 before gating.** A motion excluded pre-score gets a guess dressed as a gate.

- **Deal-economics gates are hard.** ACV < $25K blocks ABM regardless of other scores; no self-serve blocks PLG regardless of enthusiasm. Override only on explicit user request, stated back before proceeding.

- **Max one secondary.** A 4-motion "portfolio" at partial resourcing funds nothing enough to produce a signal.

- **Every rejection gets one sentence.** Silence invites relitigating later with no anchor.

- **The 90-day plan always carries a numeric kill criterion.** Milestones alone are a calendar, not a plan.

- **Never write the stack to `/foundation/brain.md`. Only the optional Quick-Brain Section 2 stub (Step 5b) may be written, and only after a yes.** Motion choice is initiative-specific and can legitimately change per launch — writing it as a brain fact would drift the brain every time a new motion is tried.

## Quality Gate

| Check | Standard | Pass = |

|---|---|---|

| All 7 motions scored | Every motion scored on all 4 signals before Step 3 | Yes |

| Gates applied explicitly | Every fired gate named with excluded motion(s) | Yes |

| Single primary, ≤1 secondary | Exactly one primary; secondary only if within 3 pts and funnel-distinct | Yes |

| Every rejection has a reason | No motion in "Rejected" without a named cause | Yes |

| Kill criterion present | 90-day plan states a numeric cut threshold | Yes |

| Learning Close ran | `/context/skill-sessions.md` has a new row for this session | Yes |