Craig Dempster is CEO of Trilliad. He brings over 25 years of experience in the marketing technology services industry.
When markets tighten and the economy starts to feel uncertain, companies often respond in a similar way: they cut. Budgets shrink, hiring freezes go into effect and risk-taking comes to a halt. One of the most common areas where we see this behavior is in sales and marketing organizations. While cost cutting might offer short-term relief, it rarely sets the stage for long-term success. These cuts across marketing and sales often have a dramatic impact on organizations and their growth.
In contrast, the most resilient and high-performing companies take market share from their competition. They step back and identify which components of their product are best suited for differentiation. They tighten their strategy. They look at every dollar spent and instead of asking, “How can we cut this?” they ask, “Is this working?” They ruthlessly focus on their priority ideal customer profile (ICP) for growth. They optimize. And in doing so, they don’t just survive downturns—they outpace competitors and prepare for the rebound.
It’s Not About Spending More—It’s About Spending Smarter
In this climate, the winners aren’t necessarily the companies with the biggest budgets. They’re the ones who know where to place their bets specific to their growth goals. That means conducting full-funnel assessments to identify hidden inefficiencies, cut waste and reallocate resources to align with what’s actually driving revenue.
For business-to-business (B2B) companies in particular, this is a moment to step back and ask:
• Where are we overinvested?
• Where are we underinvested?
• How well is our current strategy aligned with real buyer behavior?
Whether you’re selling into enterprise or mid-market accounts, forward-thinking organizations aren’t spending more—they’re spending better. This focus on optimization and making intentional, data-driven budget decisions separates companies that thrive through economic uncertainty from those that don’t.
The Optimization Playbook: Four Smart Levers To Pull
There are some very specific areas where companies can find opportunity in discipline. It starts with focusing on what’s actually working and realigning teams, tech and tactics accordingly.
1. Tech Stack Evaluation: Tools That Are Essential Vs. Redundant
Most teams are sitting on tech stacks with overlapping functionality, outdated tools and underused licenses. Marketing and sales technologies are evolving so quickly that organizations often aren’t able to fully adopt them and create processes to harness their power and leverage their potential, resulting in missed opportunities for efficiency, alignment and growth.
In times of economic uncertainty, it’s time to run a full audit:
• Which platforms are mission-critical?
• Where is there overlap?
• Are we paying for features we don’t use?
Organizations should ensure their technologies are being rigorously evaluated based on goals and strategy. Before investing in additional tech, see if the existing tech stack can be retooled to better support your strategy. And cost savings can likely be found in unused licenses, unused functionality and by identifying overlapping technologies that accomplish the same task.
2. Talent Optimization: Aligning Growth Resources To Impact
In fast-growing teams and in changing times, roles often evolve faster than org charts. That means headcount isn’t always aligned with the areas of greatest impact. Optimization here doesn’t mean reducing headcount—it means getting clear:
• Who is driving the most measurable value?
• Where are we duplicating efforts?
• Do we have the right mix of builders, operators and sellers?
One of the most effective ways to unlock this clarity is by running structured talent assessments. When you combine a comprehensive view of your team with actual performance data, a clear map of organizational readiness begins to form. Through this data-driven process, leaders gain an objective view of who is ready to perform now and who has the potential to improve with the right development investment.
This approach helps identify where to focus enablement efforts—and where investments might not yield meaningful returns.
Paired with historical performance data, these readiness maps can even help predict the potential return on development investments—ensuring your people strategy is just as optimized as your budget.
3. Sales And Marketing Audits: Double Down On What’s Converting
This is where many organizations find great opportunities. Too often, teams continue executing on known tactics that have historic momentum, but that are no longer producing results.
A smart audit asks:
• Which campaigns are generating pipeline?
• Where are the leads getting stuck?
• Which segments are converting at the highest rates?
The goal is to disrupt the silos that exist between the sales and marketing organizations and to align these groups around the right metrics. This ensures they’re creating a connected, meaningful series of experiences that turn prospects into loyal advocates, and that revenue growth is predictable and performance-driven.
4. Marketing Spend And Messaging: Are We Where Buyers Are?
Marketing dollars need to be strategically placed. When designed thoughtfully and orchestrated correctly, marketing initiatives enable a connected experience across the full buying journey and are born out of a cohesive approach across marketing, sales and customer success. These deliver greater value from a customer’s every interaction with a brand. A clear focus on the ICP is an organizational imperative. With diminishing budgets and shifting priorities, how is that accomplished? The most innovative brands are asking:
• Are we showing up where our buyers are paying attention?
• Is our messaging resonating in today’s context?
• What channels are producing the highest quality leads?
The age-old “do more with less” mentality is the reality that many CMOs are facing today, and makes assessing and optimizing even more imperative than ever.
Sharpen Now, Scale Later
All of this adds up to a fundamental mindset shift. Instead of retrenching, smart companies refocus. Instead of cutting blindly, they cut precisely. And instead of waiting for better conditions, they use this moment to get stronger.
When you streamline your operations, align your people and reallocate toward proven strategies, growth doesn’t have to slow down—it can become more efficient, more targeted and more sustainable.
Economic uncertainty doesn’t have to mean stagnation. For the organizations willing to sharpen their focus and optimize with discipline, this moment becomes a springboard for market leadership.
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