Welcome to the GTM Launchpad newsletter! Each week I will share a sales play to help you grow your business, level up your sales game and succeed in the trenches

Before we get tactical… let’s just name the moment we’re in

It’s the Monday before Christmas week

Half your calendar is already fake
Slack is quiet
Out-of-office replies are starting to roll in
Most people are mentally checked out by Wednesday afternoon

and honestly? That’s okay

But this week is also a rare pause point…one where you can look back without pressure and look forward without noise

So instead of another “do more before year end” issue I wanted to do something different

This is Operator Wrapped

Not the highlights reel
Not the LinkedIn version
The real stuff I saw working (and breaking) across founders, sales leaders, AEs and GTM teams in 2025

No hype
No predictions pulled out of thin air
Just patterns from the trenches

Let’s get into it

2025 Wrapped | The Patterns That Mattered

1. Volume Stopped Hiding Broken Systems

For years teams could out-dial, out-email, out-automate bad strategy

That stopped working this year

In 2025

• More activity didn’t equal more pipeline

• “Busy” didn’t equal productive

• Automation without clarity backfired fast

The teams that struggled weren’t lazy
They were running noisy systems

The teams that won?
They simplified

• tighter ICPs

• clearer priorities

• fewer plays run well

2025 didn’t reward effort
It rewarded intentional effort

2. Founders-as-Sellers Had a Quiet Advantage

Some of the best pipeline I saw this year didn’t come from big SDR engines

It came from

• founders doing focused outreach

• leaders re-engaging key accounts themselves

• operators showing up human not “salesy”

Not scalable forever but incredibly effective

Why?Because buyers could feel the clarity
They could tell the message wasn’t being passed through five layers of abstraction

Big lesson
Even if you plan to scale sales you have to understand the motion yourself first

3. Burnout Was the Signal, Not the Problem

We talked about this last week but it showed up everywhere in 2025

Reps weren’t burning out because they’re soft
Leaders weren’t tired because they don’t care

They were tired because

• priorities kept shifting

• feedback loops were unclear

• systems asked people to “figure it out” too often

The healthiest teams didn’t push harder
They cleaned up

• expectations

• handoffs

• what actually mattered week to week

Burnout decreased when clarity increased

4. Tech Didn’t Win | Alignment Did

More tools ≠ better outcomes
Less tools ≠ better outcomes either

The teams that won in 2025

• knew why each tool existed

• connected data to action

• gave reps context not dashboards

The biggest failures I saw weren’t tool problems
They were decision problems

Which brings me to this week’s sponsor…

Sponsor - ZoomInfo (From an Operator POV)

If there’s one thing 2025 exposed it’s this

Most GTM teams don’t have an information problem
They have a connection problem

Data lives here
Activity lives there
Decisions live in someone’s head
Reps are left guessing

What ZoomInfo has been quietly doing with their GTM Workspace is solving that exact gap

Not “more data”
But

• clearer ICP definition

• signals tied to timing

• context delivered inside the rep workflow

• leadership visibility without chasing spreadsheets

Learn more 👉 Henry's byline

They also rolled out an AI Readiness Assessment that’s actually worth taking not as a gimmick but as a gut check on how prepared your org really is for 2026

If you’re closing out the year thinking

“We should feel more confident about next year than we do….”

This is a smart place to sanity check your system

Check your score 👉 here

I’ve also embed a short clip below from my convo on The SellthatSaaS podcast where I talk through this in real terms with my guy Will Padilla. I got a 78% myself. See if you can beat that 😎 

Explore / Engage / Evolve

A few things worth checking out while things slow down this week

Outbound in 2026 | Smartlead Office Hours
I joined Smartlead for a live session breaking down what’s changing in outbound and what still works if you do it right

We covered

• buyer fatigue

• Apple call screening

• ICP mistakes teams keep repeating

• what to fix before January

If you’re rethinking outbound for next year this is worth the watch

Content Setup (If you’re recording in 2026)
If you’re planning to show up more on Zoom, podcasts or video next year this might be the camera for you! I finally upgraded mine

Logitech BRIO has been rock solid
Crisp video, easy setup, no fuss
👉 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09NBWWP79

Tom’s Play of the Week | The Holiday Touch

This one’s simple and it works every year

Before you fully shut it down for the holidays

Pick 10–20 people

• clients

• warm pipeline

• partners

• peers

Record a 30-60 second video (Sendspark, Loom, whatever)

No ask
No CTA
No lesson

Just

“Hey! Wanted to wish you and your family a great holiday and break. Appreciate you. Talk soon.”

Send it via LinkedIn or email

Why it works

• breaks the transactional pattern

• humanizes the relationship

• resets momentum for January

I do this every year and every January those conversations restart warm 💪 

2025 was loud

More tools
More content
More opinions
More pressure

The teams that actually made progress didn’t chase all of it
They chose what mattered and stayed steady

As you head into the holidays don’t worry about squeezing out one more win

Use the space to

• reflect honestly

• simplify intentionally

• set up systems that support people not drain them

Next week we’ll close out the year together and look ahead to 2026 with clarity

Until then enjoy the quiet
You’ve earned it

Tom 🤙

Thanks for reading. See you again next week at 8 am MST!

- Tom Slocum ✌️

How can The SD Lab help you?

If your outbound pipeline is stuck we fix that

The SD Lab works with founders, sales leaders and enablement pros to install outbound systems that actually generate pipeline

Here’s how we help teams level up fast 👇

🚀 The Revenue Accelerator

2 to 12 week outbound consulting sprints for B2B orgs with 10–20+ reps

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✅ Coach reps with real call reviews + AI scorecards
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✅ Deliver a scalable system your team can own

👉 Best for: Series A-B SaaS orgs, new SDR teams, stalled pipeline

📓 Custom Sales Playbooks

4 to 8 week builds of cold call flows, email copy, objection handling and targeting strategy

You bring the ICP, we build the message and motion
Final asset = plug-and-play playbook your team can use or scale

👉 Best for: founders, enablement leaders, agencies building outbound

🎯 Targeted Workshops + Power Hours

Live tactical sessions for your team. No fluff, just results

💥 Cold call clinics
💥 Email teardown sessions
💥 Social selling & DM strategy
💥 SDR workflow optimization

👉 Best for: fast enablement, rep upskilling, team offsites or new hire ramp

🧠 Outbound Underground

Our private Slack community for reps & rising sellers

🔓 Weekly office hours
🔓 Tech tool perks
🔓 Peer feedback, templates and real talk

🎟️ Join here » — free & paid options available

Curious what this could look like for your org?
Book a 20 min strategy chat no pitch just clarity 👇

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