The 80/20 Rule for GTM Success: Why Your Product Is Only 20% of the Equation

Dr. April Larson led a digital transformation across thousands of employees at Sonic Healthcare. Her most important lesson? The technology was the easy part.

In this episode of The Go-to-Market Podcast, Amy Osmond Cook, Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer at Fullcast, sits down with Dr. April Larson, Medical Director for the Division of Dermatopathology at Sonic Healthcare USA and Co-Founder at PathologyWatch. Their conversation reveals a framework that every RevOps, Sales, and Marketing leader needs to understand before their next technology rollout.

The Framework: 20% Product, 80% Change Management

Dr. Larson built PathologyWatch to solve an obvious problem. Pathology slides were physically shipped across the country, creating turnaround times that stretched from days to weeks. Her digital solution offered instant access, direct EMR integration, and dramatically better patient outcomes.

The product was clearly superior. And it still nearly failed.

“Bringing a product to market in healthcare is 20% the product, which in your mind you’re thinking that’s the whole thing. And then I got introduced to the concept of change management. So 80% of the rest is change management.”

That 80% encompasses integration, alignment, adoption, and reimbursement. Whether you are implementing a new CRM, deploying a sales planning tool, or rolling out an AI assistant, the challenge is identical. The initial excitement over features quickly gives way to the reality of disrupting routines.

Action Step 1: Treat Internal Users Like Your Most Valuable Customers

Dr. Larson’s breakthrough came from recognizing that internal users deserve the same strategic care typically reserved for external clients. She calls this the “internal sale.”

“The physicians who are the gatekeepers, they cannot be slowed down, they cannot have a lot of disruption to their workflow. They’re already so busy and overworked, and they’re just trying to get home to their family.”

What this means for your rollout:

• Map your internal stakeholders with the same rigor you use for prospect accounts
• Identify the “gatekeepers” whose resistance will derail adoption
• Design a high-touch support experience that minimizes disruption from day one

Just as Dr. Larson did with her internal teams, Fullcast helped Sonic Healthcare unify fragmented operations to drive adoption and create a single, reliable view of operations.

Action Step 2: Listen First, Address Concerns Second

Dr. Larson’s primary tactic is deceptively simple: genuinely listen to understand the root of each user’s concern before offering solutions.

“I think a lot of it is really just listening to their concern and understanding first what is their concern. Is it that it’s going to slow them down, which is very common in healthcare? Is it that they have these kind of deeper fears that it’s going to replace them?”

What this means for your rollout:

• Schedule one-on-one conversations with key users before announcing changes
• Categorize concerns into themes: efficiency fears, job security fears, learning curve fears
• Address each category with specific, honest answers rather than generic reassurances

Her background as a physician gave her credibility, but the principle is universal. Shared experience builds trust. You must “hear them” before you can help them.

Action Step 3: Build a Shared Vision, Not Just a Rollout Plan

Frame technology adoption not as a top-down mandate but as a collaborative journey toward a shared goal.

“When you can center on your vision and what you’re really trying to accomplish, if they feel like you have that same vision and that same goal also, it makes it a lot easier.”

What this means for your rollout:

• Define the “why” in terms that matter to users, not just leadership
• Create opportunities for users to contribute to implementation decisions
• Celebrate early wins that demonstrate progress toward the shared goal

Building this shared vision requires a structured plan with communication templates and stakeholder alignment guides. Download our Change Management Toolkit to get started.

Action Step 4: Demystify AI by Revealing Its Limitations

Dr. Larson developed a counterintuitive strategy for overcoming AI resistance: educate users on what the tool cannot do.

“That technology, that diagnostic assist tool, is not better than the physician at this point. We just had to educate them to say, ‘This diagnostic tool has limitations as well,’ and help them understand what those limitations are and that they are actually assisting them to move more quickly, but it’s not replacing.”

What this means for your rollout:

• Be transparent about what your new technology cannot do
• Position AI as an enabler of expertise, not a replacement for it
• Demonstrate how the tool handles repetitive tasks so humans can focus on strategic work

This approach helps users see the technology as a fallible assistant rather than an infallible replacement. Most AI project failure stems not from the technology itself but from misaligned expectations.

Your Next Step

Dr. Larson’s 80/20 rule offers a powerful lens for any leader driving change. Your technology is only 20% of the equation. The real work lies in mastering the human dynamics of transformation.

Driving successful technology adoption requires a robust operational foundation. Fullcast for RevOps provides the planning and execution platform that enables your entire GTM team to adopt change and drive growth together.