When to Pivot: Your Offer vs. Your Audience

There comes a time in every founder’s journey where the question is not “Should I pivot?” but what exactly should you pivot? Should you adapt your product or service, or is the real opportunity in reaching a different audience altogether? If you’ve ever felt stuck between these choices, you’re in good company. Top business minds and analysts at Harvard Business Review, McKinsey, and others have explored this inflection point for years. The answer is rarely clear-cut but knowing when, and how to pivot with intention can unlock sustainable growth.

Why Misalignment, Not Failure, Triggers the Pivot Question

Misalignment is more common than outright failure. It creeps in subtly, showing up as slowing sales, churn rates that sting, or feedback that says, “Your offer is almost there but, not quite.” According to Harvard Business Review, most strategies reach pivot points not because something is irreparably broken, but because what used to work no longer brings results, usually due to a disconnect between what you’re offering and whom you’re offering it to. At GrowExpand.com, we see this pattern with scaling teams: they’re running proven playbooks for a market that’s moved on, or have shifted focus to selling new offers that take them out of Value Proposition Alignment with your buyers. hbr

How Experts Define the Pivot

Harvard’s research into strategic reorientation frames pivoting on two axes:

• Offer Pivot: You adapt your product, service, or value proposition to better address customer pain, differentiate from competitors, or seize emerging opportunities.
• Audience Pivot: You focus on reaching a new segment—shifting from SMBs to enterprise, B2C to B2B, or from one vertical to another—when your core product is strong but the current audience is not responding.

McKinsey further recommends that organizations carefully evaluate marketplace trends, competitor moves, and internal strengths before initiating any major change. Rich Laster stresses a focus on your strengths, given that a lean economy creates limited sales & marketing spend.  Successful pivots almost always start with clear data: what’s working, what’s falling flat, and what new possibilities can your unique assets unlock. mckinsey

When to Pivot the Offer

Pivot your offer if:

• Your audience actively engages but, usage drops or feedback suggests missing features.
• Competitors are leapfrogging your product in capabilities.
• You discover an untapped pain point or trend that calls for a new core functionality or proposition.
• Your differentiation is fading as you look and sound like everyone else.

For example, as GrowExpand.com’s assessments often reveal, businesses who struggle to convert leads despite excellent targeting may benefit from adapting their product, pricing model, or the package of services they offer. When our branding partner helps a client to redesign their main offer to directly address overlooked needs, close rates and revenue often climb dramatically. growexpand

When to Pivot Your Audience

Pivot your audience if:

• Your offer is robust and gets strong positive reviews, but growth stalls (no new leads, stagnant pipeline).
• You’re attracting lots of interest, but from prospects who are never ready to buy.
• Market condition shifts mean new niches emerge, buyers migrate to digital alternatives, or regulations reshape the competitive landscape.
• Feedback from “outlier” customers (those you weren’t targeting) converts at a higher rate.

Harvard Business Review’s founder interviews highlight companies that scaled by redirecting their proven offers to new, high-growth buyer segments. From tech startups targeting mid-market companies to B2B brands shifting toward FinTech and healthcare, these pivots created outsized success and positioned companies for resilience. hbr

How GrowExpand.com Guides Intentional Pivots

Our sales experience at GrowExpand.com shows that founders and sales leaders who pause to interview current buyers, analyze lost deals via their Custom CRM, and assess core strengths make smarter pivots. We counsel clients to avoid guessing. Instead, document what’s winning now, what’s losing, and where your “almost customers” fall away. Following tested frameworks—like the ones we’ve used to drive 24%+ revenue growth and reduce sales cycles by 15%—can help your team avoid expensive missteps and pivot with confidence.

Closing Thought

The urge to “fix” your revenue may be strong but, fixing it requires ICP realignment. I want you to know that the choice to pivot is not an admission of failure but, a signal that your company is ready for its next chapter. Whether you evolve your offer or reach a new audience or not, the winners are those who refuse to settle for almost, lean into data & feedback, and move swiftly with conviction. That’s how GrowExpand.com clients level up, and how you too can convert misalignment into momentum.

The views and opinions expressed on this blogpost are solely those of the author, and do not represent the views of GrowExpand.com, our staff, our partners, or our clients. The material and information contained on this blog is for general information purposes only. You should not rely on said information in making legal, accounting, or other business decisions in the absence of expert counsel.