Aligning Account-Based Marketing to Account-Based Selling

The Handbook for Account-Based Revenue Success:

Defining ABM and ABS

Account-Based Marketing: Account-based marketing (ABM) is a B2B strategy that concentrates sales and marketing resources on a clearly defined set of target accounts within a market and employs personalized campaigns designed to resonate with each account.(source: Marketo)

Account-Based Selling: Account based selling complements account-based marketing and supports the progressive activities of the sales process. This strategy is all about collaboration, with the end goal that a decision maker is never lacking the information needed to either make a decision or gain internal consensus on the decision they want made.

Account-based marketing (ABM) has been the hottest topic in B2B marketing for the past few years. According to 2017 research from

SiriusDecisions, 62% of B2B companies now have an ABM program in place, which is an increase of more than 20% from the year prior.

The increased adoption of ABM is driven by several factors:

• B2B buyers are no longer responding to generic messaging, as they increasingly expect marketers to speak directly

to their unique needs (industry, role, etc.) and specific stage of the buying journey;

• The growing influence of buying teams and committees on purchase decisions is shifting marketing organizations

from focusing on generating individual leads to engaging multiple stakeholders within key target accounts;

• B2B marketers are increasingly realizing the inefficiency and ineffectiveness of batch-and-blast marketing; and

• The emergence of new technologies and tactics is enabling B2B marketers to intelligently target accounts with similar

demographics and needs, and build coordinated plays to reach those accounts with advertising throughout the sales cycle.

The rapid adoption of ABM is seen as a positive and necessary trend among industry analysts. A recent study from ITSMA, an association

for B2B marketers in the tech and professional services sectors, shows that 87% of marketers implementing ABM say it provides higher

ROI than any other type of marketing, especially among what ITSMA describes as the “Three R’s” of strategic marketing: Reputation,

Relationships, and Revenue.

While the rise of ABM has been widely applauded, many industry veterans point out that the practice of focusing on key accounts

really isn’t new, as sales teams have been taking this approach for decades. Yet, there are growing instances where organizations look at

their ABM initiatives in a silo and overlook the necessary steps to properly align their ABM with their Account-Based Selling (ABS) models

and processes.

Illustrating this challenge, Demand Gen Report’s 2017 ABM Benchmark Survey found sales and marketing alignment was cited as the biggest

challenge to ABM success, with 47% of organizations pointing to it as a problem.

In the following white paper, we will address:

The connection points between ABM and ABS;

The key roles impacting ABM and ABS success;

The evolution of Account-Based Everything (ABE);

Tactics to identify potential gaps in alignment between ABM and ABS;

Evaluating the martech stack to optimize ABM and ABS; and

The revenue rewards of aligning ABM and ABS.

The Handbook for Account-Based Revenue Success: Aligning Account-Based Marketing to Account-Based Selling2

ITSMA has defined successful ABM marketers as those “working closely with sales to develop plays and integrated campaigns.” However,

while this seems like an obvious area of alignment, the reality is many companies still struggle to build a cohesive approach around which

accounts to target, and then how to engage the right buyers within those accounts in relevant ways, over extended periods of time.

For scalable, long-term success with ABM and ABS, industry experts point out that there must be top-down buy-in on the approach, as well

as agreement and definition of ABM and ABS methodology.

Some of the more specific steps companies take to avoid confusion or disconnects between the marketing and sales teams include: having

formal service level agreements (SLAs) documented and signed by cross-functional stakeholders outlining common goals, deciding how and

when accounts will be engaged, and agreeing on the metrics that will be tracked to gauge success.

For example, where marketing may have previously reported on Marketing Qualified Leads or other activity-based metrics prior to ABM, most

organizations shift their focus to Marketing Qualified Accounts or the number of Accounts Engaged.

Once ABM and ABS models and processes are aligned, companies typically see spikes in internal communication, as well as external

engagement.

“With top-down agreement and alignment, buyers and sellers progress together down what is ideally a single, innovative, and compelling experience. […] The goal here is that it is all about collaboration. Buyers and sellers are sharing information, exchanging needs, wants, and value, and having a conversation across the sales cycle.”

— Ashly Hughes, Televerde

With an integrated model, not only will a company see more engagement, but also a better overall buying experience.

The Connection Points Between ABM and ABS

The Handbook for Account-Based Revenue Success: Aligning Account-Based Marketing to Account-Based Selling3

Analyst firm TOPO recently introduced its Account-Based Everything Framework to address the reality that “organizations that struggle with

account-based programs tend to lack cross-functional alignment across marketing, sales, sales development, and customer success.”

TOPO recommends the “coordination of personalized marketing, sales development, sales, and customer success efforts to drive

engagement with, and conversion of, a targeted set of accounts,” or Account-Based Everything.

With an Account-Based Everything approach, firms are more likely to see the buyer journey as everyone’s responsibility and truly nurture

every lead as the valued, individual prospect that it is.

Jon Miller, former founder of Marketo and more recent founder and CEO of Engagio, an account-based orchestration platform, has been an

active advocate of the Account-Based Everything Framework. In a recent blog post, he wrote:

“There is a limit to how deeply you can connect with target accounts using only marketing channels, such as ABM advertising, direct mail, and nurturing. Sometimes you need a one-to-one human connection and that’s the realm of Sales and Sales Development.”

Miller added that grouping together critical account-based disciplines under a unified Account-Based Everything banner will “help avoid the

inevitable silos that jeopardize the effectiveness of any account-based initiative.”

By focusing on a unified strategy and creating support positions to bridge the gap between marketing and sales, companies can see a more

successful implementation of an account-based approach.

Moving from ABM or ABS to ABE (Account-Based Everything)

The Handbook for Account-Based Revenue Success: Aligning Account-Based Marketing to Account-Based Selling4

The overall structure for addressing key accounts on both the marketing and sales side will vary depending on the number of target accounts,

and the complexity and average deal size.

Some larger organizations have embedded marketers — or “ABMers” — that work solely on communicating with and engaging a single

account to work side-by-side with key account reps or teams.

In other cases, dedicated marketers are focused on a number of key accounts, or the same team tasked with broader acquisition marketing is

charged with also supporting ABM initiatives.

Regardless of the size and structure of the marketing and sales teams, the following roles have emerged as key components to connecting the

two departments. These roles are considered critical to the success of any account-based strategy:

SALES DEVELOPMENT REPRESENTATIVES (SDRS)

This function is becoming increasingly important to organizations implementing account-based strategies, as they not only help drive initial

meetings and engagement, but also conduct research and gather intelligence on different influencers and stakeholders within key accounts.

Traditionally, this role goes by different names in different organizations (Lead Development Representatives, Business Development

Representatives, Inside Sales Representatives), but SDR is emerging as the most common title, as it represents the changing responsibilities

and expectations of the role.

While the function historically included simply cold-calling assigned accounts for event recruitment, scheduling meetings, and basic

lead generation, organizations with a more advanced account-based focus view the role as more strategic, and have expanded their work

to include:

Account mapping to identify decision-makers with targeted accounts early in the sales process;

Engaging via phone, email, and social channels;

Maintaining and expanding the database of prospects;

Creating and delivering qualified opportunities based on needs;

Preparing pre-sales activities (presentations, demos, etc.); and

Guiding cross-sell and upsell opportunities with existing customers.

The Key Roles Connecting ABM and ABS

The Handbook for Account-Based Revenue Success: Aligning Account-Based Marketing to Account-Based Selling5

MARKETING OPERATIONS/SALES OPERATIONS

Some organizations have either sales or marketing operations functions, while others have both and are merging the function to be simply

called Business Operations. Regardless of how the role is defined, the operations function is increasingly important with an account-based

strategy because the role is tasked with tracking and reporting different metrics, as well as managing the corresponding technology.

A successful ABM strategy requires having complete and accurate data on contacts and accounts, which is typically a core strength for an

Operations role. In addition, because reporting and reviewing account progression becomes more complex as you track buying committees

rather than individual leads, the right Ops person can make all the difference.

CUSTOMER SUCCESS

Account-based strategies should not only focus on winning deals, but should also maximize the lifetime value of your customers. Most

companies build out their target account lists by factoring in the potential opportunities to sell into multiple divisions, so the onboarding and

responsiveness to customer questions and needs is critical to building a successful long-term relationship.

Customer success teams will sometimes interact with different stakeholders than marketing or sales engaged with during the courtship.

Customer success teams also bring intelligence from “like” companies, so their ability to share insight on pain points shared by similar

companies is extremely valued.

Finally, while advancements in marketing automation and artificial intelligence are key enablers of account-based success, the reality is that

people still buy from people and the human connection is even more valuable today than 20 years ago. Ultimately, both account-based

marketing and selling is about developing relationships, earning trust, and winning hearts and minds to earn the business of long-term clients

and partners.

While not an exhaustive list of new support roles, the addition of these roles can help a company identify and tackle potential gaps in an

account-based strategy.

The Handbook for Account-Based Revenue Success: Aligning Account-Based Marketing to Account-Based Selling6

There are a number of critical areas where ABM and ABS strategies cross paths, but many organizations struggle with aligning the two areas

when a consistent approach is not planned out in advance and supported from the top down.

Some of the common areas companies struggle with in the early stages of ABM adoption include:

ACCOUNT SELECTION: While this may seem like an easy step, it is one where a lot of companies get off track and misalignment between

marketing and sales begins. The typical disagreement starts with sales only wanting to focus on larger accounts they have been working with

for longer periods of time, while marketing argues to add other accounts that may be showing buying intent via digital channels or other

behaviors. To avoid this issue, the criteria for a target account list should be outlined, reviewed, and updated periodically to address shifts in

buying behavior.

GAINING SALES ACCEPTANCE: Most sales teams welcome a shift in focus to key accounts, but because a true account-based strategy

requires changes in process and sometimes additional reporting and collaboration, there can be resistance during implementation. Therefore,

it is critical to clearly communicate with sales and seek their input into campaigns. Ultimately, their buy-in will be critical to the success of

the programs; and as they see marketing programs help uncover new contacts, intelligence, and meetings, they will be increasingly willing to

cooperate and collaborate.

DEVELOPING CUSTOMIZED CONTENT: Account-specific programs require targeted and, where possible, customized offerings. Many

marketing teams address this challenge in the early stages by building templated content that can be re-versioned for specific industries,

roles, or even branded for specific accounts. Another popular tactic for ABM programs is using direct mail and video platforms — which can

be easily personalized — while still utilizing existing messaging.

MEASURING AND PROVING ROI: Because account-specific strategies focus on a smaller set of target accounts, they often result in

fewer leads and potentially less traffic to the website. This can be alarming at first, so companies should adapt their focus to be based on

engaging and ultimately winning bigger deals, as well as accelerating deal velocity. Therefore, it’s essential that marketing, sales, and even

finance teams are on the same page in terms of the metrics they are tracking, the definition for success, and ultimately ROI. According

to Demand Gen Report’s 2017 ABM Benchmark Survey, the top metrics for gauging ABM success are: net-new accounts engaged (49%),

increased win rate (46%), and contribution to pipeline (42%).

Identifying Potential Gaps Across Shared Account-Based Strategies

The Handbook for Account-Based Revenue Success: Aligning Account-Based Marketing to Account-Based Selling7

Addressing the Second Lead Syndrome

The Handbook for Account-Based Revenue Success: Aligning Account-Based Marketing to Account-Based Selling8

One of the biggest challenges companies face in aligning their ABM and ABS efforts is mapping leads to accounts and tracking those

multiple leads within accounts. As part of their work in developing the new Demand Unit Waterfall, SiriusDecisions has labeled this challenge

of preventing leads from the same account to progress through the Demand Management process as the “second lead syndrome.”

Terry Flaherty, Senior Research Director for Demand Creation Strategies at SiriusDecisions, described this problem further in a recent article

on ABM In Action:

“With the second lead syndrome, the value of that second lead is perceived as being very diminished. […] In fact, with a lot of our clients, we see the tele team say, ‘Ok, we’ve already sent a lead over to sales that they’re working in this account, so we’re not incentivized to call into that lead because they’re already working it.’”

Flaherty further explained that companies often wind up disqualifying the second lead, which creates bigger problems and

missed opportunities.

“The problem there is that the leads may represent three opportunities or demand units instead of the one already being worked by sales. Even if they were in the same opportunity, just to be able to link them and say, ‘These are the three people, the five people, the nine people in the buying group,’ that’s huge insight, but processes aren’t supporting it. That first lead gets through while the other leads get disqualified.”

By aligning processes, creating support roles, and clearly defining responsibilities, companies can avoid inaccurate qualification of

essential opportunities.

There is a growing list of targeted solutions available to help companies address the marketing, sales, and sales development functions of

an account-based strategy. Companies typically start out by utilizing core systems like CRM and marketing automation platforms, but many

organizations then advance to use tools such as:

Predictive analytics;

Intent monitoring;

Account-based advertising;

Campaign orchestration; and

Web personalization.

A few of the technologies and tools that have been identified as critical to both ABM and ABS success include:

ACCOUNT RESEARCH AND DATA AUGMENTATION: Data platforms have become critical for SDRs and other functions to create more

relevant outreach to target accounts, whether it be a first-touch introduction or a follow-up to comment on recent news and developments at

the company.

SOCIAL SELLING: Tools such as LinkedIn Sales Navigator have also been valuable to building relationships with multiple stakeholders

within an account. These tools help SDRs target the right contacts and then engage with more personalized outreach that builds on shared

connections or common areas of interest.

Implementation of new technologies will help to create more cohesive, targeted, and timely communication efforts.

Evaluating the Martech Stack to Optimize ABM and ABS

The Handbook for Account-Based Revenue Success: Aligning Account-Based Marketing to Account-Based Selling9

The Revenue Rewards of Aligning ABM and ABS

The Handbook for Account-Based Revenue Success: Aligning Account-Based Marketing to Account-Based Selling10

Building a strategic and holistic account-based strategy across both sales and marketing is a major undertaking and often takes time and

some outside expertise to properly execute.

According to Demand Gen Report research, 22% of companies are using an agency or consulting partner to set an overall ABM strategy, and

15% are using outside experts to help with alignment between sales and marketing.

Once an aligned approach across ABM and ABS is in place, companies see major payoffs. As the ITSMA research cited earlier showed, 87%

of marketers implementing ABM say it provides higher ROI than any other type of marketing. In addition, Demand Gen Report research found

74% of organizations said their ABM efforts were either meeting or exceeding their organizational goals.

Ultimately, the success of any account-based initiative will be driven by how closely aligned marketing and sales teams are around which

accounts to target, which contacts within that account to engage, and which metrics to track to gauge their interest in purchasing your

solution.

Bob Peterson, Senior Research Director for Account-Based Marketing at SiriusDecisions, summed up this reality in a recent blog post:

“Effective ABM execution is no accident. It requires thoughtful cross-functional planning that incorporates contributions from multiple roles in sales and marketing. With a little more than a third of B2B companies noting tight alignment between sales and marketing in ABM, there certainly is room for improvement.”

With competition continually vying for a customer’s attention, an account-based approach might just be the thing that sets your company

apart and with a thoughtful intentional plan, making that switch can be as easy as A, B, E.

Learn More

Televerde is a global demand generation company that provides sales and marketing solutions designed to acquire new business and accelerate revenue. We serve as strategic partners for our clients, dedicated to delivering exceptional results from the moment leads enter the sales pipeline to close.

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Demand Gen Report is a targeted online publication that uncovers the strategies and solutions that help companies better align their sales and marketing organizations, and ultimately drive growth. A key component of the publication’s editorial coverage focuses on the sales and marketing automation tools that enable companies to better measure and manage their multi-channel demand generation efforts.