How to 10X Everything for 2017

2016 has been one of the best years of my life.

Yes, this was a difficult year, as they all are with different obstacles to overcome. But 2016 has been in the year of account-based marketing! I authored the first-ever book about ABM. When Account-Based Marketing For Dummies published in April, I had no idea how many doors would open to begin contributing content for other websites and publications.

This year, I had the incredible opportunity to begin submitting blog posts to Inc.com. It’s been an awesome experience to join this elite group of writers. In September, I went to New York to meet our editor, Cameron, and check out the Inc. office in Manhattan.

Contributing columns to Inc. has made me stretch myself mentally to consider and share new ideas which may help other entrepreneurs as well. As a first-time entrepreneur, it’s also helped me to brainstorm new initiatives at my own startup, Terminus.

My favorite post to date is Why Every Entrepreneur Must Follow the 10X Rule. This column got more than 17,000 views! It’s all about why startup leaders need to adhere to a 10X mindset, as outlined by Grant Cardone in his bookThe 10X Rule: The Only Difference Between Success and Failure. This book is all about how leaders can rise above to take "massive action" instead of behaving like everybody else and settling for average results.

While 2016 been an awesome year (and it’s not over yet) as the new year approaches, I tasked my marketing team with thinking about their 10X initiatives for 2017.

What are the massive actions we need to get laser-focused on so we can truly move the needle on growth for Terminus?

Terminus has had huge wins in 2016, like winning Best Place to Work in Atlanta, and each one of us had a role to play in achieving these milestones. We’ve quadrupled the size of our company in terms of both employee headcount and revenue. So how can we go 10X for 2017?

Here’s how the 10x mindset relates to each of our current functions at Terminus:

Product - With the Terminus Cloud for ABM we have put a significant stake in the marketplace by launching the first ABM ecosystem that will continue to put Terminus at the center of any ABM best-in-class technology stack. The goal is to 10x our product- market fit and opportunity.

Sales - Variables include going enterprise, partnerships, deal velocity, and team size. With so many initiatives, we need to prioritize what we think will drive the most growth and double down on it. The goal is to 10x pipeline and win more new revenue.

Terminus Marketing - With #FlipMyFunnel creating incredible brand awareness for the category and also the driving growth of Terminus, now it's time to go 10x. We have launched the ABM Stack Builder, a target stream in Uberflip for ABM 101 resources, and we're using Vidyard's video marketing platform for high-touch engagement. We are also planning high-impact, local events which could drive 10x awareness and velocity for deals. The goal is to 10x our thought leadership on account-based marketing.

Category Building - I have used the quote a lot this year: a rising tide lifts all boats. We are building a community for account-based marketing with #FlipMyFunnel events, content, and social media. To help educate the market, we are launching ABM University with "professors" who are B2B marketing and sales experts. We are also working on our first major event for 2017! #FlipMyFunnel and Sales Hacker will host The Revenue Summit on March 7-8.

Customer Success - We are only as good as our customers think we are, and we should never forget it. As we continue to delight our customers, we need to reflect on how we can make them superheroes and continually surprise them with our love. The goal is to delight our customer 10x more.

Culture - Everyone at the company today and every new hire are about bringing 10x value. If we hired A+ players over the past year, now we need to hire A++ with more experience but with the same hunger that we had when we hired the first person. The goal is to keep getting 10x better, stronger, and winning as a team.

I explore more of these 10X factors in my Inc. column. Also, if you want to see what else I’ve been up to on Inc. this year:

• 7 Lessons I Learned When Salesforce Bought My Company
• Why You Should Be Optimistic About Business in the U.S. - No Matter Your Views on the Election
• 5 Ways to Not Waste Your First $5 Million
• 10 Ways Running a Startup is Just Like the Olympics
• 5 Must Have Skills Startup Founders Can’t Live Without

So what are your 10x ideas?

To help get your wheels turning, I want to share this graphic that I unveiled at #FlipMyFunnel Atlanta. Here's the deck I presented on B2B Mega Trends.

One of the themes was the idea of Customer Heroism. How can we as B2B marketers help make our customers heroes in their organizations? One way to do this is by going 10X on high impact activities.

The idea is to plot your 10X ideas and focus on the "Must Do" programs, content, and campaigns that will deliver 10X the results. Anything else that won't have a big impact is a "Want to do" or "Like to Do". Those ideas go in the bottom quadrant. Each of my marketing team leaders had to do this 10X graph for our big ideas in 2017. We are finalizing our plans and I will happily share the final results.

Now let's go big or go home!

Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below or tweet to me @SangramVajre.