Implementing ABM: Getting Buy-In and Funding, and an Alignment Checklist

Account-based marketing (ABM) isn’t only a philosophical idea whose time has come. It’s a sound strategy that’s proven to work for every kind of B2B company looking to land big accounts.

But just because it makes sense doesn’t mean it’s easy to do. Companies with a traditional go-to-market operation need a game plan to execute ABM well.

This section is about making ABM work in the real world. It’s about culture and change. And it’s about the people, processes, technologies, and attitudes that make ABM programs successful.

A new discipline within your existing operation

ABM doesn’t necessarily replace a company’s traditional GTM. Instead, it can complement your normal lead generation activities, taking your key, high-value accounts out of everyday marketing flows and giving them special treatment.

Most programs start by layering onto current processes, e.g.:

• Pilot: Test ABM for a few accounts
• Segment: Implement it for one or more segments (e.g., enterprise accounts or healthcare)
• Focus: Apply existing programs (e.g., outbound sales development) to specific accounts

Companies with both demand generation and account-based programs will need to set goals and measure results separately, aligning on how much pipeline and revenue will come from account-based and how much from traditional marketing efforts.

Getting buy-in

Account-based programs can’t happen without resources. And resources don’t get marshaled without senior executives making it happen. In fact, in Demandbase’s 2018 ABM Outlook Survey, respondents anticipated that their #1 challenge for ABM would be getting buy-in.

Here’s how you can rally support for your ABM program.

Talk to Executives

Often, the spark comes from a change in the company or market that affects fundamental revenue performance:

• Sales to existing major accounts are slowing or existing revenues are declining
• Share-of-wallet within large accounts is not known or competitors are gaining share
• Account teams are not stretching beyond established comfort zones nor developing business in new areas
• Growth in (or retention of) strategic accounts is a priority

If your leaders are finding that hiring more sales reps to hit their revenue goals isn’t working anymore, they could be open to trying a more strategic approach focused on account intelligence and relationship building with key accounts.

Talk to Sales

If you’re in marketing, you need to recruit sales to join your vision. Consider these tips:

• Outline the need for change — Maybe revenue is slowing. Or wallet share is declining. Or there’s an untapped opportunity, or growth from big accounts is a necessity. If the status quo is working, why change?
• Show what’s in it for them — Better account intelligence and a marketing team dedicated to helping them win the big deals instead of throwing thousands of low-quality leads their way.
• Make the journey clear — Not just that you’ll be targeting big accounts together, but also how you’ll do it.
• Make a commitment to their success — Show how you will each win only if you win together.
• Make sure their bosses are on board — And that everyone knows the metrics and timescales are different from ordinary selling.

Talk to Marketing

If you’re in sales and approaching the marketing team to get them on board, remember to:

• Sell the need for change — Show that the current lead-centric view is missing major revenue opportunities.
• Show what’s in it for them — A Sales team willing to work side-by-side with them and an opportunity to be associated with major wins.
• Show what ABM looks like for marketers — And how it’s different from traditional demand generation.
• Commit to working together — Show that you’re in it for the long haul, not just the quarter.
• Make sure the senior execs are in — Remind them they really won’t be measured by lead volume.

Funding

With ABM, being strategic about budgeting is particularly important because you're planning for a marathon, not a sprint. Your program probably won’t deliver clear revenue immediately — possibly for a long time — so you need to plan accordingly.

If you hide this fact when you make your business case, you’re sticking a time bomb inside your ABM program. Instead, make sure all executives understand the timescales and leading metrics you’ll be using to ensure you’re making progress towards revenue.

TOPO’s 2019 Account Based Benchmark Report says that organizations invest from 0.5 percent to 2 percent of expected ACV for each target account.

The ABM alignment checklist

We’ve seen programs fly and we’ve seen them flop. As you implement your ABM program, follow these best practices and keep an eye out for the warning signs.

Best practices

• Get senior executive buy-in. Your team will need their understanding and protection.
• Be a tester not a cheerleader. Position the program as a new, collaborative, and ongoing approach to acquire and expand big accounts, not as “the next big marketing campaign.”
• Get 100 percent strategy commitment from the account executives, SDRs, and marketers. Anything less is a recipe for friction.
• Agree on the criteria for choosing accounts and the governance for when to add or remove accounts. (Don’t just agree on which accounts to target).
• Align on the fraction of all resources that will go to your target accounts, perhaps starting with a pilot program.
• Agree on short-, medium-, and long-term metrics that everyone will track together. Also agree on the metrics that don’t matter. Document this.
• Hold regular meetings, weekly in the early stages and relaxing to monthly meetings as the machine starts to hum.
• Let everyone know what’s happening. Tell the rest of the marketing and sales teams about what you’ll be doing and how they can help. Market your marketing.

Common warning signs

• The account executive views ABM as a tactic to fit in with the normal way of selling.
• Top management sees the program as a sales drive or campaign.
• People describe ABM as “the next big marketing campaign.”
• Senior sales executives don’t see it as a long-term investment — they just want to hit this quarter’s numbers at all costs.
• Management expects quick results and doesn’t have the patience for leading indicators.
• Any team member thinks they already know all they need to know about the account.
• The account executive thinks he or she already knows every single person that matters inside each account.
• Sales is not involved in the target account selection.
• The ABM sponsor leaves the company or an acquisition shifts priorities.
• The change management part of the journey is undervalued.
• The target accounts are still being bombarded with mainstream lead-generation programs.

If you see these things happening, speak up! You can still keep this thing on track.

Get your copy of my book, The Definitive Guide to Smarter GTM? with Account Intelligence and ABM/ABX. You can download it here .