At Personal ABM, we believe that ABM is not really about accounts. Everyone focuses on tiering, segmentation and prioritization of accounts but ABM is really about improving the interactions that teams have with the human buyers in the accounts we want to win, protect and expand. It’s about improving the account experience for these human buyers.
In the podcast below, Sal Vilardo at Maverick Solutions talks with Personal ABM CEO (Eric Gruber) on how GTM teams can humanize ABM.
Here Are Key Points to Remember From This Podcast Episode with Sal and Eric
1) ABM programs are going sideways because they focus on the “brand” or the organization (the larger picture) and most GTM teams forget about the people within the account we need to engage. They’re missing the human aspect on what the buyers think about, care about, want, need — and how they interact. If you are not connecting with the people in the right way – you have a great chance of losing despite how aligned you are with the organization. Click here to read our article on how a more personal 1:1 ABM approach wins with status quo accounts and the C-suite.
2) We need to put a stronger focus on “buyer enablement” as teams are losing the internal conversation, and it’s because teams do not have the right content, messaging, stories, or business case where each buyer sees how the gaps impact them personally, each of the contributors, and the collective business. We need to help buyers evaluate information, prioritize various sources, and quantify trade-offs while helping the buyers come to their own conclusion on why they need you to fix their challenges, fill their gaps, and achieve their strategic objectives.
3) Teams are not thinking about that month or so where buyers “say” they’ll move forward and they are going through legal processes or conversations with the CFO. Too many times, sales and marketing teams go dark during this time or follow up with continual check-ins vs. giving them the resources they need for conversations with the CFO and legal or giving them the resources to help them get things in order for onboarding. Again, it’s about enabling the buyers.
4) Most GTM teams are not thinking about the cohesiveness of the account experience throughout the buyer’s journey and customer lifecycle. We have to think about the cohesive experience that Disney provides that makes every touchpoint and interaction feel magical. Disney understands that the experience that one team delivers will impact the experiences that the other teams deliver. It’s the same thing when it comes to ABM. If sales and marketing teams do not create the right account and buyer experience then customer success teams will have a challenging time trying to retain and expand the accounts. ABM is not about accounts to pipeline – it’s about accounts to revenue so we have to think about each interaction, each touchpoint, each engagement and the account experience.
5) Sal hates intent and why he says it’s a lagging indicator. With all the tools that are pulling intent from different places, everyone is using it. You run off the same information that everyone else has and in many cases, the intent is lagging behind action by the time it gets to us. Because the platforms are capturing intent, it doesn’t mean that the process stopped between when it was captured and when it was delivered. Also, if they are showing intent, then they most likely have their short-list selected, and they have predefined needs, which automatically result in smaller deal sizes. Intent is also not predictive of an account landing and expanding with you. We need to understand the account story and the buyers within that account.
6) Marketing needs to be able to provide thought processes and insights to allow other teams to further cast the buying vision with target accounts and their buyers. This is where account insights and understanding the account story is important. It’s about giving content for specific sales conversations and internal conversations. It’s about providing the account POV so teams can come to each buyer interactions with a POV about their business. It’s about sharing how we need to reframe the specific thoughts and ideas of specific buyers to get the a-ha moment. Click here to listen to the ABM Done Right Podcast on the account-based enablement that’s needed.
7) We need to go beyond demographics, technographics and personas to make our ICP more predictive and to have the right engagement with the human buyers. We need to focus on the accounts that will most likely land and expand because they align culturally, operationally and executionally — and because they have the right personality mix in the buying group. Click here to read our article on how to make your ICP and ABM program more predictable.
8) We need to humanize ABM and make it about the people, the shared culture and values and the shared mindset. Being able to do this will drive ABM in the future.
You May Also Want to Listen to Our Podcast with Ethan Beute on Human-Centered Communication and Rehumanizing Sales and Marketing.
In the podcast with Ethan, we discuss:
- How Teams are forgetting the most important part of the customer experience, which is how you make people feel and how teams are missing emotional resonance by looking at CX from a mechanical perspective. They’re not looking at how they feel about the sales rep, the team, and how they feel about the business problem and growth opportunity that started the relationship in the first place.
- How sales and marketing teams are failing to make a connection with the human buyers as prospects and customers are being treated as a number as teams focus on more interactions vs. better interactions.
- How we need to be truly bespoke with our content and nurturing for tier 1 accounts that can provide the greatest revenue growth as buyers need to see themselves in the stories that are being told. Buyers also need to feel that they are seen, heard, understood, validated, and appreciated. They need to see that we’re paying attention to the struggling moments that sit at the center of every deal that are waiting to be listened to, understood, catered to, solved, and reframed.
Listen to the podcast below:
Lastly, You Will Want to Listen to Kristina Jaramillo on the Customer Experience Podcast.
In this podcast, Kristina Jaramillo talked about the need to go beyond personalization and get personally relevant to target accounts and the buyers within those accounts. She also discussed:
- What putting the customer first really means
- How you should be using LinkedIn
- How personalized vs. personal ABM compare
- What the relationship is between ABM and customer experience (CX)