We all know ABM works. And the numbers certainly don’t lie. As Greg outlines, 91% of companies who deploy ABM see an increase in deal size, and 87% see higher ROI.
It’s no surprise that ABMers are under pressure to scale up their one-to-one programmes to drive higher growth and deliver more impact. But this often brings with it a tricky balance: do they risk diluting what ABM means to their organisation by compromising on some of the principles entailed; or do they look to divert significant levels of resource in order to cover more and more accounts?
At the Global ABM Conference, Greg will be joined by NTT’s Rachael Bell for a real world case study in how they worked together to scale up NTT’s ABM programmes to deliver both impact and scale.
Here’s an inside look at some of the insights you can expect.
Be on the same ABM page
Before you start to scale, make sure your teams are in unison on what ABM really means. If you don’t, Greg outlines, you risk ending up with “misaligned expectations that one group of people think you do one thing and then another group are pursuing an entirely different definition, which brings with it a fracture in understanding of what your programmes will deliver.
‘What often comes up is that people might pilot a programme, build a lot of excitement around having run really differentiated one-to-one programmes, but that then gets altered along the way as stakeholders across the organisation start saying ‘it’d be great to support another 10 accounts here and another 20 there’ and you start fundamentally changing what you’d originally set out to do.”
Greg continues: “I think it’s ultimately key throughout that stakeholders on both the Sales and Marketing side of the fence really align on the definition of what they’re doing. Then they get the right structure, resources, and responsibilities in place to build around, and they start executing with scale always in mind.”
Measuring long-term success
One of the key methods for tracking progress and measuring success at Agent3 is the PAR method – Planning, Activity and Results.
“‘Planning’ entails items which indicate that you’re best set up for success in terms of becoming more account centric,” Greg explains. “Do you have the right number of account personalised assets in place? Do you have a good coverage of contacts at the accounts? Are your SDRs ready to work those opportunities?
Greg continues, “‘Activity’ covers day-to-day tactical executions which shows that your programmes are starting to pay off because each given component is landing better than they would if they weren’t being account specific.”
For Greg, ‘Results’ are ‘most meaningful in terms of actual business value.’ Have a look at deal rates, revenue per account, how quickly you’re closing deals – these should be on the rise.
The Agent3 PAR method not only helps to track success, but is also a key conversation opener to ensure that everyone is on the same page about what their ABM programme looks like.
Why you need the Global ABM Conference
As Greg outlines, long gone are the days where ABM was the new kid on the block. It’s a core component in marketing plans. But that doesn’t mean marketers have perfected it.
Agent3 is continuously seeing the same ABM problems time and time again. The answer to resolving them? You guessed it – the ABM Conference. As Greg puts it, the ABM Conference is where marketers can “share best practices across different organisations, as well as learn and take inspiration from each other.”
