3-Minute Read
Account Based Marketing (ABM) is what sales used to be, back in the good ol’ days, before we all embraced the efficiency and scalability that came with a one-size-fits-all approach.
ABM basically means taking the time to develop content that’s relevant for each account. Not for a segment, or a lead stage, or an entire vertical, but for each account.
Sound familiar? There are a number of account based marketing tactics you can use to align each sales pitch with the prospects needs.
Put Your Customers First
Great sales reps know that in order to be successful, you have to put your customer first. Taking the time to understand your customer’s business objectives, values, and even personal goals can go a long way toward landing a deal.
Sales reps typically take this into account when putting together pitch decks and presentations for their clients. Personalizing presentations to showcase the client, and what the rep understands about the client, creates a more engaging experience.
Tell Your Client’s Story
The best sales presentations tell the story of your prospect’s challenges and how you can help them win. The story should be unique for each client. Take the time in discovery to understand which external and internal challenges your client faces. Take note of any unique jargon they may use to describe those challenges.
Most importantly, understand your client’s unique value proposition. The story you tell should build upon what makes your client special in the marketplace.
Align Sales And Marketing
The success of your ABM strategy requires adoption throughout your organization, so it’s imperative that Sales and Marketing work in-tandem. Getting these two teams synced will pay off for your business, regardless of anything else you do with ABM.
Marketing should know what sales reps are running into everyday in order to provide valuable sales enablement support. And the sales teams should know what messaging Marketing is promoting to help keep things on-brand for prospects.
Sales should provide continuous feedback to Marketing regarding the performance of sales presentations, so that Marketing can continue to iterate and improve presentations. Using tools like DIGIDECK can provide detailed analytics on what content resonates most with clients, as well as how Sales Reps are using presentations with clients. DIGIDECK also allows your Marketing team to build audiences from presentations, which can help with re-marketing and demographic profiling of customers.
Start Small And Build From There
A fully integrated ABM strategy takes time to develop. The more things you try to do at once, the less successful you’ll be. There’s no reason for you to try to ABM-all-the-things right out of the gates.
Starting small, with an integral piece of your existing Sales and Marketing funnel like your sales presentations, is a great way to establish ABM as a part of your business, giving you something to build from. Focus, get some early wins, and leverage that experience to expand your ABM strategy.
And if all else fails, blame Marketing!
