Effy ShkuriAccount-Based Marketing. Below is just one perspective, not the whole picture.
When I started in sales, it was simple. There was something called inside-out marketing or outside-in marketing. That’s it. The reality for salespeople was even less trivial. Take the phone and just make some calls was the marketing and sales motto – Preferably to people you knew. And if that didn’t work, try again.
Account Based Marketing…
Account-based marketing as a philosophy has always been admired among salespeople. And, I am glad it has gotten the recognition it deserves years later. Ask an account manager what he or she needs to be successful in sales…
The answer is almost certainly a qualified target list, at least one good customer reference and ‘air support from marketing. That’s it.
Two sides of the story
Dear seller, we from marketing couldn’t help you 15 years ago because we did not have a name for what you did on your own. Now we understand why you had to work 80-hours a week. We always thought you were just hitting numbers. Now we understand you were giving attention to the people and organisations that you believed we could help best with our solution. You don’t have to do it on your own anymore. We can help and we can do it together. We have come-up with a name and therefore we can allocate much more budget. It’s called Account-Based Marketing.
Dear marketer, we from sales never recognized what you could do for us. We never asked. It’s not your fault we worked to hard. Our ‘ego’ was always with us, so we never felt alone. You also have much better ‘tools’ nowadays. Shall we try it again? I think you guys called it teamwork, but Account Based Marketing is fine with us.
Let’s make it HOT and SPICY. It just tastes better.
Just three general remarks about Account-Based Marketing:
– Focus or stay average.
Salespeople need to get their heads around a number or a particular group of companies and contacts. It’s overestimated how much relationships you can maintain as a person. (Some can build a relationship with numbers but then you are probably not in sales but a mathematician like Dev Patel in the movie ‘the man who knew infinity’). Marketers can do an excellent job in helping salespeople to build better relationships by providing the right content to do the right person at the right time.
– Understanding your target audience.
As a salesperson, you can distinguish yourself if you know your target audience well. With an account based marketing approach, marketing can help you to get a better understanding of your market. If you understand your customers better than average there is a great leverage; to be 10{7b4e06fb7bfb6b75949f08bd926325a22dc8e2c54b2cd03c23afc1ddbec78694} better is 10x more profitable.
– Don’t start what you can’t finish.
The prospect is ready to buy, but here comes the ever-recurring question at the end of the buying journey. “What are your customer references in our market segment?” If you are entering a new market or segment my advice would be to ‘buy’ the first deal. Social proof has an enormous impact on the decision-making process. Never, ever, start Account Based Marketing without at least one reference, it’s a waste of all the great preparation.
Most organisations can’t afford themselves to believe in your product; they need social proof first.
Account-based marketing is addressing the biggest problem in our market, a better marketing, and sales alignment. We used to call this teamwork, but account-based marketing is fine with us.