3 Steps for Strong Sales and Marketing Alignment in ABM

March 24, 2023 Stan

Organizations seeing success with Account Based Marketing (ABM) efforts have a continued focus on sales and marketing alignment. It is the driving force behind the results that make ABM a focal strategy for B2B companies. Without this crucial piece, there really isn’t true ABM happening, rather marketing and sales are working in silos relying on practices that may by definition be “account” related but are not aligned in a significant way. For true alignment to occur there are several practices that organizations should follow. Not only will this improve the relationship between sales and marketing, but it will also help drive the business forward.

While there are some obvious steps in developing ABM programs that require sales and marketing to work together, there are also some foundational elements that should not be overlooked. In the excitement of launching new strategies, teams may want to jump ahead to the execution steps, or focus attention on new tech, but the most important work happens in the early planning stages to help solidify sales and marketing alignment in ABM.

3 steps for strong Sales and Marketing Alignment in ABM

Change Management

When implementing ABM for the first time it should be managed like other large scale transformation initiatives and follow change management best practices.

Identifying executive sponsors from sales and marketing who are committed to the program’s success is critical as they will be championing the work and keeping the initiatives on course. These leaders will set the tone for their respective teams and make or break long term sales and marketing alignment.
Developing an ABM charter for the organization will help to align key stakeholders along with clearly defining roles and responsibilities for all aspects of the program from the strategy development, to design and execution, to measurement.
Education and awareness is another focal area to help align sales and marketing in ABM. Sufficient time is needed to educate sellers on ABM, how it can benefit the organization, and what will be needed from them. Sellers have been focused on accounts forever, but ABM is a different practice and requires buy in from all parties.

Account Goals and Insights

ABM requires sales and marketing to work towards the same goals and objectives. This ensures the marketing activities support the sales goals for target accounts. In the early planning stages, both parties need to use the business goals and objectives to inform account goals, which can then inform the marketing goals. To get the level of detail required to create effective ABM program goals, a deep assessment of the buying centers, personas, and opportunities within the account is important. From there, marketing will understand the targeting, personalization, and content needs to begin executing campaigns.

Once goals have been identified, sales and marketing can work together to gather account insights. This is where the power of sharing information from both sides makes a big impact. Understanding key contacts in the account, their role in the decision making process, current sales relationship status, and overall customer health is important. In turn, understanding the level of engagement with known contacts in the account, the competitive environment, and account intent data can provide a fuller picture of the account than one team may have on their own. Jointly developing account insights is critical for long term sales and marketing alignment in ABM and should not be rushed to get to the next stage.

Engagement Planning

Once sales and marketing are aligned on ABM as a joint strategy, and account goals and insights have been established, you can now build out the engagement plan. Teams will work together to create a formalized plan on how to engage each account – from the tactics to deploy to the content needed. To be successful, the engagement plan must be specific and clearly define ownership, due dates, and success metrics. Each engagement plan needs to be validated with sales account owners as an additional alignment step to ensure marketing is delivering tactics that are highly relevant to individuals within the account.

Sales and Marketing Alignment in ABM

As with most well laid plans, expect changes. The best approach is to have a steady and deliberate focus. Sales and marketing interlocks are necessary for many reasons – to review progress against the plan, to ensure tactics are relevant, to make adjustments when there are changes in the business landscape, or to modify the approach to best fit delivery resources. By establishing a regular cadence to dive into performance metrics, update target accounts and contacts, and share new insights teams will find a rhythm for working together and open up relationships that may otherwise be difficult to nurture.

Early buy in and alignment is critical for long term ABM success. Sales and marketing may not always see eye to eye, but putting in the work at the planning stages is necessary. And don’t forget, true alignment is always a work in progress. If you are planning ABM programs and are feeling stuck or overwhelmed, please reach out – we’re always here to help.

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