Launching and maintaining a successful ABM strategy requires full-buy in from the sales team. Teams with tighter alignment are 67% more effective at closing deals.
In this installment of our Level Up webinar series, we invited experts to share experience overcoming seller objections to an account-based sales and marketing approach, and real-world results they’ve seen from a successful ABM motion.
Moderated by Mac Conn, VP, Commercial Sales at 6sense, the roundtable discussion featured insights from:
- Nancy Naretto, Marketing Operations Director at QAD
- Nate Spurgess, Demand Marketing Manager at Service Express
Our experts shared their personal experiences achieving greater alignment and how that led to game-changing results.
Overcoming Challenges and Objections
Without sales buy-in, the success of an ABM program is greatly hindered. “ABM is not just about marketing, it’s about driving revenue and creating a true partnership between sales and marketing,” Mac said.
Nancy experienced the speedbumps to ABM adoption firsthand. “Like any new technology, some sales reps dove right in … and others were kind of reluctant.”
Overcoming that reluctance required a comprehensive strategy of education, training, and showing the real impacts ABM had on the bottom line.
Nate’s strategy was to find sales team members eager to try a new approach, get their input from the very start of implementation, and let them become advocates.
The group hit on a handful of ways any organization can start their ABM journey off on the right foot with:
- Executive buy-in
- Collaborative roll-out
- Create a culture of advocacy
- Prove success
By securing the support of sales leaders, organizations can create a top-down alignment that fosters a positive attitude towards ABM; same with looping in sales early to ensure they have a seat at the table and feel empowered.
On an episode of the Revenue Makers podcast by 6sense, Alex Olley, the founder and CEO of Reachdesk, discussed his journey to getting ABM buy-in. “It was that analogy of fishing in smaller pools with spears rather than trying to boil the ocean. That was the analogy that really resonated” with his wider team, executives, and the board. Check out the whole episode for more tips on getting more buy-in.
6sense as a Force Multiplier for Sales Buy-in and ABM Success
Nate and Nancy call 6sense a shortcut for prioritization, since it tells marketers and sellers these accounts are looking for your services right now.
They also touched on a few features that have helped them showcase 6sense’s great value for sales including:
- Profile fit: Uncover accounts that are the right fit for their companies.
- Engagement levels: See which accounts and buyers are most engaged.
- Reporting: Detailed data about how sales and marketing efforts influence an account and drive pipeline.
Prioritizing the right accounts drives big time success. “We’ve cut deal velocity times in half,” Nate said.
Companies that use 6sense have seen the following results:
Conclusion
This webinar provided a peak behind the curtains at how successful ABM strategies were able to get sales onboard — and how that seller buy-in led to their success.
Orgs looking to get ABM buy-in from their sellers should remember to:
- Find an executive champion
- Loop in sales from the start and collaborate
- Demonstrably prove success
- Leverage technology (like 6sense!) that helps prioritize sales activity and enhances an existing tech stack
