ABM and ABS alignment: how to hit a moving target

Transcription

1 ABM and ABS alignment: how to hit a moving target November 2018 Adrian Hardy 1

2 Why don t Sales people like me?

3 Target accounts for the NBA team Global Multi National Corporates Multi divisional Multi regional Many decision makers across the globe Complex buying behaviours Internal Politics Striving for Transformation Suffering from budget cuts Competition from strange places Drive for Agility

4 Our first team meeting I think these accounts are absolutely prime for an ABM approach. We treat them like a Marketplace in their own right. And what does that look like exactly? We've got all this fabulous content, collateral, campaigns, events and resources. Let s do a mini campaign around each account. And exactly how much work will that be for the team? How much time will this take?

5 What The Team said in the first 6 months

6 6 The most valuable commodity to any sales team is Time.

7 After 6 months, I needed a re-think Campaign-led Support for sales Tailoring of generic assets Finding new contacts Marketing strategies to support the sales approach Working where sales were working Making the agenda look pretty Polishing slide presentations Facilitating customer engagements Working at the bottom of the funnel

8 Why don t I do an ABM plan on the NBA team?

9 The NBA ABM Plan What are my targets? Who are the Key Decision Makers? How should I engage them? How do I add Value? How do I measure Success? The same as their targets (80%) Marketing related performance (20%) What do I know about them? What do they need? John John s team John s Boss My Boss Regular slot on team agenda (middle) Updates to Account Development Plan Focus on the outcome aligned to Sales Targets Deep insight Work ahead of them Own the Customer Engagement Develop new relationships Librarian for Marketing New pipeline Accelerate closure Engaged contacts Won business

10 So, exactly how do you learn to speak Sales-ish?

11 Sales and Marketing Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI ) Sales Marketing E E N F J N T B

12 Extraversion & Intuition Extravert Extraverted types learn best by talking and interacting with others. By interacting with the physical world, extraverts can process and make sense of new information. Intuition Intuitive types prefer a learning atmosphere in which an emphasis is placed on meaning and associations. Insight is valued higher than careful observation, and pattern recognition occurs naturally.

13 Thinking & Feeling - reflects a person's decision preferences Sales - Thinking Thinking types desire objective truth and logical principles and are natural at deductive reasoning. Marketing - Feeling Feeling types place an emphasis on issues and causes that can be personalized while they consider other people's motives.

14 Judging & Perceiving - how a person regards complexity Sales - Judging Judging types will thrive when information is organized and structured. They will be motivated to complete assignments in order to gain closure. Judging types like to be on time. Marketing - Perceiving Perceiving types will flourish in a flexible learning environment in which they are stimulated by new and exciting ideas. Perceiving types may be late and/or procrastinate.

15 Understanding a customer s persona doesn t tell you what to say only how to say it

16 Giving the customer what they want Field Based Marketing Campaign-led Support for sales Tailoring of generic assets Finding new contacts Marketing strategies that deliver a marketing target Working where sales are Making the agenda look pretty Polishing slide presentations Facilitating customer engagements Working at the bottom of the funnel Account Based Marketing Leading campaign development Partnered with Sales, Specialists and Consultants Specifying targeted assets Engaging new contacts Marketing strategies that deliver the sales target Working where sales are going to be Making the agenda Delivering slide presentations Hosting customer engagements Working at the top of the funnel

17 Lighting up their business Field Based Marketing Account Based Marketing Colouring in Department Lighting up Department

18 An ABMer is the CMO on the board for the Account Team. They should act like it

19 Strategies for building a relationship with Sales Go on a recommendation Go prepared Start small Use facts, clearly presented Use examples of success Be on time and keep to time Show how you deliver their target Quantify their involvement Develop the plan together Agree the ongoing relationship Train together Sign the contract Deliver consistently Report up to management Showcase success

20 Working with the Sales team for the first time Go on a recommendation Go prepared Start Small Get an existing Sales Colleague to send an to the new team Outline your idea in terms of sales outcome Highlight an example of where your sponsor had success with you Book an hour Write your agenda and half it Research the account(s) thoroughly Go with insight they don t have Quantify timescales, resources and outcomes Be on time, keep to time Identify one simple thing you can impact Aim for a solid 10% Show examples of where you have done this before

21 Scarcity is Key

22 Building the plan together Show how you can deliver their target Quantify their involvement Develop the plan together Understand the nature of their target Understand the entire pipeline and gap for the account (or cluster) Show how every campaign and engagement will deliver outcome Show the distinction between closing existing and generating new Understand and use their financial terms Hours per week Doing what Cost of failure Agree frequency of review Agree reporting method and audience Agree closure Come with a straw-man Don t be precious Build trust slowly Input your revised plan onto their Account Development Plan Sign the plan Share with Senior Management

23 ABM plans fail because they have not been developed with sales.

24 Delivering the plan to closure Train Together Deliver consistently Showcase success Never do Sales Enablement to sales Attend all workshops with sales, and debrief afterwards Listen to what won t work and why Run a public action plan, preferably coupled with the Account Plan RAG status everything Handle Ambers Report Reds quickly and seek resolution through escalation Consider the cost of failure Project Management training Use internal comms channels to sales Promote every engagement, use pictures, report outcomes Celebrate the near misses as much as the big wins Get Sales to promote the final outcome Generate your next sales recommendation

25 The fact is, everyone is in Sales. Whatever area you work in, you do have clients and you do need to sell. Jay Abraham