🕵🏻‍♂️ ABM as a new operating model for sales teams

How to get buy-in from sales leaders to gradually shift from old-school sales to account-based motion.

Your SDR just marked 47 accounts as “touched” this week.

Your VP Sales asks:

“How many conversations did you start?”

The answer: 2, and both ghosted after one reply.

I’ve witnessed this a couple of times with our clients during weekly review meetings. SDRs report on activity metrics: touched accounts, calls, emails sent. But when leadership asks about pipeline, nobody has a good answer.

Here’s why.

Most B2B sales teams run 3-week personalized cadences with 8-10 touchpoints. Marketing supports them with LinkedIn ads for “air cover” and calls it ABM. SDRs follow up with everybody who likes, clicks or downloads any asset.

But in reality, most emails get ignored. Some people accept connection requests but never reply. SDRs mark them as “touched” and move on. This operational model is completely misaligned with long 9-12 months sales cycles that require 100+ touchpoints to close a deal (check this report).

The data shows how broken this model is.

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According to Pavilion’s 2024 B2B Sales Benchmarks, year-over-year performance of “traditional sales model” dropped across every revenue metric:

• Win rates down 18%

• Deal values down 21%

• Sales cycles up 16%

• 69% of reps missed quota

Another Focus Digital research shows that (in Complex B2B SaaS) the average account-to-pipeline ratio is 0.03%. That means for every 3,000 accounts you touch with outbound sequences, you might generate one sales opportunity. Maybe.

B2B tech market already reacted to the problem by mass SDR layoffs.

According to Emergence Capital’s Beyond Benchmarks report, 36% of 560 tech companies decreased their SDR/BDR headcount last year—the highest percentage among all sales roles.

Here are two reasons why the old model is dying.

First, you don’t need humans for this anymore. AI can send the same “personalized” emails 24/7. But that doesn’t make them work better. It just means everyone’s inbox is flooded with AI-generated noise that sounds identical.

Second, most B2B companies fall into the same trap. They try to replicate what works for SMB deals:

• Build target lists from ZoomInfo or Apollo

• Set up personalized sequences in Outreach

• Run LinkedIn ads for air cover to the same accounts

• Hope something sticks

This SMB playbook is optimized for fast pipeline creation with minimal human involvement. It works when sales cycles are 30-60 days, one decision-maker can buy, deals close after 5-8 touchpoints, and volume compensates for low conversion.

Enterprise requires completely different approach:

• In-depth account research and buying committee mapping

• Constant nurturing with 5+ buying committee members across the entire 9-12 month cycle

• Personalized activities and content per account, not per segment

You can’t fix this with better technology and AI.

You can only fix it by accepting how enterprise buyers actually buy and co-creating with sales a new operating model.

Today we’ll share:

• The new account-based sales operating model and how to implement it without a revolution

• How to get sales buy-in: the step-by-step framework

• What could go wrong: the failure scenarios nobody talks about

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Academy includes:

• Lifetime access to all our B2B marketing courses including Full-funnel ABM 2.0, Demand Gen Playbook, LinkedIn Allbound marketing playbook, GTM strategy, Pilot Framework + all upcoming courses.

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Learn more and join the academy here.

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The new sales operating model: account-based sales reps.

Account-based sales reps (ABSRs) work completely differently than traditional SDRs.

They don’t build broad lists and run sequences. They work closely with marketing and subject-matter experts on account selection with qualification beyond firmographics, account scoring and prioritization based on engagement and intent, and deep research validating product-need evidence.

Then they segment qualified accounts into two lists: Active Focus and Future Pipeline.

For Active Focus accounts (ready for 1:1 personalization), ABSRs run:

• Account research and buying committee mapping

• Multi-threading across champions, decision-makers, power users, and influencers

• Publishing cluster-based nurturing content aligned with account challenges

• Distributing content directly to target buyers

• Creating 1:1 account activation plans

For Future Pipeline accounts (not sales-ready yet), ABSRs focus on:

• Running account research to fill blind spots: Who’s in the buying committee? What do we need to know to create relevant content and offers?

• Connecting and engaging with the buying committee

• Progressive profiling over time

• Creating future pipeline for themselves through continuous relationship building

*Learn more about account selection and prioritization here: https://fullfunnel.substack.com/p/selecting-accounts-for-the-abm-program

Here’s the difference in practice.

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ABM without a dedicated sales rep (5 hours/week):

• Marketing generates a broad list of accounts fitting basic ICP criteria

• Sales gets AI-based research pulling generic public information anyone can find in ChatGPT

• Marketing runs targeted demand gen hoping to generate MQLs for handoff

• Sales sends the same outbound cadences personalized by title and generic research

• All accounts treated the same way regardless of awareness, engagement, or buying stage

• When it fails, marketing gets blamed

ABM with a dedicated sales rep (10-15 hours/week):

• Joint program planning from narrative development to account selection to account development

• Clusters replace segments for targeting accounts with similar challenges despite different industries

• All accounts prioritized weekly based on revenue potential, vendor awareness, relationship strength, and product-need evidence

• In-depth research mapping product value to key initiatives and buyer jobs-to-be-done

• Detailed buying committee mapping including all roles

• Continuous nurturing and engagement playbooks aligned with intent level and awareness stage

• Constant multi-threading across the buying committee

• Value-added touchpoints: personalized messages based on captured signals, thoughtful commenting, relevant content sharing, event invitations

• Joint weekly reviews and planning sessions

The results? Our account-to-pipeline benchmark for properly executed ABM programs: 5-15%.

That means if you select 100 accounts and execute the playbook, 5-15 become sales opportunities.

Compare that to 0.03% conversions from the Focus Digital report I’ve shared earlier.

Let’s be honest about the resources.

Asking for 10-15 hours per week of a sales rep’s time (25% of their time), might roughly be a $37K in annual cost at $150K total compensation.

Here’s what this rep will stop doing during those 10-15 hours: If they’re a BDR, that’s roughly 100 fewer dials per week. If they’re an AE, that’s 10-15 fewer accounts they’re touching with traditional outreach.

The trade-off your sales leadership needs to evaluate:

Can we reallocate one rep’s capacity to prove a model that could 3X their productivity?

We request only 10-15 hours a week, because even if you generate great results from a pilot program, it will be a long change management until your organization will fully shift to a new model.

10-15 hours a week allow BDR to focus on constant engagement with a small list of strategic accounts without shutting down current programs, massive budget increases, or structural changes.

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Why sales leaders resist the shift to an account-based model.

The biggest problem we faced last year with ABM - selling to sales this new operational model. While it sounds logical, when you pitch this to sales leadership, here’s what they hear:

“This sounds like a complete revamp of our entire sales function.”

They’re not wrong to be concerned. Most B2B companies optimize their go-to-market strategy around “traditional” sales model:

• Run territory planning at annual sales kick-off

• Pick up the biggest accounts

• Define target stakeholders (job titles)

• Assign accounts to AEs and BDRs

Then, BDRs launch outreach sequences. AEs create account development plans and work on accounts that are already in the pipeline.

Collaboration with marketing is often limited to:

“I need this deck, can you create it?”

Marketing supports sales based on their requests, handover MQLs and inbound inquiries.

Nobody questions the status quo until the revenue targets are hit. But when the targets are missed, here is when the fun begins:

• finger-pointing and blaming

• strategy changes

• layoffs.

Everybody ignores the elephant in the room:

B2B buyers don’t purchase according to our sales plans and timeline. B2B buyers don’t care if they’re marked as MQL in our CRM. They don’t want to receive 21 touchpoints in three weeks.

Here’s what changes with account-based sales reps:

• Territory planning happens quarterly instead of once annually, with weekly account prioritization based on signals

• Engagement shifts from decision-makers only to the entire buying committee

• Static outbound cadences get replaced with continuous nurturing using time-based and signal-based playbooks

• Marketing and sales create weekly account plans together asking: how can we influence this account together?

What stays the same:

• Revenue, sales opportunities, and pipeline coverage are still top priorities

• Sales still owns relationships and closes deals

• Marketing still creates awareness and content

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Drive pipeline THIS quarter with full-funnel ABM programs.

If any of these challenges sound familiar:

• You are aligned in theory with sales but don’t do anything in practice aside from receiving wish lists from sales and sharing with them your marketing plan. In reality, you work in silos and miss the revenue targets and are being pressured by your executives.

• You understand that your marketing and sales playbook is broken (mqls, gated content) but despite many attempts you don’t know how to fix it

• Your outbound, paid ads and organic pipeline drastically decreased while CAC increased mostly because most of your market is problem unaware and not buying.

• You lack brand awareness among target accounts and sales can’t get even a reply.

• You clearly see that you’re already behind your revenue targets

We can help.

We’ll develop a custom full-funnel ABM strategy aligned with your resources, budget and stack and execute it together to drive results THIS quarter.

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How to get sales buy-in: the step-by-step process

Honestly, you can’t address sales leadership fair concerns by trying to convince them that ABM is the future. You need to address them one-by-one, co-create a business case and design a small scope pilot to create a proof of concept for a new operational model.

Here is the process we use with our clients.

*We’ll keep the points short and link to relevant resources where we dive deeper into each of these topics.'

Step 1: Build the business case with data

Start with data sales leadership can’t ignore.

Show them the Pavilion benchmarks. Show them your own numbers. Create a side-by-side comparison of current programs including account-to-pipeline ratio (here is an example):

*Learn more about preparing internal business case here:

Leadership & sales buy-in

Step 2: Interview sales to understand what needs improvement and why

Sales doesn’t want you to create playbooks for them.

Here’s what they do want (and the objections you’ll face if you ignore it):

What sales actually wants:

• Vendor awareness in strategic accounts - They can’t get replies because nobody knows you exist

• Change management content - Not whitepapers, but industry data, templates, and tools to help buyers challenge internal status quo

• Complete account engagement visibility - Who engaged with what, when, and how across all touchpoints

• Buyer enablement materials - Screenshots, testimonials, migration docs, and data their champion needs to sell internally

• Clear messaging - Website and positioning that doesn’t force them to spend half the first call correcting misconceptions

Don’t pitch ABM. Identify their GTM problems to build a pilot program around solving them.

Sit with sales leadership and your top AEs. Go through recent lost deals. Look at “ghosting” accounts. Review where the pipeline stalled.

Ask them:

• What are our biggest pipeline generation challenges and why?

• Where are we losing deals? At what stage?

• What objections keep coming up?

• Which target accounts do you want to work but can’t get meetings with?

When they tell you “we lack awareness” or “we can’t get past gatekeepers at enterprise accounts,” you’ve found alignment points.

Document it. Get agreement that something needs to change before presenting how to change it.

*Learn more why sales ignore marketing playbooks here:

🕵🏻‍♂️ Why sales ignore your marketing playbooks (and how to fix it)

Step 3: Co-design the pilot with your sales champion

Here’s where most pilots fail: marketing designs the program and asks sales to execute it.

Don’t present the pilot. Co-create it.

Find one friendly sales rep. Not a top closer with $2M in active pipeline. Pick an BDR building their pipeline, or a newer AE without major deals at risk. Sit down with them and work together on:

• Account selection criteria (beyond what marketing thinks)

• Engagement cadence (what feels realistic for them)

• Success metrics (what they believe proves progress)

• Time commitment (when they’ll actually do this work)

THE PILOT FRAMEWORK IS DEAD SIMPLE:

• 1 market (start where you have best product-market fit)

• 1 cluster (accounts with similar challenges, not just industry)

• 1 sales rep (your champion, 10-15 hours/week commitment)

• 1 marketer (content creation, program coordination)

• 1 SME (subject-matter expert for content, research, credibility)

• 1 intent source (website visits, LinkedIn engagement, whatever you have) 1 warm-up tactic (thought leadership, events, whatever fits)

• 1 activation tactic (personalized offers, webinars, outreach)

• 10 accounts max (5 buying committee members per account)

One important nuance to negotiate with sales leadership.

The rep that will work with you on a new pilot mode; needs KPI protection for 90 days. Their quota should be adjusted OR they need explicit permission to deprioritize traditional outbound KPIs. Otherwise you’re setting them up to fail while trying to operate in two contradictory systems.

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Learn more how to create a pilot ABM program in our Full-Funnel ABM course.

What’s included with the course access:

• 12 modules covering step-by-step ABM strategy development: goal decomposition, ICP, account list building, ABM team, warm-up and activation playbooks, reporting, scaling ABM and building a cohesive ABM & demand gen function.

• Short explanation videos and “how to” examples. We believe it’s better one time to see a practical example then listen to the theory hundreds of times.

• 5 orchestrated and ready-to-use ABM playbooks and a detailed explanation

• Report dashboard for 4 types of ABM programs: new revenue, pipeline acceleration, expansion and churn prevention

• Live case studies and examples of the campaigns we implemented with the clients of Fullfunnel.io in the past few years

• 17 templates to simplify your ABM strategy launch: ICP, revenue analysis, intent data tracking, account warm-up cadence, customer research, account scoring and prioritization, ABM budget planning and forecasting, account planning, reports, personalized offers, and many more.

• Planning & Presenting a Pilot ABM Program to Execs and Sales Framework

• Minimal viable stack recommendation and guidelines on how to use it to avoid ramping up budget and being pressured to show ROI for the purchased $50k software

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Step 5: Define the responsibilities of account-based sales rep and train them before launch

Be crystal clear about what the dedicated sales rep actually does in the pilot. Ambiguity kills pilot programs.

But here’s what most teams miss: you’re asking SDRs trained on volume-based prospecting to become account-based relationship builders. That’s a completely different skill set.

Before you launch the pilot, this rep needs training on:

• How to identify and map buying committee roles

• How to research account initiatives and challenges (not asking ChatGPT to research this account)

• How to write value-added comments (not “Great post!”)

• How to personalize outreach without sounding creepy

• How to run discovery conversations instead of pitch calls

• How to multi-thread effectively across buying committee

Without this training, you’re asking someone to learn a new job while executing it.

Read the complete breakdown of account-based sales rep responsibilities here:

🕵🏻‍♂️ Account-bases sales reps

Step 6: Set up the tech stack (use what you already have)

You don’t need a fancy tech stack to execute the pilot. Prove the model works with what you already have, then invest in infrastructure.

Here is the minimal tech stack to make your program successful.

Step 7: Define success metrics and reports.

If you don’t adjust KPIs and reports, the pilot will fail.

Define together what will make this pilot successful and what signals or proof will tell us it works when we don’t have discovery calls or sales opportunities created.

Here is the breakdown of metrics we usually use.

Leading indicators (things you control, measured weekly):

• Fully researched accounts with buying committees mapped

• Personalized connection requests sent

• Thoughtful comments on buyer posts

• Content shared directly with target buyers

• Event invitations sent

• Content collaborations initiated

• Personalized offers created

Intermediate lagging indicators (signals the approach is working):

• Connection acceptance rate from target accounts

• Reply rate to personalized outreach

• Buying committee engagement

• Two-way conversations started

• Website visits from target accounts to high-intent pages

• Event attendance from target buyers

Hard lagging indicators (revenue metrics):

• Discovery calls booked

• Sales opportunities created

• Pipeline generated

• Revenue from ABM-sourced opportunities

Here is an example dashboard.

* Learn more about sales KPIs in ABM here:

🕵🏻‍♂️ Sales KPIs in ABM

You need to track all three levels of metrics. When you can show leadership “we researched 10 accounts, engaged 47 buying committee members, had 12 conversations, and booked 3 discovery calls”—that’s a story they understand.

Compare that to traditional SDR metrics: “We sent 3,000 emails and booked 1 call.”

One more important nuance: define to whom the sales rep will report.

You need to either:

• Have them report directly to the CMO or VP Marketing for the pilot duration, OR

• Get their sales manager completely bought into the new KPIs and actively protecting this rep from old metric pressure

Real results from companies that made the shift

Customs4Trade: from ghosting to 10 discovery calls in 90 days

Customs4Trade sells customs automation software to global manufacturing and FMCG companies. Average deal size: $500K+. Sales cycle: 2+ years.

Before the pilot, they were running what most companies call ABM—a mix of marketing activities and standard outbound to target accounts. No structure. No coordination. Conservative supply chain buyers.

THE RESULTS:

• From 8 negative replies → 100 positive replies in 90 days

• From 0 discovery calls → 10 booked meetings

• From 1,447 content impressions → 172,885 impressions in 30 days

• From broad targeting → 29 accounts in active focus status, 63 showing engagement signals

Here’s what changed:

Raf Schroons, their Senior Account Executive, was initially skeptical:

“As a salesperson, I was thinking, ‘Hey, we’re doing so many things. When are we going to have time for this?’”

The breakthrough came when they stopped pitching and started creating awareness and launched continuous nurturing with target accounts . Bowin Cai, their Account-Based SDR, focused on:

• Publishing 5 content pieces per week on buyer persona challenges

• Thoughtful commenting on posts related to target buyer business priorities

• Multi-threading across buying committee members

• Interviewing key stakeholders for their podcast about what they care about: their jobs-to-be-done, KPIs, challenges

Read the full case study here:

🕵🏻‍♂️ [ABM case study]: 10 discovery calls and 26 active focus accounts from a pilot

CrossKnowledge: 60% marketing-sourced pipeline

CrossKnowledge provides learning management software to enterprise FMCG companies. Deal size: $500K-$2M. Sales cycle: Often 2-3 years because budgets are set years in advance.

Before ABM, Magali Finet-Perdut (Enterprise AE) worked mainly on inbound leads. But the majority weren’t target enterprise accounts, and the pipeline was unpredictable.

Ken Roden, their Head of Marketing, secured executive buy-in for a pilot that required no extra budget, no new hires, and no structural changes. It ran parallel to existing programs.

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THE RESULTS:

• From 30-40% marketing-sourced pipeline → 60% in 6 months

• From random inbound → 35 of 130 target accounts engaged (26%)

• From limited access → direct relationships with C-suite executives

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Here’s what changed:

Magali’s approach focused on building lasting relationships before buyers were ready to purchase:

• Identified 8-10 people per account who could amplify visibility and trust

• Focused on 2-3 key decision-makers at headquarters and relevant subsidiaries

• Showed up consistently where they hang out with value-added engagement

• Commented on posts related to their business challenges

• Shared relevant insights from similar customer success stories

• Published 5 content pieces per week on buyer persona interests

• Interviewed key stakeholders for their podcast

As she explained:

“If there is no immediate buying signal, I don’t give up completely. I keep them on my radar. I want them to still see me.”

The core goal: building lasting relationships that continue even when they’re not ready to buy. Because you can’t push B2B buyers to make six-figure decisions. But you can stay top of mind through consistent engagement with what they care about.

Read the full case study here: https://fullfunnel.io/abm-pilot-program/

Note: These examples are from European companies with long sales cycles. We’ve seen similar results with US-based tech companies selling with 18-24 month sales cycles (check BenchPrep and Cardata). The principles work across markets—what matters is the shift from volume-based to relationship-based account development.

What could go wrong: the failure reasons nobody talks about

Both case studies above had our team guiding them daily. We are aware of typical pitfalls and mitigate them early. But many marketing teams that try to build a new operational model with sales are not simply aware of them.

Here’s what we’ve seen kill ABM pilots.

1. Sales rep wasn’t truly committed

They said yes in the meeting. But when it came to actually spending 10-15 hours per week on account development, they kept prioritizing their standard prospecting.

Why? Because their manager was still measuring them on dials, emails sent, and meetings booked from cold outreach.

How to prevent it: Get explicit commitment from the rep’s manager. Document the adjusted KPIs in writing. Have the rep’s manager in the pilot kickoff explaining why this matters and how success will be measured.

2. Leadership didn’t protect their KPIs

The pilot rep got pressure three weeks in: “Why aren’t you hitting your dial targets? Why are your email numbers down?”

The pilot died because they couldn’t operate in two contradictory systems simultaneously.

How to prevent it: Adjust the rep’s quota for 90 days OR get written confirmation from sales leadership that pilot sales rep can skip outbound KPIs during the pilot. Make this non-negotiable before starting.

3. They tried to scale too fast

The pilot showed early traction. The leadership got excited and said: “Great! Let’s roll this out to the entire SDR team next month.”

The new operational model failed because nobody else was trained, processes weren’t documented, and the original pilot team got pulled into enablement instead of execution.

How to prevent it: Finish the 90-day pilot completely. Document everything that worked and didn’t work. Create the training and enablement program. Then scale to 2-3 additional reps. Test the documentation. Then scale further.

4. Marketing didn’t deliver what they agreed on.

Sales did their part: account research, buying committee mapping, engagement. But marketing couldn’t produce the promised thought leadership content, case studies, or webinar support.

The pilot stalled because sales had nothing valuable to share with target accounts.

How to prevent it: Before launching the pilot, audit marketing’s capacity. Can they realistically produce the content and provide sales support needed? If not, either reduce the account count or bring in external support.

5. Nobody knew how to actually do this

The team had buy-in, adjusted KPIs, and commitment. But three weeks in, the SDR was drowning. They didn’t know how to write thoughtful comments, how to multi-thread effectively, or how to have discovery conversations instead of pitching the demo.

How to prevent it: Invest in training before launch. Either bring in external expertise or have your top AE (or VP of Sales) personally train the pilot rep on relationship-based selling. Don’t assume they know how to do this just because they’re good at running sequences.

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The traditional pipeline generation sales model is completely misaligned with the B2B buyer journey.

B2B buyers don’t buy according to our sales plans and timeline.

B2B buyers don’t care if they are marked as “MQL” in our CRM.

B2B buyers don’t want to receive 21 emails and LinkedIn messages.

The new operating model is accepting the complexity of the B2B buyer journey and aligning marketing & sales processes with it.

It doesn’t change the incentives and core metrics:

Revenue, sales opportunities and pipeline coverage are still the top priority.

But it changes how marketing and sales:

• Select and prioritize accounts

• Plan and engage the entire buying committee

• Work together from awareness creation till closed won.

Three key changes:

1. Territory planning and account selection happens quarterly instead of annual SKO. Accounts are piroritized weekly based on the 1st party and 3rd party signals, and buyer engagement.

2. Buying committee engagement is shifted from decision-makers to the entire buying committee. Static outbound cadences are substituted with continuous nurturing. It includes time-based and signal-based playbooks.

3. Marketing doesn’t work as sales assistants working on requests and transferring leads. Both teams create weekly account plans asking: How can we influence this account together?

These changes are inevitable.

We live in an era of abundance: technology, signals, automation. It’s not a competitive advantage anymore.

The only competitive advantage you have is a cross-functional collaboration with a value-added engagement for the accounts that really need your product.

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