🕵🏻‍♂️ The sales perspective on ABM

What sales leaders want from marketing and how do they see their role in ABM

Today we'll cover:

• 7 key insights from Enterprise AEs on their role in ABM and collaboration with marketing

• What sales want from marketing (aside from inbound leads)

• 5 reasons why sales DON'T want to work with marketing (and how to handle the issue)

• B2B Demand Generation Playbook Recording

• How to Leverage Intent Data to Generate Pipeline: Our detailed Guide with Dealfront

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GET ACCESS TO A NEW FULL-FUNNEL ABM 2.0 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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7 key insights from Enterprise AEs on their role in ABM and collaboration with marketing

Marketing often complains that they can’t get buy-in from sales for their joint programs. Misunderstanding often comes becomes both teams work in silos and dont think about incentives.

We’ve invited to a live roundtable 3 Enterprise AEs from our clients:

• Sam Samuel Adu-Febiri from Certn (enterprise background checks)

• Raf Schroons from Customs4Trade (customs automation software)

• PT Vineburgh from Charles Gate (property management/development marketing)

to dicuss how marketing can get their buy-in the role of sales in ABM, and how both teams should work together on driving pipeline.

Here are 7 insights.

1.⁠ ⁠Initial skepticism is normal (but quickly vanishes with results)

"Was I skeptical? Of course. As a salesperson, I was skeptical and thinking, 'Hey, we're already doing so many things. When are we going to have time for this?'" - Sam, Enterprise Account Executive

This is the natural first reaction from most sales leaders approached about ABM. Yet what's interesting is how quickly this skepticism fades when the program demonstrates value.

All three panelists mentioned seeing positive signals within weeks:

• Engagement from accounts that previously ignored all outreach

• Connections with senior decision-makers who were previously inaccessible

• Actual meetings with target accounts that had never responded before

What changed their minds wasn't complicated ROI calculations or persuasive arguments - it was seeing tangible results in their target accounts.

Key takeaway: maximize time to value for sales (engagement with the content, replies to outreach, etc).

2.⁠ ⁠The sales role in ABM is active, not passive

One misconception is that ABM is primarily a marketing function with sales playing a minimal role. Our sales leaders painted a different picture:

The minimum time investment:

• 1-2 hours per day (5-10 hours per week)

• 20-25% of a sales rep's time for active programs

Key activities for sales:

• Personalized messaging and outreach

• Engaging with target accounts' content through thoughtful comments

• Building genuine connections with the buying committee

• Providing insights to marketing about client challenges and content ideas

• Following specific metrics (connection requests, quality comments, account research)

As Sam put it: "It's data in, data out. The sales team actually has to be doing the work of personalized messages, actually DMing people, engaging with comments, starting conversations on LinkedIn."

3.⁠ ⁠ABM forces alignment that should have existed all along

"Alignment with marketing was really huge for us. We were pretty much siloed. Everyone was doing their own thing on the marketing side and the sales side. It was good to just connect frequently with each other and understand 'Hey, what are they actually doing day to day?'" - Sam

This improved alignment had tangible benefits beyond just the ABM program:

• Better CRM processes and data tracking

• More effective use of existing tools

• Greater understanding of how marketing activities influence sales

• Joint content creation that sales was actually willing to share

For many organizations, ABM becomes the structure that finally breaks down silos between departments.

4.⁠ ⁠Success metrics must bridge the gap between engagement and revenue

With sales cycles of 6+ months (sometimes years), the traditional sales-only metrics won't show value quickly enough. Our panel identified these intermediate metrics:

Leading indicators that matter:

• Engagement from previously unresponsive accounts

• Quality of engagement (meaningful comments vs. likes)

• Website visits from target accounts

• Connections with specific buying committee members

• Discovery calls and qualified opportunities

As PT shared: "We looked at qualified opportunities... How many qualified opportunities did we create? We reached out to Company X, we got engagement, we got a discovery call. Is there a real opportunity there?"

These metrics create a bridge between the initial activity metrics and the ultimate revenue goals.

5.⁠ ⁠Content created FOR sales is different than content created BY marketing

A fascinating insight emerged about what content actually works in ABM programs:

"We developed playbooks that match the buying journey, not focusing on product features but on actual business challenges our audience faces." - Raf

The best marketing teams:

• Create content frameworks sales can personalize

• Focus on business problems rather than product features

• Adapt content based on which accounts are currently engaging

• Provide high-value, educational material sales can share

• Create account-specific one-sheeters and relevant case studies

As Raf noted: "The team responsible for ABM helped us massively to start building a content library with good quality content, be more flexible on it, and helped everybody join in doing what we are doing."

6.⁠ ⁠Each sales professional needs a unique content approach

PT shared a remarkable insight about content personalization:

"My posts about wins and humble brags were getting real engagement. But when I was trying to add value content? They were getting nothing. But when Todd (colleague) posts the value-add, conversational posts, he's getting tons of engagement. When he posts about a win, he gets no engagement."

His quote proves that:

• What works for one sales professional won't necessarily work for another

• Content strategies should adapt to the individual's persona and network

• The most effective approach is testing different content types per person

7.⁠ ⁠Know your business and adapt ABM principles accordingly.

The most repeated caution was against blindly following a generic ABM playbook:

"You need to trust yourself and your instinct and know what works for your business. Not to compromise authenticity by trying to automate too much... Don't lose sight of the fact that at the end of the day, you know your business better than anybody." - PT

The best ABM programs:

• Adapt to your specific industry and buyer journey

• Maintain authenticity in all communications

• Double down on what works and quickly abandon what doesn't

• Align with how your customers actually buy

• The Real Impact of ABM on Sales

What struck me throughout this conversation was how ABM fundamentally changes the relationship between marketing and sales. Instead of being transaction-focused (here are your leads, go close them), it becomes collaborative and strategic.

The sales leaders didn't view ABM as an extra burden but as a more effective way to reach accounts they had previously failed to engage through traditional methods.

This echoes what I've long believed: B2B buyers don't want to be pushed through your sales process. They want to find information that helps solve their specific challenges. When they feel your product is the best solution, they reach out.

You can help buyers consider your product, but you can't push them.

As I often say: "You can't push your buyers to make six-figure decisions. You need to be there, consistently engaged with what they care about, and earn the right to be involved when they're ready to buy."

In the next section, I’ll summarize all my conversations with sales leaders and share an overview of what sales actually want from marketing aside from a high-quality inbound pipeline :).

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What sales want from marketing (aside from inbound leads)

Here are 5 core pillars.

1. VENDOR AWARENESS.

"People don’t know who we are and what we do, and it makes it difficult to book a meeting."

Today it's not enough to personalize. To get your buyers to open an email or LinkedIn message you must be "a known sender."

Awareness is not created through ads and drip email nurturing.

Awareness is created through thought leadership, events, collaborations and direct engagement with the target accounts.

2. CHANGE MANAGEMENT CONTENT.

Most sales reps talk to buyers who are not in the market. They try to discover challenges and lay a path to the solution, but they fail with change management.

Buyers don't know how to change the existing processes and how to get a buy-in from the rest of the team. They either buy a solution that promises to improve current broken processes, or move away.

We see it all the time with ABM.

A lot of B2B marketers fail to run proper ABM programs.

They buy expensive ABM software to "refine" their broken lead generation playbooks instead of onboarding sales and stakeholders on why their existing playbooks don't work, and how to fix them with ABM.

3. COHESIVE ACCOUNT INSIGHTS.

Many GTM teams struggle with account blindness. Sales are often unaware of marketing touchpoints (aside from "leads from gated PDFs" or "webinar sign-ups") with the target accounts.

Did they engage with a specific ad?

Was there a spike in engagement from a specific account?

4. CREATING BUSINESS CASES.

Sales don't close deals, buyers do (credits to Nate Nasralla). While sales can create challenges, the cost of inaction and recommended solutions 1-page case, they need help from marketing with:

• Adding relevant product screenshots aligned with the challenges a buyer mentioned

• Relevant testimonials or references

• Clear migration / integration documentation

To win a deal you don't need a fancy deck. You need to help your buyers to "sell" your product at the next inhouse meeting.

5. CLEAR MARKETING MESSAGE.

Nothing frustrates sales more than hearing "but what exactly your product does?"

I personally know dozens MarTech companies that invest a lot into demand generation, but when you visit their website, you have no clue what exactly the product does.

The copy is full of marketing slang and fluffy words.

As a result, buyers have a wrong product perception and expectations.

Sales need to spend a decent time handling the frustration and explaining how the product helps.

But in most cases, the opportunity is lost.

I often get a question from peers: How can we refine marketing and sales collaboration?

Next time, just tick these 5 boxes.

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Here are 5 reasons why sales DON'T want to work with marketing (and how to handle the issue).

1. PROTECTIVE MINDSET.

Sales believe their core asset is their network. Hence, they are unwilling to share contacts or make intros assuming their relationship can be "stolen".

2. MARKETING HAS NO DOMAIN KNOWLEDGE.

When sales teams talk to marketing and figure out that marketing doesn't:

• Understand buyer personas and thei jobs-to-be-done

• Real product value

• Buyer journey and motivation to buy

They treat marketing as an "arts and crafts department" and "cost center".

3. DIFFERENT KPIs.

If sales have lead gen KPIs, any new marketing program feels like a burden and distraction.

It goes even more extreme in companies where sales don't hit revenue quota while seeing how marketing celebrates hitting MQLs.

4. MARKETING PROGRAMS ARE NOT ALIGNED WITH PIPELINE GENERATION.

Nobody from sales wants to do "demand gen", "ABM", "content distribution", or help with any other marketing program if they don't clearly see how:

• The program will impact the pipeline and revenue.

• Their responsibilities and tasks

• Program timeline

5. MARKETING DOESN'T UNDERSTAND THE SALES PROCESS AND CHALLENGES.

If marketing doesn't initiate regular pipeline review meetings and conversations with sales about the challenges they face in the trenches, sales believe that marketing doesn't care about it.

Hence, what's the point of collaborating with them?

HERE IS HOW TO HANDLE IT.

1. Make both functions revenue-responsible.

2. Get alignment about goals, challenges, ICP, buyer journey, value proposition, marketing, and sales processes.

3. Fix knowledge gaps.

4. Create a small pilot team (1 marketer and 1 SDR) that will work on a shared playbook on one market and vertical.

5. Adjust KPIs for the pilot team members and refocus them on the pilot program.

6. Document and share results with the entire team.

7. Scale the function.

The growth of a B2B company heavily depends on the collaboration between sales and marketing.

In many organizations, marketing team doesn't have a strong voice, but that can be changed.

Pay attention to the critical points why sales pushback the collaboration and handle them as soon as possible.

Not only you stop the finger-pointing and blaming game, but also create a function to drive revenue.

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Listen to our latest webinar - B2B Demand Generation Playbook

In our latest webinar, we revealed how to increase brand visibility, create awareness among strategic accounts, and generate marketing-sources pipeline in 90 days.

Tune in to learn:

• Demand generation and buyer journey: where the misalignment happens?

• 4 steps to build a full-funnel demand generation motion

• Allbound playbooks or how marketing and sales generate and capture demand

• 30/60/90 plan to refine (or build from scratch) your demand gen program

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