The benefits of Account-based Marketing (ABM) included an increase both in the number of deals closed and the average size of a deal in ABM accounts but also an increase in the engagement level in ABM accounts. However, only a little over half had an ABM strategy in place. As high as 42% of those who did not have an ABM strategy in place said the reason for that was that they found it difficult to get their marketing and sales teams aligned. This is unfortunate, considering that both teams are internal to an organization.
When revenue-generating departments don’t speak the same language, it often results in steep financial losses that are easily preventable. The Fortune 250 B2B company that spent a quarter of a million dollars trying to solve the wrong problem would agree.1 After the failure of a new product, the company threw money at product research and sales methodology, when, in fact, the problem was caused by misaligned goals between sales and marketing.
The symbiotic relationship between sales and marketing finds them both deeply interconnected and yet at odds. According to Forrester research, 78% of executive buyers claim that salespeople do not have relevant examples or case studies to share with them.2 The same is true when marketing has an inflated view of the company’s brand equity on target customers. Yet sales and marketing rarely sit together to plot targets, strategies, and objectives for the year. That is set to change, especially as more businesses go the Account- Based Marketing (ABM) route.
“Any measure of success in ABM requires that both sales and marketing be fully engaged and integrated.”
Rather than considering this a Sisyphean endeavor, here are our thoughts on how to overcome the challenge that sales and marketing alignment poses.
Match Metrics
Both sales and marketing are focused on targets, albeit from different points of view. This is often the source of greatest friction between the two departments. An ABM strategy requires that both teams' objectives be aligned so that they can work in synergy toward a common goal.
For example, traditional selling tactics involve spreading a wide net with the intention of engaging as many customers as possible with one genius campaign. However, customers are a lot more fragmented today. By getting both sales and marketing to agree on focusing their efforts on select accounts, organizations can hope to increase ROI on their marketing investments. So while the sales team looks for leads, marketing can help by providing them with leads that are better qualified with an ABM strategy in place. Rather than waste valuable time building relationships with customers who aren’t profitable, ABM helps focus efforts on customers who shore up the bottom line of the business.
According to a Forrester report—company revenue, customer satisfaction and customer retention are the top three metrics B2B marketers in the US say are the most important in assessing their ABM results.3 Not leads. Not deal size. Not conversion rates.
“To help steer the conversation in the right direction, and to bring both sales and marketing to the same watering hole, build in metrics that target relationships with customers.”
This rarely produces quick results, but it will certainly deliver the right results, eventually.
Collaborate
The animosity between sales and marketing is legendary. Most often these teams go out of their way to avoid the other. Even the most stringent and documented processes cannot withstand this kind of friction.
For an ABM strategy to succeed, both sales and marketing must come together and work together to produce results. How can a business broker a relationship between two warring teams? It helps to start small. You could begin with just a few members from each team working together. Initial training on ABM would help. Encourage conversations. Getting them to talk will help the teams find common ground. It will also help identify areas of improvement and will set up both teams to support each other to achieve a common purpose. It also helps if you hold both sales and marketing accountable for revenue. This immediately puts all concerned on the same side, and teams will find ways to work around their differences.
For an ABM program to succeed, traditional selling techniques and mindsets need to be refreshed. ABM works on the premise of selling what a customer wants, and not what the sales or marketing team can sell. Michael Avis from Oracle states that ‘insight is the foundation of ABM’.4
“Both marketing and sales possess valuable insights that can drive a successful ABM program.”
Get sales and marketing to jointly obsess over how to pursue and grow select customers who are profitable to the business.
Define Ownership
Any new idea needs an evangelist to succeed. So, it’s important to put someone in charge of the ABM program. It doesn't matter which department oversees the implementation of the program. Ownership is critical to pulling together multiple teams, developing and driving a shared vision and ensuring objectives are met.
According to Marketo, conversion rates improve when sales and marketing share ownership of lead nurturing and incubation. Companies with tightly aligned sales and marketing teams experience 36% higher customer retention rates and 38% higher sales win rates. When sales and marketing teams are aligned, leads are 67% more likely to become clients.5 Those numbers are impressive and are only a brief indication of the magic that takes place when sales and marketing align.
References:
https://hbr.org/2018/06/when-sales-and-marketing-arent-aligned-both-suffer
https://go.forrester.com/blogs/forrester-helps-drive-abmresults/
https://www.agent3.com/blog-post/four-top-tips-aligning-sales-and-marketing-abm
https://blog.marketo.com/2017/11/key-successful-abm-marketing-sales-alignment.html
