This was the biggest challenge we faced; how do we change many of the things we are doing and also the mindset of those involved?
It’s often said that achieving sales and marketing alignment is nirvana. In fact, that’s the very topic we’ll be discussing in an upcoming BrightTalk webinar panel alongside Peter Lundie and Greg Salmon from agent3. In truth, while it may not be quite as significant as that, it is certainly a way to help ensure that any relationship between sales and marketing is going to be a productive one.
We recently embarked on an Account Based Marketing program that was designed with a clear objective; achieve alignment for sales and marketing around driving stronger key and named account revenue. It’s been a fascinating experience given that it has required new thinking, new technologies and new ways of working.
Now, with the word ‘new’ comes that other word ‘change’. And perhaps this was the biggest challenge we faced; how do we change many of the things we are doing and also the mindset of those involved? As a consequence, we’ve learned an awful lot in the process of implementing ABM and driving better sales and marketing alignment in the process. We’re keen to share our thinking with those facing similar challenges. On June 13th we’ll therefore be looking to share, with our strategic partners at Agent3, our experiences to date.
We’re going to cover off our campaign strategy, how to deploy technology successfully, the timelines for success, the roles played by different members of the virtual team and how to measure progress. Specifically we’re going to focus on exploring what insights you need to understand about an account in order to create an integrated ABM plan. We’ll also look to cover what the ideal balance is in ABM for short-term execution support vs. longer-term relationship development. We’ll explain how to secure buy-in for ABM programmes from across a span of sales and marketing stakeholders, given everyone is very busy and may have different priorities. Following on from this, we’ll give guidance on what kinds of commitment and involvement you need from different team members in order to ensure ABM programmes run effectively. Rest assured we’ll also take time to talk about the perennial chestnut of measurement; how to do so and over what period of time. And, crucially, we’ll cover off how to drive an internal ‘change management’ process as you roll-out ABM programmes.
Feel free to join us on June 13th and learn more about what we have been up to – more details are available here