CHAPTER 2 The way companies are spending their budget aligns Sales and Marketing dream team: It’s no surprise that aligning well to three things that make ABM successful: Sales and Marketing is a large area of spend for 47% of organiza- tions in 2019. Your revenue engine works best when these teams Content provides clues: According to research by Edelman are working in lockstep. and LinkedIn, a majority of B2B buyers feel that your thought leadership is one of the best ways to get a sense of the type Many organizations actively avoid calling it “ABM” in order and caliber of thinking your organization is likely to deliver. Don’t to indicate how important it is for Sales to be involved. They underinvest in something so critical to earning the attention, and could call it “Account Based Management,” or “Account Based trust, of your potential buyer. Everything,” while others call it an “Account-First Initiative.” TOPO recommends that relevant content TIP: Your goal should be to move beyond alignment, where for ABM does four things: each team acts independently but in a coordinated fashion, to activation, where Marketing takes a stronger leadership role, A. Educates a buyer on their space activating Sales at the right time in order to move the business B. Is contextualized to the buyer’s business forward (especially when the human touch is required). The highest-performing teams have fully integrated Sales and C. Prescribes a plan of action Marketing, and both departments work together as a single team. D. Allows the buyer to experience the process and eventual outcome ABM INVESTMENTS AND RESOURCES 9