s e s s e c o r M p B III 7 A t e r a h P T Insight-driven customization is not optional According to ITSMA, the three most important ABM is an outbound activity. You need to knock in ABM factors in an enterprise sale are: on people’s doors. Without insight, these efforts We know from The Challenger Sale that the best are no better than cold calling. Powered by relevant B2B salespeople control the sales process and 1. Knowledge and understanding of my unique messages and content, you can open doors and follow these practices: business issues. build relationships. 2. Knowledge and understanding of my industry. • Teach: offering unique perspectives to their 3. Fresh ideas to advance my business. prospects, they are great at two-way “5 0% of customers are more likely to communication. This is the same as The Challenger Sale — teaching purchase from a vendor when they • Tailor: understanding the prospect’s value with fresh ideas and tailoring those ideas to the drivers, they craft messages to their business and industry. personalize their sales and marketing economic motivators. materials to a customer’s specific The new outbound business issues.” This approach is far more specific and tailored Insight-driven ABM applies the best concepts from than generic ‘thought leadership.’ In fact, it’s demand generation to targeted, outbound prospecting: ITSMA survey, 2014 something far more valuable: customized commercial insight. These salespeople don’t just • It’s content driven — not product-led claim an understanding, they prove it and back it • It’s helpful and valuable — providing real up with evidence. They also disrupt the prospect’s utility to the audience world view, breaking the frame of reference to • It’s focused on the buyer — not your expose a flawed assumption, and so challenging company’s agenda the status quo. Approached this way, your ABM interactions are ABM applies the same concept to marketing. personalized and super-relevant — and that’s what ITSMA studies show 75% of executives will read opens doors. unsolicited marketing materials if relevant to their business, but the key here is that it must be relevant — which means tailored to their business. 54