I sat down with Andy Culligan to nail down the process and discuss:
- How to build a centralized ABM playbook from scratch
- How to onboard and train sales on ABM programs properly
- How to scale ABM

RESOURCES
6-Weeks ABM Playbook: https://fullfunnel.io/account-based-marketing-playbook

Full-Funnel Insider - A Marketing Newsletter For B2B Marketers: https://fullfunnel.io/marketing-newsletter/

Join our community for B2B marketers - The Trenches: https://sendfox.com/trenches

Upcoming events: https://lu.ma/fullfunnel/events

Full-Funnel Marketing Content Hub: https://fullfunnel.io/blog

HOW TO DEVELOP A CENTRALIZED ABM PLAYBOOK AND SCALING ABM: 5 STEP PROCESS

Here is a 5-step process I use to develop a centralized ABM playbook for marketing and sales teams.

1. 𝐈𝐂𝐏 & 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

Playbook includes:
— Buying committee structure (job roles), typical goals, needs, and pain points.
— Account qualification and disqualification criteria including verticals, geo & firmographic
— Buying triggers (triggers that prove the account might be potentially interested in a product)
— # of accounts for the ABM campaign

2. 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

Playbook includes:
— Information should be collected about accounts (Account strategic initiatives, Persona’s KPIs, challenges, and potential needs)
— Proofs that the product might fulfill accounts’ needs
— Value hypotheses (how product can help to fulfill existing needs/achieve goals)

3. 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐦-𝐮𝐩 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐬.

— Type of warm-up programs (paid content nurturing, content collaboration, social engagement, etc.)
— Length of a warm-up program
— Engagement threshold/outreach triggers (proofs that account might be interested in a further product discussion)

4. 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤.

Playbook includes:
— # of outreach touches via channels (direct mail, email, phone, social, SMS)
— Conversation scenarios
Sales should always start from a phone call because this is the best opportunity to:
— Address all the concerns and generate sales opportunities
— Identify the root and the real objections that can be used as new disqualification criteria you can use for account list building.
— Figure out what grabs the attention and pass this info to marketing to refine the value proposition.

5. 𝐀𝐁𝐌 𝐝𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝.

Dashboard includes:
a) Metrics
— # of engaged accounts
— # of positive replies
— # of sales-qualified opportunities
— sales pipeline value
b) Account research status including every buying committee member.
c) Account engagement (website visits, event sign-ups, etc.)
d) Campaign analysis and takeaways
TLDR;
Without a centralized playbook that aligns sales and marketing, even the most creative ABM campaign is doomed beforehand.


Andy on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-culligan/