We’ve stepped beyond delivering ABM, because most of it has become about delivering programmatic generic marketing.
Instead we’ve focused on genuine one-to-one C-level strategic alignment between major accounts and our clients’ sales leads. In doing so, we’ve identified 5 critical scenarios that are impacting a sales leads ability to retain or grow business with a customer:
- Low perception of your capabilities – The customer sees you as a supplier of IT solutions measured on SLA and price. But you want to be a partner talking to the business leaders and securing transformational projects.
- You’re not seen as an innovator – The customer relationship has been long-lasting; and now they want innovative ideas. But decision-makers don’t see you as innovators because you’re focused on delivering within existing contracts and capabilities.
- Low share of wallet – You’ve won and delivered work within one part of a complex enterprise. But to secure revenue and top-partner status you need to leverage your position and secure strategic projects across the wider enterprise.
- Disrupting incumbents – Established competitors work with your customer in key areas. But you need to penetrate new programmes to disrupt their grip and create opportunity for you.
- Risks of contract tenders – Strong competitors represent a real threat, offering innovative ideas and attractive deals to gain your sales. But you need to keep yourself attractive to the customer.
When we’ve worked with sales leads we’ve seen nearly all scenarios or a combination of at least 3 in play.
What we’ve learnt is that generic ABM doesn’t take these factors into consideration enough and a strategic answer is needed to shift the customer perception – enabling the sales team to talk in-depth to business-leaders on their terms and context.
