Very few companies do a pure Account Based strategy, most augment with a lead strategy.  When small or large companies do embark on this AB strategy through a Marketing led initiative, Sales and Sales Leaders may have preconceived notions of Marketing behavior or what is expected of Marketing.

Here are helpful tips on what trends we see in Enterprises who are event driven that need more help with changing the perception that Marketers are strategic in nature.

Typical “Good” Marketing behaviors working with Sales that we’ve observed

• Work together on an Account Based weekly stand up meeting (#1 recommendation, Engagio CEO Oct 2019)
• Be data driven on recommending Accounts for tiers/prioritization/selection – intent data or whitespace reports can assist in this effort.
• Start small together – pilots, a few accounts, get wins, etc.
• Provide ‘Marketing treatment’ options across tiers of accounts rather than a ‘pool of money’ approach toward these tiers.
• Drive towards Marketing influenced reporting for existing accounts vs. sourced revenue
• Work primarily with Sales Leadership so you have a better chance at scaling.  Leverage your Marketing leaders to reset expectations with Sales leaders if needed.

Typical “Not So Good” Marketing behaviors working with Sales that we’ve observed over the years:

• Avoid doing administrative work on behalf of sales (meeting coordination, etc.).  You are not a sales assistant.
• Let Sales do all the account selection without a Marketing point of view – major red flag, they’ll give you their hardest or worst accounts because they don’t want Marketing involvement, we’ve seen this before.
• Provide a ‘pool of money’ concept where they are deciding how to spend your budget
• Realize that with Marketing Sourced Reporting you are picking a battle when you choose this metric, the battle being: did Sales source this account revenue or did Marketing source it?  Make sure your processes and data ducks are in a row else risk measurement credibility.
• Work with account executives on formulating an account based strategy – it will not scale.  Each deal will have unique experiences.   This may require executive Marketing leadership to reset expectations.

What is working for you in your interaction with Sales?