Sales & ABX Alignment Ideas

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kendallmason_smartly
kendallmason_smartly Posts: 27 ✭✭✭✭
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Hello friends! I am working on continuous alignment of our ABX strategy with our Sales leaders. I have two bi-weekly calls — one for NORAM and one for EMEA Sales leaders. Most of the time I have strong attendance, but they are pretty quiet on the call.

I cover the following topics:

  • current and upcoming ABX campaigns (performance, target list review, etc.)
  • general strategy questions (e.g., verticals that are ripe for targeting)
  • 6sense questions / feedback

Does anyone have recommendations for other topics I could include /questions I could ask to get more participation? Is there anything you share on a consistent basis that sales leaders appreciate seeing or find particularly valuable? Any ideas are welcome!

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  • Alexa Grossman
    Alexa Grossman Posts: 8 6senser

    Hey Kendall! My name is Alexa and I support our ABX strategy for our Enterprise sales segment here at 6sense. Totally agree that Sales x ABX alignment is KEY to move campaigns and initiatives forward and make sure the sales team is bought in. My workflow internally is to send an email to the entire Enterprise sales segment (Sales VPs/Directors/AEs/BDRs + my marketing stakeholders) every Friday with the top 3-5 campaigns/events initiatives the team needs to be aware of and action on, and then every Monday morning I send a similar note in slack so that the team is aware of their priorities and see it in email AND slack. I also have a really open dialogue with my ENT VP to ensure that I'm supporting the sales team in the most productive and efficient way possible. If you're not already, asking your sales leaders what their biggest takeaways are and where they need more education/clarity could be a great way to increase buy in and keep conversations flowing.

  • kendallmason_smartly
    kendallmason_smartly Posts: 27 ✭✭✭✭

    @Alexa Grossman this is really stellar, thank you! If you'd be open to sharing any specific updates that you've shared with the group, that would be super helpful. I think this is a fantastic way to stay top of mind / aligned with sales, but want to make sure I keep my updates very relevant to them.

  • Alexa Grossman
    Alexa Grossman Posts: 8 6senser

    @kendallmason_smartly - emailing you! :)

  • Scott0Connell513
    Scott0Connell513 Posts: 3 6senser

    Hi @kendallmason_smartly, I am Alexa's peer in the Commercial segment and I echo a lot of what Alexa said above. One thing I do with my team is also reflect back on completed campaigns and events as well. Doing post-mortems with them allows an ongoing conversation around what worked well, what didn't and how we could potentially repurpose what we've already done, but adjusting and tweaking based on the recommendations we arrive at through this open dialogue. I've found that people are way more eager and willing to open up about criticisms, but then usually follow up with a "but this (xyz) worked well." Perhaps looking back and not just what's ahead might be of value too!

  • Taylor Matysik
    Taylor Matysik Posts: 46 ✭✭✭✭✭✭

    @kendallmason_smartly It looks like you have a great foundation for report out and collaboration with your sales leaders. At Perforce, we have a similar monthly advisory session with our various brand leaders in sales and marketing to align on ABM strategy & tactics for the upcoming month. A couple recommendations:

    1. Ask your sales stakeholders in this meeting how you can improve the content of the session to make it more helpful and/or to improve their engagement. If they aren't engaging, it might be because they don't find the current content actionable. Focus the content more on supporting their goals – specifically helping them hit their quota and earning their commissions.

    2. Make sure they have a foundational understanding of ABM and how it is different from traditional marketing efforts. Part of the lack of engagement may also be due to a lack of understanding of ABM and the value it brings to the sales org. Ask them to encapsulate what ABM is. If they can't, understanding of ABM and how to effectively use it to reach goals is likely a problem.

    3. Do some legwork for them and bring a handful of "Hot" accounts, review the accounts' intent, and recommend action items for them to pursue. In following meetings, ask for updates on their prospecting efforts to those accounts. This is all but a sure fire way to improve engagement. For one, it is inherently collaborative in that you are providing recommendations, asking them to do something, then holding them accountable in future sessions to share what they accomplished. Furthermore, this is what they actually care about, showing them accounts that are engaging with pricing pages/free-trials/demo-requests/competitor comparisons will naturally get them to tune in and start asking questions. The most surefire way to win over sales people is to actually help them hit their goals and make money via their commissions.

    4. Get buy in from their leaders. Ensure that their leaders are backing up buy-in to your ABX program, especially if you are executing on #3 above. If they are coming back with no updates on accounts you recommend pursuing based on account intent and no results, it's not a you problem it is a them problem. Having their leaders' buy-in will enable you to remain a neutral advisor that can support their success while their leaders can kick them into gear.

    Hope some/all of this is helpful. You're clearly doing a great job already, keep up the good work and good luck!

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