In our latest Insider Interview series, Sangram Vajre, Chief Evangelist and Co-Founder of Terminus, shared some key insights from the new book he recently co-authored with Terminus CEO, Eric Spett, including:
- why ABM is B2B
- why B2B doesn’t have to suck
- seven lessons on how companies can go from good to great
The book is called ABM is B2B: Why B2B Marketing and Sales is Broken and How to Fix it and it’s available for purchase directly from Amazon or on the Terminus website (with bonus material).
Sangram, tell us a little bit about your new book and why you wrote it?
It’s clear that B2B marketers have accepted the idea that B2B stands for boring to boring and here’s why.
John Wanamaker, founder of one of the first department stores in the United States, said in the 1800s, “Half the money I spend on marketing is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.” It was true then and it’s still true now. If you ask a CEO to pinpoint what works and what doesn’t in marketing, they most likely can’t tell you.
Marketing research firm Forrester discovered that fewer than one percent of all leads turn into customers. Put that another way: 99% of what you’re doing now doesn’t work. It’s not turning into revenue. Your CEO and CFO are looking at marketing and wondering what is going on, and no one is sure what to say except that leads are coming in, and website clicks are up.
Even Seth Godin, author of 18 books and a New York Times best-seller, said in Episode 316 of the FlipMyFunnel podcast, “It’s very easy for us to think we live in this mass-market world, but we don’t. We live in a micro-market world.”
We look at Apple and Uber and think, “Wow, that’s groundbreaking creative work paired with amazing customer experience. How awesome is it that B2C companies get to do these cool things? Too bad I’m a B2B marketer.”
We officially declare the B2B pity party over. You are no longer bound to data sheets, stale product demo videos, and way-too-long case studies as your main marketing go-tos. B2B doesn’t have to suck and this book is going to prove it. We have examples of companies creating phenomenal one-to-one experiences that customers fall in love with. Since ABM is B2B, once you start targeting the right accounts, engaging them in meaningful ways, and measuring your success, you’ll have customers loving you too.
That’s why we wrote this book.
How is it different than your first book Account-based Marketing for Dummies?
If you picked up this book expecting to learn what Account-Based Marketing (ABM) is, why you should do it, and why everyone is talking about it these days, we have some bad news for you: we’re beyond that. The ship has sailed and you’re on it, whether you know it or not. We want to help you navigate the waters properly based on your business goals. There’s no debate about “if” with ABM — this book is focused on how. If you are still debating, Account-based Marketing for Dummies would be a good choice.
Our new book is titled ABM is B2B. It’s not ABM Can Help You Do B2B Better. It’s not ABM Is the New B2B Trend to Look Out For. It’s not Do ABM Now, Do B2B Later. We’re not here to mess around with soft introductions or offer suggestions. We’re here to make declarations and write new equations. Our favorite is ABM = B2B.
What are some of the key ABM concepts you cover?
ABM is B2B. This book also introduces two key concepts:
- TEAM framework: the idea how to bring sales and marketing together once and for all. TEAM stands for – Target, Engage, Activate, and Measure
- The B2B Maturity Curve: this is where people can start looking at where they stand in the entire relative to their peers or aspirations. It’s a guided tour of figuring out what you can focus on next based on your goals
What new things have you learned about ABM since you wrote your first book?
We introduce 7 lessons we learned since writing the first book that have undeniably guided the stories in the book of companies that go from good to great! Below are the seven lessons.
1. The value of marketing is defined by sales
2. Your silos should burn to the ground
3. The buck stops at your CEO
4. Your vanity is making your marketing ugly.
5. Strategy eats your tactics for breakfast.
6. You can’t bench press 500 pounds on day one.
7. Some accounts deserve champagne – others sparkling water.
What do you hope marketing and sales teams get out of reading this book?
We hope that this book will help marketing and sales teams challenge the status quo and realize that lead-based and unhumanized outreach is no longer cutting it. To do so, we’ve shared the TEAM framework and the B2B Maturity Curve as a guide to help marketers engage current and future customers in ways that will make them fall in love with your brand.
Getting Started with ABM
To learn more about ABM and how to apply it in your organization:
- Pick up Sangram’s book on Amazon or on the Terminus website
- Visit HG Insights’ ABM scoring and account prioritization page
