The pyramid has fallen

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Alright, I’ve got some beef today.

This pyramid, it’s irrelevant. Past its prime.

It’s so 2018.

Don’t get me wrong. When I was learning about ABM years ago, this pyramid was incredibly helpful developing my strategy.

But I’m older and wiser now. And as I’ve matured as a practitioner and more importantly my business acumen, it doesn’t hold up.

For two specific reasons:

1. 1:Many is not actually ABM
   I know a lot of us consider 1:Many to be an ABM strategy. But let’s just call it what it is, targeted demand generation.
   
   The strategy typically consists of lists of 100’s or 1000’s of accounts. Often done programmatically, using third-party technology.

   
   This is where it’s wrong. ABM isn’t about focusing on that many accounts or using fancy, expensive technology.
   
   At the core of ABM is helping GTM teams prioritize the right accounts to support the achievement of specific GTM goals. Prioritize is the key word here.
   
   During any given strategy, sales can only prioritize their time on so many accounts with the right amount effort. And they have a really freaking hard time doing it. Trust me. Increasing the amount of target accounts isn’t setting anyone up for success, it’s only adding to the daily chaos they’re already navigating.
   
   Instead, you need to be focused with your sales teams on understanding your business’ GTM goals, and what are the right type and amount of accounts that will help you achieve them. Which is where 1:Few and 1:1 are far more effective.
   

2. The pyramid is not a GTM strategy
   The unfortunate thing about the ABM pyramid is that most practitioners will use this to present their strategy.
   
   “Here’s how we’re structuring our strategy!” And it tells you nothing except for how many accounts you want to target.
   
   All of us in sales and marketing are tasked to achieve very specific GTM goals that are set every quarter or year. The problem is that none of us actually develop our strategies around doing this.
   
   Which is why so many of us struggle with creating cross-functional alignment and the top-down buy-in needed to drive success.
   
   When developing an ABM strategy, it needs to be directly aligned to supporting your business’ GTM goals on a 1:1 and 1:Few basis.
   
   The ABM calendar below is one example of how we should be thinking about planning moving forward.
   
   What are our GTM goals for the year and which accounts support achieving those? Where should our focus be every quarter?
   
   This is how modern GTM teams work and achieve results. They unite around prioritizing a set of accounts that directly support GTM goals.
   
   Not a pyramid that was built hundreds of thousands of years ago.

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Additional Resources

Account-Based Marketing Calendar

Click here to download my new Account-Based Marketing Calendar for creating repeatable and scalable strategies.

Account-Based Marketing Metrics

Click here to download my new guide to measure ABM.

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• ABM Program Audit

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