Step 1:
Understanding your customers
With ABM, you can no longer stress the benefits of your product or service to prospects generally with “one-size-fits-all” content about your company.
Instead, you may be assigned five to ten targeted accounts that fit a certain revenue range, industry category, or company profile.
Each of these has stakeholders with different jobs, levels of seniority, familiarity with your company, and industry challenges to overcome.
You need to explain the benefits of your products and services relative to who they are and where they sit along their customer journey — the sum total of experiences that propels the prospect along their path toward purchase.
Before planning your content, your team needs to learn as much about each company as you possibly can
— their key stakeholders, individual business challenges, and how your company can alleviate their pain points.
This may require dedicated research steps, such as joining common LinkedIn groups, setting alerts for news items about each company, reading their blogs and other content, and networking with key individuals at industry events (in a post-COVID world).
By spending time learning about each company, you are laying the groundwork for building a long-term relationship that will inspire your prospects and stand a strong chance of turning them into clients — and perhaps even advocates — of your company.