Account-Based Selling

I recently talked with a fellow marketer about account scoring in #ABM.  They struggled to adapt to the recent privacy law, which made me think: We must rethink how we do this. Account scoring is evolving. It's moving way beyond simple intent data.  You need a new approach to find these high-potential accounts in a privacy-first world. I call it Account Scoring 2.0. But why? ➖Traditional intent data is becoming less reliable.   ➖Privacy regulations are changing.   ➖Third-party cookies are fading away.   ➖We can't rely on old methods.   ➖We need to be more innovative. 👉🏾 Using Account Scoring 2.0 helps you focus on first-party data. This is data you collect directly from your target accounts like: Website visits. Content downloads.    Engagement within your emails.  Collecting and analyzing this data is valuable. It's also privacy-compliant. 👉🏾 Other things to look out for are behavioral signals.  Look out for target accounts engaging with your content.    Are they attending your webinars?  Are they interacting with your sales team?  These actions show interest and suggest potential. 👉🏾Predictive modeling plays a key role too. You can use AI to analyze first-party and behavioral data.  This helps you predict which accounts are most likely to convert.  It allows you to prioritize your efforts. Remember, it's about working smarter, not harder. 👉🏾 Don't forget contextual data; it matters, too.  What's happening in the market?  Look for industry trends that align with your offerings.  Are there changes in your target accounts' businesses?  Understanding the context helps refine your scoring. Look at Account Scoring 2.0 as a strategy, not just technology. It's more about understanding your ideal customer profile. It's about aligning sales and marketing and building relationships while respecting privacy more efficiently. What are your thoughts on the future of account scoring? Have you used it before? #b2bmarketing #marketingstrategy

Here's a breakdown of what an Account-Based Sales model looks like. Designed to drive up win % while landing logos at a higher ACV $ upfront. The big idea: every deal gets a tailored set of account-specific docs, guiding a customer's buying process from problem → outcome. _____ → STAGES & FRAMEWORKS: - BDR/AE's collab on a research-backed POV + draft account plan ↓ - Which drives tailored outreach to engage buying teams execs early ↓ - Buying group collabs on a problem statement, mapped to the priority ↓ - SE's get a pre-demo brief, with a storyline scripted around this ↓ - AE's customer inputs above into a full biz case with target outcomes ↓ - Sales leaders get a written deal brief to spot gaps in < 60 seconds ↓ - Go-live plan shows a path from commercials to customer outcome ↓ - CS gets a handoff doc to guide transition post-sales ↓ - AM's get a written case for expansion to drive upsells Here, you're capturing each customer’s journey in a set of “living” docs that evolve and flow into each other: POV ↓ Account Plan ↓ Demo Brief ↓ Business Case ↓ Leader's Deal Brief ↓ Mutual Success Plan ↓ CS Handoff Doc 100% tailored for each account. Grab a set of editable frameworks for these here: https://lnkd.in/gG3XRbT2 ______ → PRINCIPLES: Written docs are the “container” your process lives in, because: (1) Content = context. Think of it like those Russian nesting dolls — each doc has context from the last doc nested inside the next one. e.g. POV drives a problem statement, that sits in the full biz case, which is context for a go-live plan, etc. (2) Content is evidence. It’s concrete, not abstract: - Less, "It was a good meeting, they're interested." - More, "Here are redlines adding data to our problem statement." It’s how we see where, exactly, a customer is in the buying journey. While making it visible to everyone. (3) Content is influence. It's in the room when you can't be. Scripting internal convo's happening about you, without you. ______ → EXECUTION: This isn't just for key accounts. It scales downmarket, too. It's why Fluint's AI is built around the first "living doc" that writes, learns, and redlines itself inside every deal  (see it here: fluint.io ) Letting you treat every account, like a key account.

Dear Marketing - You can't give everyone the VIP treatment. It doesn't matter how "scalable" or "AI-first" your strategy has become. It's a trap many marketers fall into (or dive into depending on your mood), and it greatly affects ABM strategy. "Let's give everyone a highly-personalized marketing HUG." It's so important to structure all marketing efforts (ABM mainly) on the right accounts. Priorization is everything. I'll type it again... prioritization is everything! HockeyStack has been one of my main resources recently to up-level my understanding of how to THINK about prioritization in a meaningful way. Because it may seem easy, but it is damn hard. Spewing “let’s focus on the best-fit accounts” is one thing, but actually aligning sales and marketing on which accounts matter, why they matter, and how to engage them is where things get damn messy. The best teams I've come across have built a scoring framework to help build a foundation around the gut feel. They assign scores based on: Fit – How well does the account match your ICP? Intent – Are they actively researching solutions like yours? Engagement – Are they interacting with your content, attending events, or engaging with sales? "Kyle, c'mon. We were talking about this in 2018." "Well, fictional marketing leader reading this post. We are still lost and haven't advanced from spray and pray. I'm sorry." This is OLD NEWS but it still amazes me how many marketers do not take this approach to building clear account tiers: High-score accounts get custom content, executive involvement, and deep sales engagement. Mid-score accounts get automated nurtures and light-touch outreach. Low-score accounts? They wait until they show stronger intent. Scoring models and frameworks are important, but the alignment between GTM leadership is even more important. If sales is chasing one set of accounts while marketing invests in anything, y'all are screwed. And even MORE importantly, the best teams constantly adjust because if you do it correctly, the tiers will change based on actions. ABM isn’t about reaching more accounts. It’s about reaching the right ones at the right time.

Why B2B companies lose big clients (and how to fix it) 3 Questions with Shawn Chan 1️⃣ What’s a surprisingly effective strategy you’ve used recently? Account-Based Marketing (ABM). Here’s the playbook: ✅ Deep research – Go beyond the usual LinkedIn stalking. Dive into annual reports, press releases, and earnings calls. Find out what keeps stakeholders up at night. ✅ Multi-stakeholder engagement – Don’t just talk to the decision-maker. The CFO, CIO, CMO, and Head of E-Commerce all have different priorities. You need to understand them all. ✅ Personalized interactions – Use a centralized database (CDP/CRM) to track insights and tailor outreach. No more generic messaging. The results? ✅ Higher engagement rates. ✅ Shorter sales cycles. ✅ Bigger deals closed. ABM works when you stop selling and start solving. 2️��� What’s a project that didn’t go as planned, and what did you learn? Losing a key enterprise client in the Philippines. The mistake? ❌ We focused too much on features. The client cared about AI-driven automation, not just a better dashboard. ❌ We ignored the CFO’s influence. Our competitor positioned a lower-cost solution, and we weren’t in the conversation early enough. The fix? ✅ Expand stakeholder engagement – Don’t rely on a single champion. ✅ Build relationships across finance, IT, and operations. ✅ Shift to value-based selling – Highlight business impact, not just features. ✅ Start renewal discussions early – Don’t wait until contracts are up. Stay ahead of procurement. Losing the deal hurt. But it forced us to refine our retention strategy. And that made all the difference. 3️⃣ What key lesson have you learned from a peer or influencer? From Piyush Goel, I learned the power of leading with intent. His approach to leadership? ✅ Understand individual aspirations – Every team member has different motivations. He took the time to figure them out. ✅ Prioritize mentorship and coaching – Regular 1:1s weren’t just status updates. They were opportunities to help people grow. ✅ Follow up relentlessly – He didn’t just offer advice and move on. He made sure you executed. Beyond work, he emphasized personal development. He recommended books like Atomic Habits and advocated continuous improvement. Lesson learned: Great leaders don’t just manage. They invest in people. And that investment always pays off.

Too many strategic alliances with Global System Integrators (GSIs) fail to deliver promised revenue. The #1 reason? They skip the basics — and then scale chaos. 👇 Here’s how to do it right. If you’re partnering with GSIs like Accenture, Capgemini, TCS, or Infosys, you already know they’re powerful growth channels — but only if your alliance is strategically designed, operationally aligned, and commercially activated. At Alliance Best Practice, we’ve studied over 800 high-tech alliances and found that commercial success with GSIs isn’t magic — it’s method. The most successful partnerships follow a repeatable pattern across three critical stages: 🔹 Initiation: Get the Foundation Right Secure real executive sponsorship (not lip service). Co-create a joint value proposition that solves real customer problems. Build a 12–24 month joint business plan with targets, priorities, and a shared “why now.” 🔹 Activation: Make It Real Launch field enablement with role-based playbooks, demos, and deal support. Identify 10–50 strategic accounts for joint pursuit. Share pipeline, assign pursuit leads, and celebrate early wins publicly. 🔹 Acceleration: Scale What Works Invest in repeatable, co-branded solution offerings. Launch joint marketing campaigns and track sourced/influenced revenue. Embed governance, metrics, and incentives that make the alliance sustainable. 💬 As one alliance leader told us: "If you can’t describe how the GSI makes money with you, they won’t put you in front of a client.” If you're building or rebooting a GSI alliance and want a proven roadmap — ✅ Read our latest article: Best Practices in GSI Alliances 📍 Now live on the Alliance Best Practice site: 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eJaHMXE #alliances #partnerships #GSI #channelstrategy #cosell #strategicalliances #growth #b2bpartnerships #alliancemanagement #hightech

Teams who take a “boil the ocean” approach to outbound will fail. Here’s how to fix it and build sequences that actually drive results: Step 1: Focus your team on accounts most likely to buy now, invest at a premium, and become long-term customers or referral sources. This means moving beyond “anyone who fits the ICP” and zeroing in on high-priority targets. Step 2: Create deeper, more meaningful segments from that refined group. Traditional segments are great for organizing territories but fall short for crafting sequences that resonate. Instead, you need segmentation that helps your team speak the language of specific sub-groups. Use multiple layers of data—firmographics, intent signals, and contact-level insights—to break your TAM into smaller, actionable groups. Step 3: Launch micro-campaigns that target those precise segments with messaging designed to feel tailor-made. When you take this approach, personalization becomes scalable because it’s rooted in segmentation. Your reps don’t waste time on one-off customization, and your messaging feels 99% relevant to the prospect. I've been teaching this process as #ValueBasedSegmentation for the better part of a decade. It’s the key to building sequences that drive higher CTRs, replies, and engagement without tedious manual effort. ➡️ With this approach, you’ll: - Improve email performance - Write copy that prospects actually care about - Give your team a clear roadmap for focused outbound 📌 How are you helping your team build relevance into their outbound sequences?

Partnerships (like the recently announced $7Bn one with Blackstone) enable data center giant Digital Realty to grow faster. The global data center industry is seeing an explosion in customer demand and by extension, capital looking to invest in the asset class. I found this interview with CEO Andrew (Andy) P. Power illuminating on multiple strategic topics: 1. AI is a real driver of demand AI is not a fad and will be a wind in the sails of the sector a long time. In the long term, he envisages a world where new workloads go 50/50 between GPUs and CPUs. 2. Partnerships will increase “runway of growth.” Digital Realty has announced a range of partnerships around the world with "passive, capital partners" including: - Blackstone for sites in Europe and the US - 500 MW of IT load across Frankfurt, Paris and Northern Virginia - GI Partners in Chicago - TPG in Virginia These allow Digital Realty to recycle capital and do more with its balance sheet, earn fees for its expertise from these partnerships with deep pools of capital and leverage its land bank. “We can buy larger land banks, have longer inventory runways, and really future-proof our customers’ growth.” How does he think about "strategic" partners? "We have a view that we're very good at delivering for our customers the design, build operations of data center, and connectivity infrastructure. But we also are very sure that this is a very localized business. And there are certain parts of the world where we just feel we're better partnering with different capital sources or strategic partners.” That’s not a new idea, he says: “It’s our heritage. When we went to Japan we initially went alone, and then we ultimately entered into a partnership with Mitsubishi called MC Digital Realty that we own 50/50.” “The Indian market is tremendously large and we really wanted someone with boots on the ground and a deep enterprise outreach in the Indian market,” he says - referring to the partnership with Indian giant Reliance Industries Limited and Brookfield. He describes these as “strategic partnerships,” where Digital brings the data center expertise, and “our partners are not only bringing capital and ownership, but they're bringing extensions of our salesforce and supply chain, and local know-how. 3. Choosing *where* to play - wholesale colo or the cloud Both. Catering to the full spectrum, he thinks there are benefits of colocation close to the cloud. 4. The road to net zero Bringing new renewable energy to the grid is a priority. 5. Diversity and skills “we've tapped into numerous employee resource groups, be it veterans groups, diversity groups, to bring more talent into the pool.” He reckons he can learn from being with different kinds of people: “When I somewhat reconstituted the leadership team here, it included a mix of internal promotions, and outside talent, with a diversity of backgrounds, international and domestic. Different folks bring more to the table.”

While it can be easily believed that customers are the ultimate experts about their own needs, there are ways to gain insights and knowledge that customers may not be aware of or able to articulate directly. While customers are the ultimate source of truth about their needs, product managers can complement this knowledge by employing a combination of research, data analysis, and empathetic understanding to gain a more comprehensive understanding of customer needs and expectations. The goal is not to know more than customers but to use various tools and methods to gain insights that can lead to building better products and delivering exceptional user experiences. ➡️ User Research: Conducting thorough user research, such as interviews, surveys, and observational studies, can reveal underlying needs and pain points that customers may not have fully recognized or articulated. By learning from many users, we gain holistic insights and deeper insights into their motivations and behaviors. ➡️ Data Analysis: Analyzing user data, including behavioral data and usage patterns, can provide valuable insights into customer preferences and pain points. By identifying trends and patterns in the data, product managers can make informed decisions about what features or improvements are most likely to address customer needs effectively. ➡️ Contextual Inquiry: Observing customers in their real-life environment while using the product can uncover valuable insights into their needs and challenges. Contextual inquiry helps product managers understand the context in which customers use the product and how it fits into their daily lives. ➡️ Competitor Analysis: By studying competitors and their products, product managers can identify gaps in the market and potential unmet needs that customers may not even be aware of. Understanding what competitors offer can inspire product improvements and innovation. ➡️ Surfacing Implicit Needs: Sometimes, customers may not be able to express their needs explicitly, but through careful analysis and empathetic understanding, product managers can infer these implicit needs. This requires the ability to interpret feedback, observe behaviors, and understand the context in which customers use the product. ➡️ Iterative Prototyping and Testing: Continuously iterating and testing product prototypes with users allows product managers to gather feedback and refine the product based on real-world usage. Through this iterative process, product managers can uncover deeper customer needs and iteratively improve the product to meet those needs effectively. ➡️ Expertise in the Domain: Product managers, industry thought leaders, academic researchers, and others with deep domain knowledge and expertise can anticipate customer needs based on industry trends, best practices, and a comprehensive understanding of the market. #productinnovation #discovery #productmanagement #productleadership

True Partnerships Need More Than Contracts. They Need Fair Value. I’ve often thought about what it would be like to be on the other side of the table, as a client hiring an agency. I’ve spent enough years observing what makes these partnerships work… or fail. One thing I’ve learned: every partner, whether strategic or execution-focused, deserves fair compensation and dignity. Where things often go wrong is in expectations. To have an agency as a strategic partner, I must treat them as one, not just in words but also in how I pay them and respect their team. A rule of thumb I’ve found useful: if I’m paying a consulting partner less than I’d pay a senior leader in-house for the same function (say, a chief communications officer), I shouldn’t expect them to deliver at that level. If I’m only willing to pay for execution, that’s fair too, but then I must own the strategic direction myself. Some reflections on building a true win-win partnership: -Value over cost: Negotiation should focus on outcomes and expertise, not just the lowest price. -No rearview pricing: What a previous agency charged shouldn’t set the benchmark for a new partnership. -Mutual respect: Fair pay includes fair treatment. If I nickel-and-dime or demean the agency’s team, I can’t expect their best work. -Partnership mindset: When agencies are treated like vendors, they respond in kind. Treat them as stakeholders, and they’ll be invested in long-term success. For me, the essence of partnership is simple: clarity in expectations, fairness in compensation, and mutual respect in the relationship. If I want strategy plus execution, I have to invest in it. If I need just execution, that’s perfectly valid, but the strategic weight remains with me. Partnerships flourish when value is exchanged fairly on both sides. That’s when trust grows, creativity thrives, and both the client and the agency win together. And I must say we are fortunate to have clients who are in partnership mode. Gratitude! We have proactively distanced ourselves from the others. Amrit Ahuja Kiran Ray Chaudhury

Most people only see sales from the front. The pitch The persuasion The pipeline. But behind the scenes, especially in Southeast Asia, sales live inside partnerships. No matter how good a seller is, you can’t win alone. Not in tech. Not in enterprise. Not in SEA. There are always three groups moving together: 🧩 The principal partner (product, brand, enablement) 🧩 The delivery partner (execution, workflows, customer support) 🧩 The humans (personalities, motivations, culture) When these three align, outcomes look easy. When they don’t, deals feel “stuck” even when interest is high. And if I’m honest, dynamics are never perfect. Different priorities. Different timelines. Different definitions of urgency. But the thing that makes partnerships actually work is much simpler: → Respect (for each role) → Openness (to share the real situation) → Accountability (to deliver when it’s your turn) Without these, a partnership becomes a logo exchange. With these, it becomes a real growth engine. --- 👉🏻 I’ve been lucky to experience this close-up. Chloe Teo on the HubSpot side - patient, sharp, and supportive. Surindren Manickam on our side at VLAN Asia - relentless in keeping us visible, credible and on track with "Making Things Right". Vinoth Sekaran a big part of keeping this engine running. And now Daryl Loh stepping in - you can already feel the gears turning again. 👉🏻 Then there’s the cultural layer. Partnerships in the US are contract-first: “Scope, SLA, roles, done.” In Southeast Asia, it’s relationship-first: “Do I trust you? Will you show up when things get messy?” The first is transactional. The second is relational. Both can work but in SEA, relational trust often decides who gets the phone call, who gets looped into deals, and who gets invited into strategy. 👉🏻 Visibility plays a role too. It’s not just about being technically capable - the partner needs to know you exist and trust you enough to put you in front of their customers. Surin has been carrying that torch for years - keeping VLAN visible with principal brands like HubSpot and earning the right to be considered. That’s how deals get distributed. That’s how collaborations scale. 👉🏻 And finally: Clarity. When principals and partners aren’t clear about: → who drives what → how the customer buys → where the friction actually is the customer experiences confusion, not confidence. When there’s clarity, deals move. When there’s no clarity, they “remain in consideration” forever. --- People romanticize sales as a lone ranger job. The truth? A lone ranger can close some deals. But partnerships close markets. 2026 will reward the companies who partner well, not just pitch well. Thank you Hubspot partner team for an exciting 2025 ♥️ ✌🏻