Joshua Schoen

In most cases, I would agree with Davis Potter at ForgeX that #ABM does not equal an account-based GTM. In most cases, ABM is nothing more than a tiering, segmentation, prioritization, and targeting strategy. It's targeted demand gen as ABM is being used to source the pipeline vs. change how teams #GTM and how they engage target accounts and the human buyers within those accounts. At Personal ABM: An Account-Based GTM Firm -- we ALWAYS focused ABM to go beyond "marketing" to apply the account-based strategy across the entirety of all GTM teams. But because, there is so much "smoke" and "mirrors" when it comes to the #ABM agency landscape - we've adopted the "account-based GTM" terminology to differentiate us from: 1. The agencies that are nothing more than managed Demandbase, Terminus, 6sense and other ABM tech providers. 2. Account-based demand gen agencies that run plays and campaigns vs. focusing on the account experience that all teams deliver. 3. The bolt-on ABM firms that attached ABM to their extensive list of services so they can stay relevant but they're doing nothing more than better targeting. 4. The "marketing-focused" ABM firms that are doing true 1:1, 1: few and 1: many ABM programs BUT their focus is on marketing. They may offer playbooks to sales and customer success teams but they are not changing their interactions and the experiences they deliver. They aren't providing the account-based enablement that will bridge the teams together to create a cohesive account experience that lands and expands key accounts vs. doing random acts of ABM. They aren't offering what Lindsay Baggett calls ABM as as a service to all GTM teams. This is why we positioned ourselves as one of the few account-based GTM teams that focus on the account experience to deliver stronger stage progression, higher enterprise win rates, increased deal sizes and greater ARR/GRR/NRR revenue growth. We talk about the ABM agency landscape in the video below: https://lnkd.in/emdrkTwD

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There are certain agencies I consistently hear terrible things about. There are certain agencies I consistently help brands move away from. Still -- I don't think those agencies are 'bad' agencies. They are bad for those clients though. Better for others, presumably. And, even "the best agency in the world" to some of their clients, too. I don't want to work with them. And I wouldn't recommend them. But, the point is this. Finding an agency is easy. Finding the right agency is hard. Agencies should be more selective in who they take on. Agencies should be more graceful when they lose clients. Agencies should stay in their proverbial lane. Brands should communicate their needs better. Brands should be more transparent with their agencies. Brands should invest more into their agencies. *not necessarily $$. Good agencies exist. Bad agencies exist. Great agencies exist. Good to you, may be bad to another. Great is the goal. Ya just gotta find them. ..ya may have to kiss a few frogs first, too.

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As a new AE, I threw so much of my commission in the trash because I was awful at presenting pricing. Here's what I wish I'd known: 𝟭. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱𝗻'𝘁 𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗾𝘂𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗶𝗴. Jeb Blount says this best - don't negotiate based on the size of your wallet. B2B purchasing is a different scale than your personal household expenses. If you're making $75k a year, of course it'll feel uncomfortable quoting someone $12k/month, but you 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 to deliver your price with confidence. If an experienced buyer smells pricing insecurity, you're going to get eaten alive. ___ 𝟮. 𝗢𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝘃𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿, 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝗴𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳: Preemptively discounting makes you look like a used car salesperson AND gives away all your future leverage in the negotiation. Stop caveating pricing or signaling to your prospect that your pricing will be negotiable. If you do negotiate, make sure you receive a GET (commitment to sign by X date, upfront payments, longer contract term) for every GIVE (lower price, extra product, shorter contract term) you make. ___ 𝟯. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗽𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴: First, tell them the structure of the quote (recurring subscription or one-time fee? Implementation costs? Time and materials or flat rate?). You want them to very clearly understand how your price is built before giving them the exact dollar figure. Second, tell them what it costs. Third, shut up. Let 'em react. (I like to bring a cup of water to pricing calls and force myself to drink it when it's time for me to stop talking. Hard to talk and drink at the same time) ___ 𝟰. 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗗𝗙 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗮𝗹𝘀: Instead of sending PDF proposals after your pricing call, film a short Loom video of you reviewing the proposal (under 5 minutes). Send this instead of the PDF. This allows you to make sure important context & detail of the proposal doesn't get missed when it's shared around on the customer's side. ___ What's the best pricing or negotiation advice you've received? 

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Below, Patrick Spychalski at The Kiln - a Clay Agency discussed different intent data tools on the market including Common Room, RB2B, and Clay - and he showed how to use it. But... Not once did he mention to go beyond the intent data and gather account insights to get the account story. The approach below will have sales and marketing teams reacting to the data in he same way! it's going to lead to an even greater ignore era. As Mark Kosoglow mentioned on his Operator website: Everyone has access to the same data, the same signals, the same vendors and is using the same products to automate the same playbooks. Millions of sales reps just got notified about that new VP of Sales or new round of  funding, and they all sent the same automated, AI-generated email. #Intent data is no longer a competitive advantage and in many cases, it's a disadvantage. It's stopping #GTM teams from making meaningful connections with buyers.

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The Worst Amazon Update I have heard in 2024 The introduction of the "DON'T BUY NOW" widget? This feature is designed to discourage impulsive purchases.  While the intent behind this initiative might seem commendable  Its potential implications are far-reaching. 1. Averaged Sales: The widget might lead to a decrease in sales before a deal. When combined with the sales boost during the deal The overall sales could remain relatively unchanged or even decline. 2. Lightning Deals:  For Lightning Deals, which rely on a sense of urgency and limited availability The widget could discourage purchases, leading to lower overall sales. 3. Potential for Manipulation: There's a risk that Amazon might use this widget to manipulate consumer behavior Guiding them towards products that align with their interests rather than the audience's needs. At this moment we all just need to pay attention.  An experienced specialist will always dig & take advantage of every opportunity. It's crucial to carefully consider the potential impact of such features on sales and customer behavior. What do you think about this? Could this widget negatively impact sales and profitability? #Amazon #eCommerce #ConsumerBehavior #Sustainability #Retail #Technology

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Ditching MQLs (marketing-qualified leads) is a horrible advice. The problem is not in MQLs. The problem is in the broken playbook associated with MQLs: Gated content / Event sign up -> Transfer to sales -> Pitching. You need to ditch that playbook, not the definition. What are MQLs? - Fit your ICP criteria - Hit an engagement threshold (spent 30 minutes on high-intent website pages, signed up for a product webinar, etc) -Don't have buying intent. If MQLs were sales-ready, they'd book a call with your sales team right from the website. It's not that hard to fill in the "request a demo" form. WHAT TO DO WITH MQLs. Instead of ditching MQLs, here is what we do with MQLs. 1. Progressive profiling: collecting more info about needs, priorities and current buyer journey stage. 2. Segmenting by tier to define a relevant nurturing. 3. Adding tier-1 and tier-2 MQLs to the relevant warm-up program. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨: - Transfer MQLs to sales to pitch a demo - Add contacts to the automated email/LinkedIn outreach cadence - Measure marketing performance by # of MQLs --- MQL is just a lifecycle lead stage that demonstrates either demand for content or demand for a solution, but not a buying intent. Transferring MQLs to sales for activation not only demolishes the buyer experience, but also decreases trust in marketing because of low-quality leads. At the same time, MQLs could be a good indicator to measure brand awareness and demand generation programs. Or, account engagement, if you run ABM. For me MQL is a perfect account to be moved to ABM, where marketing and sales work together on account experience and opportunity generation. It belongs to a future pipeline because account needs/challenges are unknown and there is no buying intent. Hence, both teams should work on: - Profiling - Account research - Account penetration - Nurturing --- Ditching MQLs is easy to say, but does it solve a broken playbook and a fundamental GTM issue? Every company should nail down 3 things: - What are the criteria that account or a contact shold meet to assign any definition or tag? - What playbooks it triggers? - How are they aligned with the level of engagement or intent? We need to stop treating symptoms and fix the root reasons. #b2bmarketing

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So most businesses do not realize this going into 2025.... One of the most important marketing strategies for next year is not your PPC Spend, not your TikTok Ad Spend, or other....its building long-lasting, engaged and loyal "organic" Communities. In 2025, building an organic community will be pivotal for both B2C and B2B companies, especially as audiences continue to demand authentic, value-driven content. Here are some projected insights and data trends that can support your article: 1. Community-Driven Marketing ROI: Organic community engagement is predicted to yield a 30% higher return on investment than traditional ad campaigns for both B2C and B2B brands, as loyal communities provide better engagement, referrals, and customer loyalty. 2. Influence of Short-Video Content: By 2025, short videos are expected to drive over 80% of consumer internet traffic. This format enables companies to quickly engage their audience, deliver authentic messages, and encourage interaction, which is critical in building community ties. 3. Higher Conversion Rates with Community Content: B2C and B2B companies that prioritize community-centric content are expected to see conversion rates 3-5 times higher than companies relying on impersonal ad campaigns. Community content builds trust, which translates to increased conversions. 4. Customer Retention and Loyalty: Companies investing in organic community growth could see a 20% increase in customer retention by 2025. For B2B, community-based networking helps foster long-term client relationships, while in B2C, it encourages repeat customers and brand advocates. 5. Impact on Product Development: Around 65% of companies plan to incorporate community feedback into product development by 2025, improving alignment with customer needs and strengthening loyalty. Short videos serve as ideal content formats to gather instant feedback on new ideas or products. These data points underscore the value of fostering organic, interactive communities through short-form content in the coming years, positioning brands to lead with authenticity and customer-driven innovation. #sales #marketing #b2b #b2c #shortvideo #community #organic #strategy

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