Account-Based Sales and Marketing is THE best practice for modern, revenue-driven organizations. It (ABS) is the product of Sales and Marketing alignment in that both teams are hyper-focused on a select number of targeted accounts. But how does a company select their accounts? Understanding the technologies a company uses can define your Account-Based Selling Strategy in these three ways:
A replacement strategy identifies a competitor’s weaknesses while emphasizing your strengths. The idea is to prioritize your selling efforts based on the accounts that are utilizing your direct competition. The pro’s: these companies already see the value in your type of solution and have it budgeted. The con’s: unseating an incumbent is difficult for political and contractual reasons. The person who selected your competition has a vested interest in its success and may be in a log-term contract as well.
A complementary strategy showcases how your software or service works well with the investment in technology already made. My company is a perfect example. RampedUp works inside of Salesforce.com therefore Salesforce.com users would be a great start for us. Now this can be limiting if your software doesn’t “play well with others” but some companies use installed technologies to model would-be buying behaviors. As an example, If a company would purchase a product with the same level of sophistication and price point as my solution, then they may be a good fit for me.
An evangelistic strategy educates the buyer on the importance of purchasing a new type of software not currently in their stack. This deductive modelling exercise takes firmographic traits such as revenue, industry, employee size, and location THEN focuses on companies NOT using competitive or complimentary technologies. This is a great way to break-in new ground for a product, BDR team, or channel partner.