The ABM False Start No One Warned You About

You bought 6Sense. Maybe Demandbase too. Your sales deck now has a slide where you copy pasted some charts with glowing intent signals and account lists—very fancy.

And yet... pipeline still looks suspiciously like it did six months ago.

If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Tech-first ABM rollouts often fizzle out faster than a cold-call cadence with personalization that leaves your prospects feeling violated and creeped out. The promise was precise targeting and coordinated plays. The reality? Confused reps, pointless dashboards, and leadership side-eyeing your spend.

Welcome to the ABM False Start.

Why the Tech-First Approach Fails

Intent data isn’t a strategy. Buying ABM software without aligning your team and process is like buying a Peloton to hang laundry on. It looks impressive, but it’s not helping anyone get results.

Here’s why your ABM rollout stalled:

• No Operational Backbone

  • Fancy tech, no actual ABM strategy or processes in place to drive the initiative forward across Sales, Marketing, and your Business Development team. .

• Too many Metrics; Not enough application of insights to what your business measures.

  • The harsh reality with platforms like 6Sense and Demandbase is that they require you to have an ABM data architecture strategy.

  • These platforms do not provide you with ABM insights that drive your business - it is the other way around. Your business needs to use the data from these platforms and pull them into how YOU already measure your business, expanding your organization's view of analytics with the platform.

• Disjointed Teams without an ABM Leader

  • Marketing runs programmatic ads while Sales is still cold calling generic leads. Alignment won't happen by buying a tool. It will only happen if you use the tool to amplify an actual ABM strategy and commit headcount to orchestrate the strategy.

• Content Doesn’t Connect Buyer Pain to Solutions your Product Offers

  • Another "{insert product category} year in review" or "Predictions for {insert category}" eBook won't differentiate you against competitors.

ABM That Actually Works: Strategy First, Tools Second

Resetting ABM isn’t rocket science—it’s just B2B strategy with follow-through.

Here's the 30-day plan I run:

Week 1: ABM Strategy Audit and Technology Alignment

- Define which technologies you are using, how much you spend and what to cut

- Interview Sales Leadership to align on what works, challenges & vision for the next 12 months

- Validate what contributed to the factors in setting target accounts... Accounts that are already in pipeline, don't count. Start by looking at your best fit customers and research further based on the trajectory of the new markets you are wanting to break in.

Week 2: Redesign the Plays

- Build a simple, scalable ABM playbook

- Align outreach, content, and stage-specific messaging

- Define success metrics per stage for each team (Marketing, Sales and SDR).

Week 3: Fix What’s Bottlenecking

- Refine SLA's between Sales, SDR's and Marketing

- Auto-sync audiences between platforms

- Flag dormant accounts & recycle with purpose

Week 4: Launch ABM Pilot

- Run 1 campaign—tight audience, defined goals

- Rapid feedback loop with Sales & RevOps

- Dashboard with metrics Sales actually cares about

It’s not magic. It’s just focus, system design, and ruthless prioritization.

Proof: What Happens When Strategy Shows Up First

Teams that flip the funnel and rebuild the engine underneath see:

- 10–25% higher engagement in Tier 1 accounts

- Reduction in open opp time-to-close by 20–40%

- Fewer finger-pointing meetings, more iterative actions that are happening weekly to improve your enterprise pipeline.

No, ABM isn’t a magic trick. But with the right systems and strategy in place, it works better than yet another email nurture.

Reset Your ABM in 30 Days

You don't need another platform. You need a partner who gets how the pieces fit together. I’m not here to replace your tools—I’m here to make them actually deliver.

Let’s get your ABM unstuck. Book a strategy call with me and I'll share how to structure your first 30 days. https://calendly.com/deanna-dgmarketing