Success stories

ABM training and consulting for a virtual telecom operator helps improve lead quality and sales velocity by over 60%

About Exotel

Exotel is a full-stack customer engagement platform and licensed virtual telecom operator working with clients globally.

1

While the company had an inbound marketing team, an SDR team, and a sales team, they were functioning in silos. The teams weren’t aligned.

2

The company decided to take the ABM route and set up an ABM team. However, once the SDR team shared the leads with the sales team, no further updates were shared with the SDR or ABM teams.

3

The newly formed ABM team required training on structuring, strategizing, and implementing a well-orchestrated ABM program.

4

While the inbound marketing team used a marketing automation platform to track inbound leads, there was no sync between the inbound and the ABM team concerning the kind of leads received, first-party intent data, or leads shared with the sales team.

5

There was no MarTech stack to drive a complete ABM program. The internal team used standard methods to send emails and make cold calls without following a structured approach.

PHASE 1:

PROCESS UNDERSTANDING AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The first phase lasted for two weeks. We set up meetings with the sales, SDR, and inbound marketing teams during this period.

These discussions aimed to understand how the teams can collaborate, identify the gaps and scope for technological usage, and set priorities to solve the challenges via a step-wise approach.

We performed assessments with the ABM team to understand the company’s ABM process. It included working on the ICP, Buyer Personas, Account Lists, Account Research, Stakeholder and Buying Committee Profiling, Messaging Frameworks, Content Mapping, Multi-Channel Positioning, Reporting, and the ABM Tech Stack.

At the end of phase 1, we made the following observations -

Sales and Marketing Alignment

The most crucial task was to ensure that the leadership, sales, marketing, and ABM teams were aligned on the goals and agreed upon a set of KPIs and KRAs.

Training and Consulting

Since the ABM team was new, the members needed training on all aspects of ABM. We prepared a six-week plan to help the team with theoretical aspects and provide the required workbooks and templates to put their knowledge to the test.

ABM Tech Set Up

We set up the marketing automation and ABM tool stack to drive the complete ABM program.

PHASE 2:

TRAINING AND EXECUTION

SLA Creation: The Smarketers worked closely with the head of marketing to define a clear SLA that aligns sales, marketing, and leadership.

ABM Training: We trained Exotel’s team end-to-end across all aspects of ABM, from basics leading up to advanced concepts, while implementing them in real-time for the client’s use case. The topics included -

Kick-Off & Basics:

Outlining Objectives & Processes
Sketching the stakeholders
Aligning ABM with existing Marketing Mix

Targeting - Accounts, buying committee, personas

Understanding the ICP and enlisting Accounts and
Motivations
Buyer Behavior and requirements
User Experience

Research

Segment, Account and Buyer research
Prioritizing accounts based on research
Solution Mapping
Intent – importance and assessment

ABM campaign

Enlisting requirements What all you need
ABM Program Setup
ABM Plays
Content support & strategy
Integrating Inbound and ABM
Personalizing Content

Selecting the right tools

Martech for ABM
Basic tools that you need
Ad-ons that can enhance experience

How to set up a pilot program and scale

Scaling the Pilot
Venturing into different geographies

Measure and Optimize

Key metrics and KPls that matter
Qualitative vs quantitative metrics
Measuring for success
Optimizing the campaign

MarTech Setup and Automation: We decided to use HubSpot as the best tool for ABM implementation across sales & marketing. Additionally, we implemented HubSpot’s sales & marketing professional hubs for onboarding, training, & setting up the required workflows for account engagement, nurturing, & tracking campaign performance across channels. This included setting up lead & account scoring models. We set up those accounts for further nurturing based on the engagement levels achieved. Also, we brought in other tools like Roll Works & Zoom Info to drive intent insights & contextual aware ads.

Templates and Workbooks: We supplied Exotel’s teams with ABM playbooks, templates, and workbooks for individual aspects of their ABM program.

OUTCOMES

Exotel witnessed an immediate improvement in the lead quality due to the newly structured and signed SLA.

The opportunity pipeline improved by over 60%

A stronger alignment between sales and marketing teams

Much better use of MarTech to support the ABM program

WORDS FROM EXOTEL

We were able to substantially increase the lead gen numbers due to the structured approach and process due to better alignment between sales and marketing and well defined SLA’s

Raman Kishore - Manager, Account-Based Marketing

Exotel

Steps Taken

PHASE 1:

PROCESS UNDERSTANDING AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The first phase lasted for two weeks. We set up meetings with the sales, SDR, and inbound marketing teams during this period.
These discussions aimed to understand how the teams can collaborate, identify the gaps and scope for technological usage, and set priorities to solve the challenges via a step-wise approach.
We performed assessments with the ABM team to understand the company’s ABM process. It included working on the ICP, Buyer Personas, Account Lists, Account Research, Stakeholder and Buying Committee Profiling, Messaging Frameworks, Content Mapping, Multi-Channel Positioning, Reporting, and the ABM Tech Stack.
At the end of phase 1, we made the following observations

Sales and Marketing Alignment

The most crucial task was to ensure that the leadership, sales, marketing, and ABM teams were aligned on the goals and agreed upon a set of KPIs and KRAs.

Training and Consulting

ABM Tech Set Up

We set up the marketing automation and ABM tool stack to drive the complete ABM program.

PHASE 2:

TRAINING AND EXECUTION

SLA Creation

The Smarketers worked closely with the head of marketing to define a clear SLA that aligns sales, marketing, and leadership.

SLA Creation

The Smarketers worked closely with the head of marketing to define a clear SLA that aligns sales, marketing, and leadership.

RESULTS

Sales opportunities in 4 weeks

0 +

Reduction in cost per lead

0 %

400 target companies registered, 500+ qualified registrations from the target industry.

Success stories

ABM training and consulting for a virtual telecom operator helps improve lead quality and sales velocity by over 60%

About Exotel

1

2

3

4

5

PHASE 1:

PROCESS UNDERSTANDING AND RECOMMENDATIONS

At the end of phase 1, we made the following observations -

PHASE 2:

TRAINING AND EXECUTION

OUTCOMES

WORDS FROM EXOTEL

Steps Taken

PHASE 1:

PROCESS UNDERSTANDING AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Sales and Marketing Alignment

Training and Consulting

ABM Tech Set Up

PHASE 2:

TRAINING AND EXECUTION

SLA Creation

SLA Creation

RESULTS

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