More than just a checklist for launch, your go-to-market (GTM) strategy can help you hit measurable growth goals, drive attributable pipeline and reduce customer acquisition costs.

By adopting GTM, your marketing team will be better placed to respond swiftly to changing market conditions, competitive challenges and product evolution.

What is a Go-to-Market Strategy?

A GTM strategy outlines how your product or service is going to reach its target audience by bringing together things like market segmentation, buyer personas, and channel and pricing strategies.

It’s different from traditional marketing strategies, which often focus on building brand awareness at the top of the funnel.

Instead, go-to-market also thinks about product development, pricing, sales and sales enablement, distribution and customer support.

For this reason, the best GTM strategies are those that are adopted by all relevant teams, not just marketing. That means aligning sales, customer service and product teams with your plan.

When Do You Need a GTM Strategy?

As the name suggests, a go-to-market strategy is perfect for when you’re launching something new.

But that’s not the only time when GTM would be a good fit. You can also use this approach if you want to:

• Launch a new product or entering a new market. A GTM strategy will ensure your offer reaches the right audience at the right time.
• Announce product updates or expansions. A GTM plan will help existing customers understand the added value.
• Navigate mergers and acquisitions. A GTM approach will help you relaunch merged product lines and communicate value to new and existing customers..
• Reposition or strengthen your market share. GTM provides a framework for differentiating your brand and adapting to competitive changes..

Core Elements of a GTM Strategy

Your go-to-market strategy needs to include a handful of essential elements to make sure you’ve covered all bases and are prepared for success.

Research of Customers and Markets

Just like every other marketing campaign, you need to start with research. That means looking into your competitors, gathering customer insights, reviewing marketing demands and exploring industry trends.

When you understand customer pain points and unmet needs, you can find opportunities to solve them and stand out.

Make sure you segment your audience properly with firmographic and demographic detail and write detailed buyer personas to help tailor your messaging.

Defined Value Proposition and Messaging

Your GTM strategy also needs a unique value proposition that speaks to your ideal customer’s problems, and a clever way to communicate this.

Your prospective customers need to understand what makes this new product or service unique and how it solves their problems. When crafting your messaging, make sure it’s clear, concise and consistent across channels.

Measurable Goals and Metrics

A good GTM plan also needs to set measurable, objective and trackable metrics.

You should define goals such as revenue targets, win rates, market share growth, sales cycle length or customer retention, and consider how you’ll monitor performance and adjust your tactics accordingly.

An Appropriate GTM Model

There are many ways to go about GTM, depending on what you’re trying to achieve.

For example, a product-led approach works well for SaaS offerings with self-service capabilities and freemium models. Inbound strategies, fueled by content and SEO, are effective in research-heavy buyer journeys. And ABM is best suited for high-value enterprise sales cycles requiring personalized outreach, while channel-led approaches are effective in scaling through indirect partnerships across complex geographies or verticals.

Whichever you choose, make sure it’s in keeping with your goals.

Aligned Sales, Marketing and Enablement Teams

For GTM to work well, all teams need to be on the same page. That means that while marketing handles audience targeting and content, enablement equips sales reps with the right collateral, and sales has the conversations with prospects.

You can build alignment with regular cross functional meetings and shared data, which helps ensure everyone works toward the same goals.

The Best Channels and Promotional Tactics

Your promotion strategy should meet customers where they are. Often, that means combining content marketing, advertising, events, webinars and partnerships to reach your audience.

The Right Price and Package

Your GTM strategy also needs to make sure the price and package is competitive. You can test different pricing models, such as subscription, freemium and tired pricing—but it always helps to look at what your competitors charge, too.

Think about customer perception, your costs, and the best way to win new customers.

Continuous Feedback Loops

Another essential element of go-to-market plans is the ability to be dynamic and respond to feedback. If you’re flexible and adaptable, and you’re closely monitoring performance, you’ll be able to pivot appropriately if needed.

GTM Pitfalls to Avoid

Some of the common challenges that can see GTM strategies under-perform include:

• Operating in silos. A lack of collaboration between marketing, sales and customer success undermines alignment and means you won’t achieve as much as you could if everyone worked together.
• Being static or inflexible. The market evolves; your GTM strategy should adapt. Review metrics, keep track of competitor actions and consider customer feedback.
• Unrealistic expectations. Make sure you set achievable goals to avoid expecting overnight success or ignoring resource constraints.
• Dismissing competitors or customer needs. A strong GTM plan is built on thorough research and competitive analysis, not instinct.

Examples of B2B GTM in Action

One of the best ways to think about how a go-to-market strategy can help is to see how others do it. These examples come from well-known B2B brands that have successfully launched new features or reached new markets.

Slack’s Product‑Led Freemium Model

When Slack entered the crowded team‑collaboration market, it targeted tech‑savvy teams in SMBs with a value proposition that promised to replace disjointed communication with a centralised platform. They offered a generous free tier and made the product exceptionally easy to adopt. Word‑of‑mouth and integrations acted as primary growth engines and by 2019, Slack had over eight million daily active users and three million paid users. It was acquired by Salesforce for US$27.7 billion.

HubSpot’s Inbound Marketing Model

HubSpot launched in 2006 into a saturated market. To stand out, it pioneered the inbound marketing GTM strategy: publishing educational blogs, eBooks and webinars and providing free tools. Throughout the content, they placed calls to action that encouraged readers to try HubSpot’s free CRM. This approach built trust and attracted small and mid-sized businesses, helping HubSpot reach US$2.17 billion of total revenue in 2023 and grow to more than 205,000 customers worldwide

Intel’s Channel Partner GTM Strategy

Intel sells billions of chips through partners rather than directly to end customers. Its channel partner GTM approach involves working with OEMs and resellers like Dell, HP and Lenovo to provide training, tiered partner programs and joint marketing. This strategy allows Intel to maintain dominant market share and sell into every industry and geography to extend its reach and grow sustainably.

Tips to Implement Go-to-Market Strategies in B2B

If you’re ready to explore GTM, these tips should help:

• Audit your current approach and see where you might have gaps in market research, messaging, channel mix and team alignment.
• Build cross-functional alignment. Try to meet regularly with sales, marketing and enablement teams to develop cohesion and make sure data is shared with everyone.
• Iterate and optimize. Test messaging, pricing and channels and then commit to what works. Make sure you remain agile so you can adapt as the channels – and your prospects – adapt.
• Register for our webinar to learn how to build your own GTM engine
• Get help from the right tech stack. Visitor identification software like Lead Forensics can tell you which businesses are exploring your website so you can turn anonymous traffic into qualified pipeline and share data with sales and marketing teams. Book a demo to try for free.

The post Go-to-Market Guide for B2B Marketers appeared first on Lead Forensics.

It’s not metrics and compensation that drives performance, but it’s the environment you create. Get it wrong and you’ll be hit with mid-quarter turnover issues and slow pipelines.

This topic was discussed at length in our webinar with Tyler Witt, VP of US Mid-Market Sales at Lead Forensics. You can replay the webinar now — or catch up with this blog.

Build a Culture That Attracts Top Talent

Tyler shared his experience from a few years ago, when he was working for a business that started losing sales reps at an alarming rate. Plenty of excellent sales reps were being poached because they were following the pay.

The way to turn it around?

“You create an environment where people evangelize working there,” Tyler said. “They stop others to tell them how great it is.”

A great culture is what keeps your talent with you and draws other high-performers to join.

There are only a few things you need to focus on:

• Clear, digestible compensation plans
• Transparent pathways to promotion
• Open feedback loops for continuous learning
• A sense of safety and respect for every single colleague

Sales leaders often focus on hiring top talent, but Tyler argues the better strategy is to create demand for your sales team and let the talent come to you.

Train for Mastery, Not Just Onboarding

World-class training isn’t just about teaching features or pitch decks. It’s about developing adaptable, resilient salespeople who can grow with the business.

“There are companies that don’t pay top dollar, but reps go there to get world-class training,” Tyler shared.

If you want to develop a high-performing sales team, you need to invest in their education. Not only will they grow with the business, but it’ll draw in the self-starters who are hungry to develop themselves.

Look for IQ, EQ, and AQ

Once you’ve created a team worth joining, how do you choose who actually gets on the bus?

Tyler suggests looking for three core traits:

• IQ and the ability to quickly absorb and apply information
• EQ and empathy, relationship-building, and communication skills
• AQ and adaptability to change and resilience under pressure

“If someone can absorb and apply training quickly, that shortens their ramp and drives faster results.”

Get to the Number, But Keep Morale High

Sales leadership is about sustained performance, which includes balancing results with retention.

You’ve got two key priorities: hit the sales target and keep your staff within the business.

The way you approach chasing targets will have a direct impact on your retention rate

If you burn your team out, you’ll be hiring again in 6 months.

And if you consistently hit targets without morale, you’re not leading; you’re surviving.

If you’re struggling with morale, it might seem like an impossible thing to solve, but it’s not.

Try these tips:

• Recognize and reward good performance. It can be as simple as thanking someone for their performance in a team meeting, encouraging reps to ring a bell when they close a big deal, or including them in a weekly round-up of wins.
• Listen to your team. There may already be grumblings of what’s going wrong, so make sure you’ve got your ear to the ground — and don’t be afraid to ask for feedback.
• Make time to decompress. Short breaks and non-sales activities can help your team reset their energy between sprints, but if you can tie this back to performance then you’ll get the best out of them.
• Don’t neglect development just because there’s a big target to hit. It’s hard to claw out time for training, but it’s a sure-fire way to improve performance and re-energize your team.

And remember, if you team doesn’t feel valued, they won’t stay. And you’ll be left backfilling deals instead of forecasting them.

“The company should feel lucky that rep showed up today,” Tyler emphasized.

Stop Toxic Behavior Quickly

Even the best teams will have challenging periods. But if behavior starts to verge on being toxic, you need to deal with it quickly and don’t let it contaminate the whole team.

If it’s just one person acting out, you need to address them directly and get support from your colleagues in HR on how to manage the issue.

If it’s a system-wide issue, it’s probably time for some introspection.

“If it’s happening to everyone, it’s probably the company’s fault,” Tyler warned.

Ask for anonymous feedback, to encourage people to share their genuine concerns. If you demonstrate you’ve listened and you’re acting on their input, you’ll start rebuilding trust.

Support Your Team With The Right Tools

Nothing kills performance faster than failing to equip your team with the right tools.

Whether it’s allowing access to LLMs like ChatGPT to help them minimize their time spent on research, prep and personalization or making sure they have the best intelligence available to close those calls, there’s so much out there that can help.

If you don’t already use Lead Forensics, it’s time to book a demo and see how our visitor identification software can help you prioritize warm leads and focus on those prospects that are already looking at your website.

The post 6 Ways To Build a High-Performing Sales Team appeared first on Lead Forensics.

But there is a way to scale your ABM efforts without ditching other priorities or hiring an army of marketers, and that’s by embracing AI.

Award-winning ABM agency Hut 3 has been using these tools to accelerate its campaigns for various clients, and with impressive results. That’s why we invited Director Andy Johnson to join us for a webinar discussing how you can turn up the ABM dial with or without AI. Backed by real-world case studies and practical tech stack recommendations, this session offered valuable lessons for marketers looking to scale ABM programs efficiently, personalize at speed, and secure early buy-in from sales.

Why ABM Still Matters

Today’s buying journey is longer, more complex, and far more crowded with stakeholders.

“We see between seven and 13 decision makers in the average B2B buying group,” Andy explained. And at the same time, buyers are often 70% through the journey before contacting a sales rep, and 80% have already formed preferences.

“Only 3–5% of your potential customers are actively looking to make a purchase at any moment in time,” Andy noted. “Marketing’s job is to make sure we’re always showing up when they do decide to buy.”

That’s where ABM comes in: you can personalize your assets for each of the decision makers within a buying group to maximize your impact and engage multiple stakeholders at the same time. Plus, the always-on nature of ABM means your brand remains visible throughout the prospect’s journey and you can work on building trust, even if they’re months away from looking for solutions.

ABM in Action: Real Campaign Examples

During the webinar, Andy shared some examples from agency Hut 3 that achieved impressive results with ABM:

• Immuta’s 1:1 ABM campaign generated £800k in pipeline with relatively low budget.
• Atos’s account-based demand campaign achieved £255M in pipeline growth across global regions, with £49M closed during the campaign period.
• UiPath’s 1:1 ABM campaign drove a 137% increase in annual recurring revenue across 34 accounts.

“These numbers prove that ABM does pay off—when it’s done correctly,” Johnson said.

Scaling ABM with AI: Faster, Smarter, More Personalized

The secret to Hut 3’s ABM success is embracing AI to scale campaigns. But they use more than just a LLM chatbot: they’ve embraced agentic AI and built their own suite of tools called Enigma.

It’s made up of four AI-powered engines:

1. Enigma Insights rapidly gathers intelligence on accounts and clusters.
2. Remix Engine converts content into multiple sector-specific versions.
3. Personalization Engine tailors messaging at scale for target accounts.
4. Enigma Stories turns fragmented data into compelling narratives.

“The remix engine is especially powerful,” Andy said. “It lets us take a thought leadership asset and remix it into multiple campaigns — say for industries like life sciences, food and beverage, and automotive — within weeks instead of months.”

But Andy’s advice is clear: AI doesn’t replace human input. “The human part of ABM is how we connect with sales, customer experience, and make sure personalized contacts are meaningful,” he stressed.

Your Essential AI Tech Stack

Many marketers assume a full-scale ABM platform is required to get meaningful results. But that’s not the case.

“You don’t have to start your ABM with an all-singing, all-dancing tech stack,” Andy reassured us. “You can piece that together.”

Hut 3’s Recommendations

Andy shared that the baseline tech stack you’d need to scale ABM includes:

• LinkedIn to load target accounts and engage with tailored content.
• Astrad for programmatic advertising to surface in-market accounts.
• Lead Forensics to identify which accounts hit your landing pages and what they viewed.
• Cognism to enrich data for GDPR-compliant contact targeting.
• CRM to tie all engagement data back to existing pipelines.

“Lead Forensics, especially when paired with Cognism, has been a game-changer for us,” Andy revealed. “It allows us to see what content accounts are engaging with and match that to sales-ready data almost instantly.”

Launch Wide, Then Go Deep

A good way to launch your ABM campaigns is to cast your net wide, then focus on the prospects that bite.

That’s how Hut 3 approaches a lot of their campaigns, but Andy shared a specific example of cybersecurity company TXOne. Their strategy was:

• Start with an always-on programmatic campaign to engage a wide set of 1,000 target accounts.
• Use insights from that to trigger 1:few sector-specific campaigns (e.g., pharma, food and beverage).
• Spot the highly engaged accounts and prioritize them with 1:1 strategic programs.

This helped reduce costs and focus effort.

“We don’t expend energy on 1:1 unless we know the account is already engaging,” Johnson explained. “It’s more efficient and reduces media spend duplication.”

You can use AI tools to help you spot those accounts that give off buying signals and analyze firmographic and technographic details to highlight the prospects that are your highest-fit accounts.

And when it comes to personalizing your assets, tools like ChatGPT (and its new Agent Mode) can make those content edits for you – at an impressive scale.

Data Isn’t Just the Foundation; It’s the Proof

Johnson emphasized the importance of ongoing data storytelling to secure internal buy-in.

“The data doesn’t just inform the campaign; it proves the value. Especially early on, before revenue comes in, those insights are what show stakeholders this is working.”

Tools like Google Looker Studio or similar dashboards help bring together disparate data (LinkedIn, Astrad, CRM, etc.) to provide a single view of what’s working, and spotlight where to optimize.

Don’t overlook the potential of AI tools to help with data analysis, too. It can unify fragmented data sources to give you a more holistic view of account engagement or surface hidden insights by spotting patterns you may not.

You can also use AI to help with your data presentation and storytelling, as it can produce reports that are easy to digest and adapted according to the audience.

Remember: ABM Success Is a Team Sport

“There’s huge promise in ABM,” Johnson concluded. “But you need your content, your tech stack, your data, and your sales alignment to all come together. Once that happens, ABM becomes a machine that can consistently generate qualified pipeline.”

The key to getting there is to start simple, prove value quickly, and build from there. But make sure you’re powered by data, driven by insight, and amplified by AI.

Get Advanced ABM Insights

Visitor identification software like Lead Forensics helps you see which accounts are engaging with your ABM campaigns, so you know who to prioritize for 1:1 personalization.  Book a demo to see how our platform can help you solve your ABM challenges.

The post How to Scale ABM With AI appeared first on Lead Forensics.

What is Lead Generation?

Lead generation marketing in B2B refers to the strategic process of identifying, attracting, and converting ICP-aligned prospects into qualified pipeline opportunities.

But it’s not about getting as many contacts as possible, it’s about getting the right leads. And according to HubSpot’s State of Marketing Report, 61% of marketers consider lead generation their top challenge.

Why is Lead Generation Important?

Without leads, there are no sales. Without sales, there is no revenue. It’s as simple as that.

B2B sales lead generation is the lifeblood of any company looking to expand, secure long-term clients, and stay ahead of the competition.

Here’s why lead generation in B2B is so important:

• It sustains business growth. A steady flow of leads ensures continuous revenue.
• It enhances your sales efficiency. When sales teams focus on high-quality sales leads, conversion rates
• It builds brand authority. By attracting businesses interested in your niche, you establish industry credibility.
• It improves ROI. Targeted lead generation minimizes wasted efforts and maximizes marketing spend.

Almost half of professionals said generating enough leads to meet B2B sales targets was a real challenge in 2024, according to Sopro’s State of Prospecting research.

What is a B2B Lead?

A B2B lead is often a person who represents a business that may be interested in buying your company’s products or services.The best B2B leads tend to be the decision makers of companies that fit your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP).

What Are The Main Types of B2B Leads?

You can categorize your leads into the following main categories:

• Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs). These B2B leads have engaged with your brand through marketing activities like downloading content or attending webinars. They’re not ready to buy just yet, but they already have a relationship with your business, so they’d be considered a warm lead and contacted via warm calling.
• Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs). These prospects have shown strong buyer intent signals and they’re in contact with the sales team, who are actively engaging with them to convert them into a customer.
• Cold Leads. These prospects have had little to no engagement with your brand, but they fit your ICP, so they’re being contacted through cold calling, LinkedIn outreach and other multi-channel marketing campaigns.

Who’s Responsible for B2B Lead Generation?

Business-to-business lead generation isn’t a one-person job, it’s a collaborative effort.

Different teams work to generate B2B leads, nurture them, close the sale and then retain them:

• Marketing teams create and execute strategies to attract leads through content marketing, paid ads, and social media.
• Sales teams qualify leads, conduct outreach, and close deals.
• Customer success teams upsell and retain clients, turning them into long-term customers.

Your lead generation strategy needs to make sure each of these departments are aligned and working well together, since they’re all part of one big process.

Inbound Vs Outbound Lead Generation

There are two main types of lead generation: inbound and outbound.

Inbound lead generation is when a prospect comes to you. They’ll be targeted with tactics like content marketing, social media, and paid advertising that are designed to lure them onto your website.

Outbound lead generation is when you reach out to the prospect, usually through cold calling or sales outreach emails and messaging.

While inbound drives long-term scalability, outbound remains critical for accelerating pipeline creation and targeting in-market buyers. A high-performance strategy blends both, with attribution guiding investment and any strategy changes down the line.

What Is the B2B Lead Generation Process?

The typical B2B lead gen process follows a clear path:

1. Identify target audience. Define your ideal customer profiles (ICPs) based on industry, company size, and pain points.
2. Generate leads. Use inbound (content, SEO) and outbound (cold calling, email) strategies.
3. Nurture leads. Provide valuable content, demos, and consultations to move prospects down the funnel.
4. Score and qualify leads. Assign lead scores based on engagement level and readiness to buy.
5. Handoff to sales. Ensure smooth transition from marketing to sales teams for closing deals.
6. Measure and optimize. Continuously analyze your performance and tweak strategies for better results.

How Do Marketing Teams Generate Leads?

Marketing teams are often focused on inbound online lead generation. There are some essential tactics used to generate B2B leads through growth hacking and other marketing activities:

• Content marketing. Engaging content, compelling social media posts or interesting case studies are just some examples of how content can entice people to check out your website and even leave their contact details.
• LinkedIn and social selling. By reaching out to decision makers with personalized messages, B2B marketers can expand their networks and find new leads.
• Email marketing. Personalized email campaigns help to nurture leads and drive engagement with your content. This keeps them warm until they show signs that they’re ready to buy.
• Paid advertising. Tactics like Google Ads, LinkedIn Ads and retargeting campaigns can find people who display high buying intent and send them to the most valuable sales pages on your website.
• SEO and organic search. By optimizing your site for online searches, you’ll build solid foundations for long-term inbound lead generation and attract high quality leads.
• Webinars and events. These live sessions are a great way to bring your brand to life, demonstrate your expertise and build trust.

How Do Sales Teams Generate Leads?

B2B sales teams are typically focused on outbound lead generation—but some teams will also handle inbound leads, too.

The main ways that sales teams focus on lead generation are:

• Cold calling. By working through a list of contacts, the sales team speaks to a huge number of prospective businesses to make them aware of the company. It takes a lot of calls to convert customers, but it’s still a useful tactic.
• Email prospecting. When you can’t reach someone on the phone, they’ll often receive a personalized email instead. This gives the sales rep another opportunity to introduce the company and its products or services.
• Social selling. Using platforms like LinkedIn to engage with prospects and share sales messaging is another way that sales teams can find their own leads.
• Inbound lead handling. When someone fills out a contact form, requests a demo or is flagged as a hot lead, the sales team will reach out to them and try to help move them through the sales pipeline.

How Can You Improve Your Lead Generation?

Lead generation is a very broad topic, and the tactics that work can vary by business or industry. If you want to start getting more leads, the first thing you need to do is understand your lead generation metrics and review your current performance.

You want to see if there are any specific activities that get good conversion rates and identify those that are under-performing. Evaluate high-impact metrics like cost-per-opportunity (CPO), lead-to-opportunity conversion rate, influenced pipeline revenue, time-to-SQL, and MQL-to-close ratio.

You can also use our revenue calculator to find out how many leads you could be missing from your website how this impacts your revenue.

It’s a good idea to check if you’ve tested the most successful lead gen strategies, too. These include:

• Content marketing, like blogs, email and social media posting.
• On-page SEO to attract people who are searching for your kind of product or service already.
• Referral marketing, with reward schemes to incentivize existing customers to recommend you to their peers.
• Lead nurturing through things like email drip campaigns or personalized content.
• Live chat to help prospects find the right information or speak to a sales person quicker.

If you find that your marketing activities bring enough people to your website, but you’re just not converting them into leads, you should also look into how conversion rate optimization can help you drive success.

Some quick wins for CRO include:

• Optimize your forms to remove any friction and encourage more completions.
• Refine your call-to-action wording, design and placement.
• Publish hyper specific landing pages that focus on just one action from your website visitors.
• Test personalizing content and CTAs to specific industries or businesses.

Another way to boost lead generation for B2B is with visitor identification software. Tools like Lead Forensics can tell you which companies are visiting your website and what pages they look at. This helps you find warm prospects you’d never be aware of otherwise, and come up with ideas of how to tailor your outbound calls.

What Lead Generation Tools Can Help?

You’ll be able to get more leads, and do more with them, if you can embrace the latest technologies. Some of the most essential lead generation tools include:

• CRM software (e.g., HubSpot, Salesforce). This kind of software organizes your leads, tracks interactions, and automates outreach.
• Marketing automation (e.g., Marketo, Pardot). These tools streamline lead nurturing through email and workflows.
• Lead intelligence software (e.g., Lead Forensics). These identify your anonymous B2B website visitors and give you contact details of decision makers from those businesses.
• Chatbots & AI assistants (e.g., Salesloft, Whizeo). This type of tool engages prospects 24/7 and captures leads instantly.
• LinkedIn Sales Navigator. Specific to the social platform, Sales Navigator enhances LinkedIn prospecting and outreach.

Using the right tech stack makes lead generation more efficient and scalable.

What Is The Future Of B2B Lead Generation?

The latest b-to-b lead generation trends in 2025 are centered around AI and machine learning. They include things like:

• AI-powered lead scoring: machine learning will improve the accuracy of lead qualification.
• Hyper-personalization: generic emails won’t cut it; personalized messaging will drive results.
• Interactive content: quizzes, calculators, and interactive case studies will engage prospects better.
• ABM (account-based marketing) growth: companies are focusing more on targeting high-value accounts.

Need More Lead Gen Inspiration?

Discover how  CSI Ltd increased their lead generation by 650% and generated $2.5m in additional revenue using Lead Forensics.

Want to try for yourself? Claim your free trial now.

The post B2B Lead Generation: A Comprehensive Guide appeared first on Lead Forensics.

Successful cold calls don’t just happen by chance; they require preparation, skill, and the right mindset. Even in the ever-advancing world of sales, the importance of cold calls cannot be understated, and it takes a good salesperson to navigate them successfully.

These five tips – from outbound sales expert Kevin Hopp, founder of Hopp Consulting Group – will help you to crush your cold calls. Want to watch Kevin share his advice? Check out our webinar replay.

Get to The Call Faster

Perhaps the biggest time-waster in outbound sales is spending too long doing other things instead of actually making the call.

Many sales reps lose time by focusing so much on their pre-call process that they overlook the call itself. And while preparation is key to successful cold calls, over-preparing can actually work against you. That’s because time management is incredibly important, and cold calling is a numbers game. If you spend hours preparing every single call, you won’t have enough time to actually make enough calls.

“I think the most common mistake that teams make is this obsession around the process to get to the point of a call – but then you kind of forget about the call itself,” Kevin explained.

Kevin’s tips to help you make more calls are:

• Avoid being process-obsessed. Don’t over-engineer your prep work and remember that all you need is a clear target and purpose for your call.
• Focus your cold calls on a clearly targeted list of prospects. For each industry make sure you know the targeted personas and relevant case studies.
• Use the mantra: “Aim small, miss small”. If you have a smaller, targeted list of contacts then the conversations will be better and your misses will be small. If you aim big, you’ll end up calling companies that aren’t relevant and the frequency of misses will be bigger.

Train Like a Pro

Being able to convert cold calls is a specialist skill that needs to be developed with proper training and support. You shouldn’t be left to figure it out for yourself, there should be clear development plans from your sales leaders to make sure you’re learning in the right way.

As Kevin said, “we don’t know what we don’t know. Giving sales reps a proven process and a methodology is going to have a much greater effect on their conversions.”

Kevin’s tips for ensuring the sales team is properly trained are:

• Invest in structured training programs with proven methodologies.
• Adopt a system like Kevin’s “Conversation-First Prospecting” to build confidence and consistency.
• Remember that even top reps need coaching to keep honing their skills.

Develop AI Skills to Stay Ahead

There’s plenty that AI tools can do for sales teams, but they can’t yet make calls in compelling ways. That could change – but for now, the best way to upskill and embrace the AI revolution is to become more efficient and focus on your human skills.

“Having these dynamic conversations with people and having the skill to use your pace, volume, tone and energy to dynamically change how a conversation is going; that’s special. So let’s focus on that,” Kevin advised.

The key tip is to let AI tools help with things like pre-call prep and research, lead scoring for prioritization, script optimization, call summaries, email personalization, and more. Focus your energy on having those valuable conversations that you know will convert down the line.

Keep Cold Calls Short

One of the most common challenges for sales reps is spending too long on the calls.

“If you’re making cold calls and they’re lasting, six, seven, eight, nine, ten minutes, you’re doing it wrong,” Kevin said.

This is backed by cold calling statistics that repeatedly say the most successful outbound sales reps listen more than they talk and these conversations are quick, averaging only 93 seconds.

How do you overcome this?

• Be mindful of your call durations and see if you’re keeping them to around three minutes or less.
• If your cold calls take too long, listen back and see where you’re spending too much time.
• Make sure you qualify the prospect quickly.
• Get to the value of your product or service as quickly as you can.
• Don’t be afraid to ask for the meeting. You can probably close your calls quicker than you realise.
• If they’re not interested in the meeting but you’re confident you’ve built value, it’s time to move on.

Use Your Scripts

You’ve probably got a cold calling script to hand, so make sure you use it! It doesn’t make you sound like a robot, it makes you consistent and easier to coach.

Kevin advise that “if you use a script, and you follow a similar flow with every call, you can be more scientific about your calls”. That helps you troubleshoot what might have gone wrong and see what prospects are responding well to.

Tips for embracing your scripts:

• Use a flexible framework so your calls are repeatable and measurable.
• Track what works, then tweak it and improve.
• Treat cold calling like a science and A/B test, iterate improvements and optimize to close more conversations.

Bonus: Get More Tips in Our eBook

You’ll find more cold calling tips – including winning scripts, outreach secrets and a free toolkit – in our “Cold Calling in 2025” guide.

The post Crush Your Cold Calls With These 5 Tips appeared first on Lead Forensics.

We have introduced numerous new benefits, procedures, and policies to solidify our commitment to ensuring our workplace is great for all, including enhanced maternity and sickness pay, expanded access to our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), and the rollout of a robust, care-first DE&I policy that ensures fair treatment for all employees, regardless of gender or identity.

To compile the UK’s Best Workplaces for Women List, Great Place To Work® analysed anonymous responses from women in the workplace and considered their daily experiences of innovation, the company’s values, and the effectiveness of their leaders.

They then used these data insights to benchmark our company’s employee value proposition against the culture our employees actually experience. Only the businesses who achieve the highest scores after evaluation receive Best Workplaces™ status.

From our anonymous employee feedback, we can see that our team highly commends our inclusive culture, meaningful recognition, and people-first leadership approach.

Josh Saunders, Chief People Officer at Lead Forensics said: “Our inclusion in the UK’s Best Workplaces for Women List is a testament to the inclusive and empowering culture we’ve built. We’re proud to be a workplace where women are supported, heard, and have real opportunities to lead and thrive.”

Benedict Gautrey, Managing Director of Great Place To Work UK says: “This year’s UK’s Best Workplaces for Women list highlights organizations that are moving beyond good intentions and delivering real, measurable progress. These companies are dismantling outdated norms, prioritizing women’s health, and building clear, supported pathways to leadership.

This recognition is driven by what matters most: the voices of women who work there. They’ve said, in their own words, that their workplace is one where they’re respected, empowered, and able to succeed.”

This award is our third from Great Place To Work over the past 12 months as we also featured in the UK’s Best Workplaces 2025 and UK’s Best Workplaces for Development 2025 lists!

We’re so proud of this achievement and look forward to using the valuable insights Great Place To Work has provided us with to continually build on our culture and employee satisfaction. If you would like to be part of our GREAT team, check out our latest vacancies here.

The post Lead Forensics named one of the UK’s Best Workplaces for Women™ 2025 appeared first on Lead Forensics.

If your ABM campaigns are failing and not generating pipeline, closing deals, or demonstrating ROI, you’re not alone. The good news is that failure points are often predictable, and fixable.

Here are six common reasons ABM campaigns fall short, along with practical ways to turn things around.

1. Lack of Clear Goals

One of the primary reasons why ABM campaigns fail is the lack of clear and well-defined goals. Without specific objectives, it becomes challenging to measure success and make data-driven decisions.

Furthermore, ABM success can’t be measured with the same KPIs you’d use for traditional demand gen. Vanity metrics like click-through rates or email opens tell you very little about actual account engagement or pipeline progression.

How to Fix it

To overcome this hurdle, align your ABM goals with broader business objectives and ensure they are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).

Focus on account-centric metrics: engagement level within key accounts, progression through the buyer journey, meeting set rates, deal velocity, and revenue influence.

Use attribution tools to connect marketing activity with sales outcomes. Get greater insights from website visitor identification software like Lead Forensics, which can tell you the businesses that are engaging with your campaigns (and those that aren’t).

For example, if your business objective is to increase revenue by 20% in the next quarter, your ABM goal could be to generate 50 qualified leads from target accounts within that timeframe. Having clear goals not only helps you track progress but also enables you to evaluate the effectiveness of your ABM strategies and make necessary adjustments.

2. Targeting The Wrong Accounts

The success of any ABM strategy begins with the accounts you target. If your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) is outdated, too broad, or not rooted in actual buyer data, your efforts could be wasted on companies that are unlikely to convert.

That’s why ineffective account selection can lead to wasted resources and missed opportunities. Take the time to identify accounts that align with your ideal customer profile and have the highest propensity to convert.

How to Fix it

Take a look at your historical data to understand and refine your ICP based on insights like firmographics, technographics, and behavioral signals. Use tools like Lead Forensics to identify which companies are already engaging with your website, and prioritize those showing intent. It’s a good idea to collaborate with sales to ensure you’re aligned and agree with your target account selection.

Make sure you thoroughly research your targets and use data-driven insights to make informed decisions about which accounts to prioritize. Consider factors such as the account’s industry, size, revenue potential, and past engagement with your brand. By focusing your efforts on the most promising accounts, you can maximize the impact of your ABM campaigns.

3. Inadequate Data Management

ABM relies on precision, and data is the lifeblood of an effective campaign. But that’s impossible if your account and contact data is riddled with inaccuracies.

From incorrect job titles to outdated email addresses, poor data quality will break your campaigns before they begin.

How to Fix it

Invest in robust data management practices:

• Audit your CRM and marketing databases regularly
• Enrich records with third-party data to fill in gaps, especially decision-maker info.
• Use tools that provide real-time business intelligence and help you do things like identify who’s visiting your site or provide context on company size, industry, and more.

4. Ineffective Content Strategy

ABM is all about relevant content. If your campaigns sound generic or read like a mass email blast, your audience will ignore them.

High-value accounts expect high-value content that’s tailored to their needs, industry pain points, and specific stage in the buying journey.

How to Fix it

Start by conducting a content audit to understand what assets you have and identify any gaps.

Develop account-specific content that addresses the pain points and challenges faced by the target accounts. Personalization is key in ABM, so tailor your messaging to resonate with each account.

Consider creating different types of content, such as whitepapers, case studies, and webinars, to cater to different stages of the buyer’s journey.

5. Lack of Alignment Between Sales and Marketing

ABM is a collaborative effort between marketing and sales teams. Without alignment and close coordination, ABM campaigns are likely to falter. Foster a culture of collaboration between the two teams, establish shared goals, and facilitate ongoing communication.

How to Fix it

You can establish regular communication between sales and marketing teams to help with alignment.

Other tips to bring the two teams closer include:

• Co-create account plans
• Define responsibilities
• Agree on metrics
• Use shared dashboards and platforms that keep both teams updated on account engagement

6. Insufficient Follow-Through

Many ABM campaigns start strong, with flashy creative and targeted outreach, but then stall. There’s no consistent nurture path, no content mapped to the buying cycle, and no system for surfacing insights to keep deals moving.

How to Fix it

You need to build long-term engagement strategies. You should map out content and touchpoints for each phase of the buyer journey, from awareness all the way through to post-sale.

It’s a good idea to use intent data and behavioral signals to trigger timely follow-ups. And you need to ensure your sales team knows when and how to re-engage accounts based on real-time activity, not just a static campaign calendar.

Bonus Tip: Try Lead Forensics for Better Insights

By unraveling the veil of anonymity from website visitors, Lead Forensics equips companies with the knowledge to pinpoint potential leads, tailor outreach efforts, and craft compelling engagements. Book a demo to see how our platform can help you solve your ABM challenges.

The post 6 Reasons Your ABM Campaigns are Failing – and How to Fix Them appeared first on Lead Forensics.

Hidden revenue describes the untapped opportunities you miss simply because you’re unaware of them.

It takes a few different forms:

• Website visitors that don’t convert. No one browses a B2B website for fun, but if those visitors don’t fill out a form or book a call, those opportunities are hidden and lost.
• Lapsed or inactive customers. Former clients might be ready to give you another try, but you’ll never know until they reach out.
• Cross-sell opportunities. Your current customer base might be the perfect fit for more of your services, or complementary ones, but you can’t see who they are.
• Challenges with marketing funnels and neglected channels. Sometimes prospects might fall outside of the traditional funnel or come from an unexplored channel, which leaves them hidden because they’re not counted in other activity.

Why Pursue Hidden Revenue?

If your sales targets need a quick boost, targeting businesses that are already aware of you – and interested in your website – can be an easy win.

And because these leads take less time to close than cold ones, it’s like a cheat code to generating immediate income.

There are other reasons to go after hidden revenue:

• When you squeeze out every opportunity from leads, you improve the ROI of marketing activity, which helps to drive profits.
• Up-selling to your current customers can increase their lifetime value, which is a major driver of business growth.
• Identifying these missed opportunities can fix issues with marketing funnels and lead to new processes, which means less revenue will be hidden in the future.

Uncovering your hidden revenue is a high-impact tactic that requires relatively low effort and can inject cash into the business. And it’s something you can start doing right now.

In fact, this was the topic of one of our webinars. Tyler Webb Harding, director of strategy-first marketing agency StrategiQ, joined us to share his tips on how you can tap into your missed revenue opportunities.

Tip 1: Know Your Customer, and Keep Knowing Them

One of Tyler’s golden rules for finding your hidden revenue? “Know your customer. Know the journey you’re wanting them to go on. Know the problem you’re solving.”

But it doesn’t stop there.

Your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) should be a living, breathing document. It needs to evolve with market conditions, competitive shifts, and technological change. That means you should review your ICP and marketing strategy quarterly to ensure you’re still relevant and your outreach is still precise enough.

Tools like visitor identification software will help you get better insights on the hidden prospects that align with your ICP. By identifying the businesses browsing your site, you can uncover high value prospects before they even fill out a form.

These warm leads can be a game-changer, as warm calling converts at a much higher rate than cold calling.

Tip 2: Stop Guessing and Start Measuring Buyer Intent

To unlock hidden revenue, sales teams need to spot buyer intent signals early.

Tyler suggests monitoring indicators like:

• Repeat website visits
• Time spent on key service pages
• Engagement with webinars, blogs, or whitepapers

It becomes even more powerful when you can identify which businesses are looking at specific pages on your website.

For example, imagine a lapsed customer has looked at your pricing page twice in the last week. Or a lead that went cold has suddenly started reading about your features again. In both cases, a quick call could be all that stands between you and some hidden revenue.

Tip 3: Reignite Old Opportunities

We all know that winning over lapsed customers can be more cost-effective than acquiring new ones. So, if you get an alert that a lapsed customer is back on your website, don’t overthink it!

Revisit your previous interactions with them to refresh your memory of their challenges and any objections they had. Think about how you’re now better positioned to help them and reach back out.

Remember: simplicity, relevance, and persistence are more important than gimmicks.

Tip 4: Focus Beats Scale

Not every B2B organization has a big budget or a huge team, and that’s okay.

Tyler’s advice to small businesses is simple but powerful: “Do one thing really well rather than ten things poorly.”

Instead of spreading limited resources across too many tactics, find out what works and double-down on that.

For example, if cold calling is giving you stellar results, stick with it—but consider how adding warm leads to the mix could help you find even more revenue opportunities.

He also recommends leveraging partnerships, like co-hosting webinars or setting up referral programs, to increase your reach without inflating costs.

Tip 5: Automate Where Possible

Modern automation tools can help even lean teams punch above their weight.

Even something as simple as automatically routing alerts and leads to the right sales rep can save you plenty of time, which you can reinvest into selling.

As Tyler shared, automation lets you be proactive. For example, starting every day reviewing the automated daily reports of website visits from key accounts will let you strike while the iron is hot.

Tip 6: Set a Goal and Work Backwards

When you’re focused on finding the hidden revenue, it can help if you have a clear goal or destination to aim for.

Tyler referenced the concept of “marginal gains” made famous by Sir Dave Brailsford, the performance director behind British Cycling’s Olympic success. The principle? Improve every small factor by just 1% and you’ll create a massive competitive edge over time.

In B2B sales, this means identifying a clear goal, whether it’s revenue growth, customer retention, or market expansion, and then reverse-engineering the KPIs and tactics you need to get there.

Tip 7: Keep It Simple, Always

The most useful piece of advice from the webinar is perhaps the most basic: don’t overcomplicate things.

Whether you’re scaling a campaign, refining your ICP, or chasing marginal gains, simplicity wins. Focus on what matters most: your customer, their journey, and how you uniquely solve their problems.

As Tyler said, if you can’t clearly articulate who your customer is, what journey you want them to take, and what problem you solve, it’s time to go back to square one.

Ready to Discover Hidden Revenue on Your Site?

Lead Forensics helps you see which companies are engaging with your website, even if they don’t fill out a form. It’s the secret to uncovering missed revenue opportunities, and you can try it for free. Book a demo now to see how it can help your business.

The post 7 Tips to Unlock Your Hidden B2B Revenue appeared first on Lead Forensics.

Despite the perception of cold calling as a tough and time-consuming tactic, the numbers prove it is still a cornerstone of successful sales strategies. While not without its challenges, cold calling consistently delivers results when done strategically and with the right tools.

Higher Engagement Rates: According to Jobera, cold calling outperforms email outreach by achieving a response rate that is 5% higher. This indicates that prospects are more likely to engage in a direct, real-time conversation than respond to written communication, which often gets lost in overflowing inboxes.

Solid Conversion Metrics: Cognism highlights that 2% of cold calls convert into actual sales. While this may seem modest, it represents a reliable way to build a steady pipeline. Moreover, B2B cold calling campaigns can boost ROI by an impressive 40–50%, emphasizing its value as a cost-effective strategy in comparison to other lead generation methods.

Influence on Decision-Makers: Cold calling remains one of the few methods that can directly connect salespeople with decision-makers. GrowthList found that 78% of business leaders have attended an event or scheduled a meeting because of a cold call. This highlights that when approached correctly, cold calling not only sparks interest but also creates opportunities for more meaningful engagements.

Personal Connection Matters: In an age dominated by digital communication, cold calling allows sales reps to establish a human connection. Speaking directly to a prospect can help address objections in real-time, build trust, and personalize the sales pitch in a way that email or messaging simply cannot replicate.

What Sets High-Performers Apart?

Cold calling can be tough, but high-performing salespeople consistently achieve results because they approach it strategically. Their success isn’t just luck—it’s rooted in proven habits and practices that maximize their efficiency and impact. Here are the key traits and habits that set these high performers apart:

Timing is Everything

The timing of your call can significantly influence your chances of connecting with a prospect. According to Evabot, the best time to make a cold call is between 4 PM and 5 PM, when prospects are more likely to answer their phones. Additionally, Thursdays have been identified as the most effective day for outreach, potentially due to mid-week productivity peaks and decision-makers being more receptive to business conversations as they plan ahead for the weekend. Top performers prioritize their calls during these optimal times to ensure higher engagement rates.

Persistence Pays Off

One of the most critical skills of successful cold callers is their persistence. That’s because sales reps need an average of eight calls to reach a prospect, reports Rep.ai. In fact, 80% of successful sales require five or more follow-ups, according to Jobera – but 44% of sales reps give up after just one attempt.  

High performers know that persistence is not pestering. It’s strategically following up, to keep their value proposition at the forefront of prospects’ minds. Top sales reps stick with calls even when they face challenging objections, because 60% of clients say ‘no’ at least four times before saying ‘yes’, according to Statista.

Preparation Drives Results

Cold calling without preparation is like going into a meeting without an agenda, it rarely ends well. Cognism reports that thoroughly researching your prospect before a call can improve your conversion rates by 30%. High-performing cold callers invest time in understanding their prospects’ pain points, industries, and recent activities. Armed with this knowledge, they can tailor their pitch to address specific needs and offer solutions that resonate, making the conversation feel more relevant and less like a generic sales call.

They Personalize Every Interaction

High performers know that personalization is key to standing out in a sea of cold outreach. They use tools like CRM platforms and data enrichment software to gather insights about their prospects, including their company size, recent milestones, and challenges. This enables them to craft opening lines and value propositions that grab attention and build rapport right from the start. Experian Marketing Services study found out that personalized emails generate 6x higher transaction rates and revenue.

They Listen More Than They Talk

Successful cold callers approach conversations as a two-way street. Instead of delivering a one-sided pitch, they ask open-ended questions, actively listen to responses, and adapt their approach based on the prospect’s feedback. This not only helps them uncover valuable information but also fosters trust and positions them as problem-solvers rather than pushy salespeople.

They Track and Refine Their Process

High performers are data-driven. They track metrics like call volume, response rates, and conversion rates to identify what works and what doesn’t. By analyzing their performance and iterating on their approach, they continually refine their techniques to improve results over time. According to a study by McKinsey & Company, high-performing sales organizations that adopt data-driven decision-making can achieve a 2% to 5% increase in sales, highlighting the significant impact of using analytics to optimize performance.

Challenges Sales Teams Face

While cold calling continues to deliver results, it is widely regarded as one of the toughest aspects of sales. According to GrowthList, 63% of salespeople admit cold calling is the hardest part of their job. But what makes it so challenging? Here is a deeper dive into the hurdles sales teams encounter:

Low Answer Rates

One of the biggest frustrations is simply getting someone to pick up the phone. GrowthList notes that only 28% of sales calls are answered, leaving sales reps to face a lot of voicemail boxes. This low engagement rate can be discouraging, especially when so much time is spent dialing numbers.

Psychological Barriers

Cold calling is not just physically exhausting; it is mentally taxing too. Sales reps often face rejection, sometimes outright hostility, which can chip away at their confidence over time. Without proper training and support, this psychological burden can lead to burnout and lower productivity.

Time Investment

Despite the fact that the average sales call lasts only 93 seconds, according to Cognism, making cold calls is a time-intensive and lengthy process. That’s because the average salesperson spends approximately 25 hours a month on cold calling, reports Growth list. And that doesn’t account for the time it takes to find a prospect.  

And because 79% of unidentified calls go unanswered, Hiya claims, persistence is an essential trait for a sales rep.

Skill and Strategy Gaps

Cold calling is more than just dialing numbers for hours at a time; it requires skill, strategy, and preparation.  

But with plenty of coaching and data-driven insights, sales reps will be well equipped to craft compelling opening lines, keep clients interested, and overcome objections, all while keeping the conversation flowing naturally.  

If your sales reps are struggling with the relentlessness of cold calls, coaching could be worth considering. And when reps learn that continuous sales rep training can give 50% higher net salaries per employee (according to The Brevet Group), they’ll be more than keen to join.  

Why It Is Worth the Effort

Despite these challenges, persistence pays off. Sales reps who stick to their cold-calling strategies often report higher lead conversion rates and ROI. Moreover, building resilience and refining cold-calling techniques can transform a daunting task into a reliable pipeline for success.

To overcome these hurdles, sales teams can invest in:

Training programs to improve confidence and conversational skills.

Technology tools like CRM systems and data enrichment platforms to better qualify leads before calling.

Time management strategies to focus efforts during peak calling hours.

Team support and incentives to keep morale high.

Cold calling may be a tough job, but for those willing to weather the challenges, it continues to be one of the most effective ways to generate meaningful business connections.

Cold Calling in 2025 and Beyond

As we move forward, blending cold calling with signal-led strategies and pre-call emails can improve your odds of success. For instance, Evabot notes that sending an email before calling can boost your success rate by 40%.

The takeaway? Cold calling isn’t dead, it’s evolving. By using these stats and strategies, sales teams can drive more meaningful conversations and ultimately close more deals.

If you want to take the guesswork out of cold calling and supercharge your sales efforts, Lead Forensics can help. Our cutting-edge platform identifies anonymous website visitors, providing you with detailed insights about their business, interests, and decision-makers. Armed with this intelligence, your sales team can make more informed calls, significantly improving connection rates and conversions.

Ready to transform your sales process? Book your free Lead Forensics demo today and start making every call count.

The post Cold Calling Statistics: Driving Success in 2025 appeared first on Lead Forensics.

When you align your message with the priorities and goals of your target business(es), you’ll grab their attention and win their conversion.

But to do so, you need to anchor your activity in strategy, collaboration and a true understanding of your prospect.

Find out what else you can do to improve your ABM conversion rates in our webinar, or read the summary of the conversation below.

Remember: ABM is Not Lead Gen

Many B2B marketers will start their ABM journey by choosing a tool and retrofitting their strategy to suit their new software. It’s back-to-front and often means they end up amplifying their lead generation activities at scale, instead of building a true ABM strategy.

With ABM, the goal is to convert a prospect into a revenue-paying customer at an accelerated rate. It’s not for top-of-funnel activity like demand generation; it’s for progressing leads and making sure you win the business before your competitors do.

It’s important to remember that tech is an enabler, not a strategy. Your ABM campaigns will fail if you shape the plan around your tools.

Instead, you need to build an ABM strategy across the entire journey, from initial engagement to revenue realization. Start with the business goal, build a plan that aligns with it, and then bring in tech to scale what already works.

True ABM Is Revenue-Centric

Instead of measuring impressions, clicks, or MQAs, track metrics like:

• Stage progression velocity
• Win rates by segment
• Contract value growth (ACV/ARR)
• Churn reduction in target accounts
• Margin improvement across Tier 1 accounts

“We have to make sure that we’re always focusing on revenue metrics,” explained Kristina Jaramillo, President of Personal ABM.

This reframing of ABM targets helps you treat the discipline like a business strategy and not just a marketing tactic. And if you focus your energy on stalled deals, disengaged key accounts, at-risk renewals and low-margin growth opportunities, you’ll be able to measure the very real improvements you make to revenue. Because after all, ABM should help you close more deals.

Personal > Personalized

There’s a critical difference between content that’s personalized, and content that’s personal. The former speaks to segments, while the latter speaks to people.

Most ABM content targets industries, job titles, or common pain points. But B2B buying committees are made up of real people with unique goals, internal politics, and career motivations. That’s why generic messaging rarely breaks through.

Being personal means tailoring messages based on:

• What’s happening inside that company
• The specific department’s goals or blockers
• That stakeholder’s role within the buying committee

It’s not scalable for every account, but it is essential for high-value or stuck deals.

ABM Needs Content That Moves, Not Just Informs

Thought leadership has become table stakes in B2B. But as Christina notes, thought leadership often confirms what your buyers already know. It rarely changes minds.

“It tells the audience that they’re smart and up-to-date… but it doesn’t change the selling conversation,” said Kristina.

To take it a step further, your ABM content should do more than educate; you need to make the case for change. You should highlight the gaps in your prospect’s current approach, reframe their risk, and introduce commercial insight that creates urgency.

This shift involves:

• Adding data or perspective your buyer hasn’t considered
• Illustrating downstream impact across teams or customers
• Positioning yourself as a partner who’ll help them meet their goals, not just another service to add to their growing list.

Sales + Marketing + Success = Real ABM

For ABM to work, everyone needs to be aligned. True ABM brings together marketing, sales, and customer success to identify target accounts, align messaging, and orchestrate outreach. It’s not just about net-new; ABM should cover expansion, retention, and revival of disengaged accounts.

“Revenue is everyone’s responsibility—not just sales, not just a little bit of marketing,” advised Kristina.

Signs of strong alignment include:

• Joint account selection and ideal customer profile (ICP) definition
• Shared metrics tied to revenue outcomes
• Coordinated content and messaging strategies
• A common language of value (not just MQLs)

If marketing is focused on impressions while sales cares about close rates, you’ve got a disconnect.

ABM Account Selection Is a Team Effort

Too often, account selection is led by marketing intent data or sales hunches, but rarely both. But when you use cross-functional account selection, you factor in the experience of marketing intel and sales experience. This generates more qualified, winnable targets.

“We’re quick to disqualify accounts,” explained Kristina. “If there’s no strong reason to pursue them, they don’t belong in the program.”

Effective ABM starts with building a business case for every account you target. This includes:

• ICP fit and intent signals
• Strategic relevance (industry shifts, M&A, growth targets)
• Internal champions or relationships
• Revenue potential and expansion opportunity

Measure What Matters

To earn long-term investment in ABM, you need to show commercial impact, not just marketing activity.

Key metrics should align to:

• Pipeline progression (are deals moving faster?)
• Close rate improvement (are more deals being won?)
• Deal size uplift (are bigger deals being closed?)
• Churn prevention and account growth (are you retaining more clients?)

“Your ACV should be at least one or two times higher with ABM,” advised Kristina. “We should be reducing churn and creating more profit growth with higher margins.”

Scale Smart, Not Fast

It’s tempting to scale ABM quickly with AI or programmatic tools. But without a solid foundation, you’re more likely to amplify noise than any wins.

“Start with one-to-one and see what’s working,” Kristina recommended. “Then you can scale to one-to-few or one-to-many with confidence.”

The first step is to pilot ABM on a few high-value accounts. This lets you learn how to hone your messaging, processes, and alignment with greater focus.

When you’re ready, you can explore scaling what works—but make sure you don’t lose your personalization along the way.

Get Alerts When Target Prospects Are On Your Site

If you use website visitor identification software like Lead Forensics, you can see which of your ABM targets are browsing your website and which pages they look at. Plus, you can set up alerts to be notified when these target prospects visit your site. Book your Lead Forensics demo now to see how the platform can help with ABM success.

The post How to Supercharge Your ABM Success Rate appeared first on Lead Forensics.