In B2B account-based marketing (ABM), purchases aren’t usually made by one person alone. Gartner reports that 83% of software purchases involve committees; on average, buying committees have 7 to 20 people. Managing many stakeholders can get tricky, especially if the ABM funnel isn’t optimized. Without transparent processes, it’s easy for the sales Team to duplicate efforts on the same account, leading to confusion and a poor buyer experience.
Here’s a common scenario that highlights the problem:
- Contact A shows interest, converts on your website, and is assigned to an Account Executive (AE). Calls are scheduled, and the AE begins nurturing them.
- Contact B, who is from the same account, also converts on the website but gets assigned to a different AE.
- As a result, two AEs are now managing the same account, leading to reassignments and potentially confusing interactions.
This situation isn’t unusual and often happens in B2B sales teams. When members of the same buying committee are spread across multiple reps, it creates a fragmented experience for the potential customer. Fortunately, tools like Chili Piper’s Form Concierge can help solve this.
Ensuring Every Lead Goes to the Right Rep
In B2B ABM, quickly assigning a lead to the correct representative is vital. In this example, imagine your target prospects from enterprise accounts. When someone from a target account fills out your demo form, you want them instantly matched with the account owner on your Enterprise AE Team.
Instead of waiting until the lead hits the CRM to assign it, Form Concierge enables real-time matching. This immediate response lets the prospect schedule a meeting immediately, eliminating wait times and accelerating engagement. Using Flow Builder, you can route leads to their account owner based on a few simple rules, which categorize them into three groups:
- Existing Contact in an Existing Target Account – If the lead already exists as a contact in a target account, they’re immediately routed to their assigned account owner.
- Existing Lead in an Existing Target Account – If they’re already a lead, Lead to Account Matching links them with the correct account.
- New Record in an Existing Target Account – If this is a new lead without prior records, the lead is routed based on the account details, ensuring they meet the right rep.
For Groups 1 and 2, existing contacts or leads are routed to the correct AE. Group 3, however, captures new, often overlooked leads, ensuring every buying committee member is aware of the cracks.
Optimizing the Scheduling Experience
Streamlining ABM aims to create a consistent, high-quality scheduling experience for everyone from the same target account. You can customize prospect scheduling options using automated settings, such as displaying their assigned AE calendar, defining the meeting length, or personalizing the invite details.
This automation lets your AE Team be available when the prospect wants to engage. By routing all buying committee members to one AE, the experience feels more unified and personal. Custom meeting types, personalized invites with dynamic tags, and automated reminders help ensure that all touchpoints reflect the ABM approach: tailored, relevant, and focused on the target account.
Automate What Happens Next
You can trigger automated workflows once a meeting is scheduled (or if the prospect doesn’t complete the booking). Even when prospects don’t schedule, you can re-engage them with additional content, educational material, or even a second offer that may pique their interest. Here are some standard automated follow-ups:
- Redirect to Relevant Content – After booking; prospects can be routed to landing pages with case studies or content specific to their industry, reinforcing your value proposition.
- Alternative Offers for Abandoned Bookings—If the booking process isn’t completed, Prospects can be redirected to alternate offers or educational content. Engaging them through live chat on these pages can also help re-establish the connection.
- Automate Event Creation – For accurate tracking, all events are automatically created and linked to the target account, saving time for your Team and ensuring that critical activities are correctly tracked.
Assigning Ownership for All Leads and Contacts
As new leads and contacts are added, they are automatically assigned an owner who aligns with the target account owner, ensuring smooth and organized follow-ups. This avoids any duplication or confusion about who should nurture the account.
Advanced Lead Matching
Lead matching is crucial in ABM. Chili Piper’s lead-to-account matching capabilities ensure that all leads are accurately linked to their correct accounts. Using both domain matching and custom duplicate rules in Salesforce, you can ensure every lead lands in the correct account every time. For example, rules might reference data points like email, phone, or zip code for precise matching.
Custom duplicate rules can also handle any exceptions. For instance, you can set up filters and tiebreakers in cases where multiple records could match the same criteria. Let’s say two leads have the same country as the account’s billing country. In this case, you can specify that the lead should be matched to the most recent account, ensuring no records are duplicated unnecessarily.
B2B ABM Best Practices in Lead Routing
Using tools like Form Concierge and Flow Builder, you can simplify the B2B ABM process and make sure all buying committee members from one account experience a consistent, personalized journey. These tools make ABM workflows efficient by:
- Centralizing Communication – Ensuring that each contact from an account is matched to one AE for a smoother buying experience.
- Speeding Up Engagement—Prospects can schedule immediately after converting, reducing lag time and helping your sales team strike while interest is high.
- Personalizing the Approach – Customized invites, tailored meeting experiences, and content redirects enhance the ABM approach, delivering a relevant and personal message.
- Automating Consistency – From ownership updates to lead matching, automation ensures that nothing is missed and that the buying committee receives the right messaging from the same AE.
Final Takeaways
In B2B account-based marketing, a personalized, consistent buyer experience is crucial. Tools like Chili Piper simplify ABM by efficiently routing leads and automating key steps, allowing you to keep prospects engaged with the correct account owner from the start. This approach improves the buyer’s journey and strengthens your ABM strategy, helping drive conversions and build long-term relationships.
