ABM Done Right: Why Your Program Isn’t Working (Yet) and How to Fix It
- hajar boulagjam
- Mar 21
- 4 min read
Let’s face it, a lot of Account-Based Marketing programs stall out. Or worse, they never really get off the ground. Despite all the tech, targeting, and talk of “personalization at scale,” too many ABM strategies fall short when it comes to what really matters: driving revenue with the right accounts.
To find out why, we reached out to Kristina Jaramillo, President and Founding Partner at Personal ABM, and host of the ABM Done Right podcast.
ABM is Kristina’s home turf, she’s spent over a decade helping B2B teams go beyond surface-level targeting to build programs that win, protect, and expand six- and seven-figure accounts.
In this fast-paced episode of ABM Answered, Kristina unpacks where most teams go wrong, what ABM should look like, and why treating it like Demand Gen with a fancier name is a surefire way to watch your pipeline go dark.
If you’re launching an ABM pilot, trying to go upmarket, or just wondering why your deals keep stalling mid-funnel, this one’s for you.
Problem #1: Where Do We Even Start With ABM?
If you're diving straight into intent data, account lists, and goal setting Kristina says you're doing it wrong.
“Most teams are skipping the part where they actually assess the state of the business,” she explained. “You can’t define your ABM goals if you don’t understand your go-to-market challenges or where revenue opportunities are hiding.”
Instead of racing to define your ICP (ideal customer profile), Kristina recommends looking at:
Where you’re winning and losing
What kind of buyer journeys and customer experiences you’re delivering
Where sales and marketing efforts are breaking down
Pro Tip: Before selecting accounts or tech, do a deep dive on your internal processes. Without this, your ABM strategy could simply scale the wrong motions.
Problem #2: Middle of the Funnel Mayhem
What happens after the first engagement? For many teams, the answer is… not much. Deals go dark. Pipeline gets clogged. Sales momentum fizzles.
Kristina’s diagnosis:
“Too many are treating ABM like glorified Demand Gen,” she said. “They’re pushing content that’s relevant to the industry or persona but not to the specific account or buying team.”
She shared a story from Uniphore, who were engaging enterprise accounts like Bank of America but failing to progress them.
The problem was generic content.
What finally moved the needle is Custom, account-specific storytelling that connected Uniphore’s solution to Bank of America’s exact AI roadmap and internal silos.
Insight: If you’re not selling the change, you’re just another vendor in the noise. Your ABM must teach for differentiation and challenge the buyer’s status quo; especially in the mid-funnel.
Problem #3: Can’t Go Upmarket? You’re Not Alone.
When it comes to winning bigger deals, Kristina pulls no punches: “If your messaging sounds the same as your competitors, you’ll lose to the legacy players every time.”
She pointed to DigiSuite, a digital asset management platform that was consistently losing enterprise deals to names like Adobe and Sitecore for their marketing only spoke to marketing departments, ignoring the 12+ departments impacted by their product.
By changing how they told their story and tying their value to enterprise-wide initiatives, DigiSuite saw:
55% increase in new logo ARR
114% growth in expansion ARR
200% improvement in enterprise win rates
It seems very clear that going upmarket isn’t just about selling more. It’s about changing the way you sell entirely and making yourself indispensable to more people across the org.
Problem #4: Churn Is Killing Growth
“Most customer success teams focus on adoption, usage, and NPS,” said Kristina. “But they forget to keep aligning with the customer's evolving strategic goals.”
Her solution? Treat retention and expansion like new business.
That means:
Constantly reinforcing why staying with you is the safest and smartest bet
Connecting your impact to business outcomes, not just software usage
Continuously answering the questions: “Why stay?”, “Why evolve?”, and “Why expand?”
Smart Move: Use ABM tactics not just for new logos but to protect and grow your existing enterprise accounts.
Problem #5: Go-To-Market Teams Are Still in Silos
Forget alignment. Kristina says the future is integration.
“We need to stop thinking in terms of campaigns and start thinking in terms of interactions,” she said. “Every email, every LinkedIn message, every call is a chance to create impact.”
This requires something she calls account-based enablement; arming sales, marketing, and CS teams with personalized content, messaging, and insights that help them show up meaningfully in every account touchpoint.
So, if your ABM program isn’t influencing real sales and expansion conversations, it’s not doing its job.
Problem #6: ROI Still Feels Like a Black Box
To measure ABM success, Kristina recommends flipping the script. Start with the business performance metrics; win rates, deal size, NRR and work backwards.
“Then look at whether you’re influencing the right people. Are VPs engaging? Are we multi-threading into the buying group? Are deals getting stuck because we’re not teaching for change?”
Gentle Reminder: ABM isn’t about measuring clicks and impressions. It’s about measuring impact on the accounts that matter most.
Final Challenge: ABM as a Tiering Strategy? Think Again.
When asked to challenge a popular ABM philosophy, Kristina took on Chris Walker’s take that ABM is more about targeting and prioritization than go-to-market strategy.
“ABM is not just better targeting; it’s a new way of doing business,” she argued. “It’s how your whole org talks to customers, aligns around their needs, and drives revenue together.”
One Last Question…
A huge thank you to Kristina Jaramillo for sharing her insight, energy, and no-nonsense ABM expertise. If you want more of her thinking, you can connect with her on LinkedIn or tune into the ABM Done Right podcast for deep dives on how to win, protect, and grow revenue with the accounts that matter most.
Before signing off, Kristina left a challenge for our next guest:
“Have you done your homework on why you’re using ABM? And which approach; one-to-one, one-to-few, or one-to-many actually makes sense for your org?”
Because if you skip that step… Well, you already know how that story ends.
We’ve asked this same question to marketers across the B2B world, and their answers might surprise you. Explore the ABM Answered library for more sharp takes, real talk, and revenue-driven insights from marketers who’ve been there, tested it, and figured out what actually works.
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