Volume is up, quality is not
- Pipeline volume looks healthy but deal quality and velocity do not match it.
- Marketing and sales disagree on which accounts are actually strategic.
- Deals stall because the buying committee was never properly mapped.
- Executive relationships exist but are not being used deliberately.
- Account plans exist on paper but are not driving coordinated activity.
Building a programme sales will actually use
01
Why account selection is the real decision
An ABM programme lives or dies on the account list. Getting this wrong wastes effort on the wrong committees; getting it right concentrates scarce senior time where it can actually change an outcome.
02
Mapping the buying committee
Understand who influences, who decides, who blocks and who is missing entirely from the current relationship map — before designing engagement around assumptions.
03
Programme design
Tiering, content and messaging built for the specific account and committee, sequencing that respects how the account actually makes decisions, and a realistic resourcing model.
04
Executive engagement
Senior-to-senior conversation designed to earn credibility and access, not generic thought-leadership content mistaken for relationship-building.
05
Alignment and measurement
Shared account ownership between marketing and sales, agreed signals of progress, and a cadence that keeps both functions accountable to the same account outcomes.
Proof this is work XL has done
Leadership roles spanning consumer and enterprise B2B portfolios at Vodacom and Dimension Data/NTT, including named-account and public-sector engagement.
Regional commercial responsibility across South Africa, the wider African continent and Saudi Arabia at Dimension Data.
B2B and enterprise fintech marketing leadership at PayU.
Selected among the top 33 from approximately 500 entries to Eureka GCC's 12-week investor-pitch and business-management incubator; one mentor later joined the board of Xplora Luxe as fractional CFO.
What you receive
A prioritised account list with the reasoning for each selection. Buying-committee mapping for the priority accounts. Messaging written for each role in that committee. Outreach sequences and the assets they depend on. A follow-through rhythm your team can hold, and a review of what the pipeline learned.
Usually delivered within a partnership rather than as a sprint.
Questions worth answering directly
What is account-based marketing?
Account-based marketing treats a named set of high-value accounts as a market of one, aligning research, messaging, content and engagement to the specific buying committee inside each account rather than a broad audience.
How do you select accounts for an ABM programme?
Accounts are selected using a combination of firmographic fit, commercial potential, evidence of an active or emerging buying trigger, and realistic access to the buying committee. Selection should be a joint marketing-and-sales decision, not a marketing-only list.
Does ABM replace demand generation?
No. ABM and broader demand generation typically serve different parts of a B2B portfolio — ABM for a defined set of strategic accounts, demand generation for the wider addressable market. Most B2B organisations need both, allocated deliberately rather than by default.
How does executive engagement fit into B2B growth?
Complex B2B sales usually involve a buying committee that includes senior decision-makers. Executive engagement — briefings, relationship mapping and credible senior-to-senior conversation — is often the difference between a stalled opportunity and a progressing one.
What does marketing and sales alignment have to do with ABM?
ABM only works when marketing and sales agree on the account list, the signals that indicate progress, and who owns each stage of engagement. Without that alignment, ABM becomes a marketing activity that sales does not use.
Ready to work through your account strategy?
The first conversation is a structured discussion about the decision, the evidence behind it and the next move — not an immediate proposal.