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ABM is B2B.: Why B2B Marketing and Sales is Broken and How to Fix it
In this book we reveal the secrets behind the framework that will sell and retain your customers. Did you know that less than one percent of all leads become customers? It is a true and shocking stat, but there is a way to stop the waste and flip this around. In this highly anticipated book, we reveal the secrets behind our signature TEAM - Target, Engage, Activate, and Measure - framework to transform your approach to market, increase sales, and retain your ideal customers. Account-Based Marketing (ABM) is the new B2B. It‘s time to challenge the status quo of B2B Marketing and Sales, and transition to what the business arena already expects as the updated B2B model. A transformation like this can only happen through an account-based approach that unites marketing, sales, and customer success teams (go-to-market teams) as #OneTeam. In summary, the TEAM framework coupled with the account-based approach enables your company to focus on the target accounts, engage them in a meaningful way, activate the sales team with top tier accounts proactively, and finally measure success based on business outcomes over vanity metrics. The process is simple when you have the right book - ABM is B2B . What are you waiting for?
- GenresBusiness
183 pages, Paperback
Published September 3, 2019
184 people are currently reading
172 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
January 5, 2020
I'm a big fan of Sangram Vajre, but this book is unfortunately a waste of time, if you're even VAGUELY familiar with the topic. It could've been easily condensed into a (short-ish) blog post. What I'm struggling the most with is that the book (like so many other North American best-selling business books) has barely any substance but is still 230 pages long (although it feels even longer), and the rare golden nuggets are well-hidden under the empty motivational talk. Combine this with the unnecessary repetition, and we have a winner. Sangram's talks on this topic have been much better and definitely worth watching, so I'd suggest giving them a go instead.
February 7, 2023
This book was recommended to me by a very successful sales trainer I spoke with a few weeks ago, along with How to Get a Meeting with Anyone. For a business like mine that sells high cost low volume services, account-based marketing (ABM) is the right way forward and this book is a great introduction to ABM and how to integrate an account-based mindset into marketing, sales, and accounts work.
The audience for this book is not small business owners! That's worth repeating. It's not for small business owners, and in fact much of the advice offered here would only make sense in a large (500+ person) organization. The author assumes that you already have a strong and performant "demand gen" (this is the opposite of ABM) marketing team, along with separate accounts and sales teams. At my company, all three of these "teams" are me. We've got a few people who help with some of those functions but it's not something we have dedicated people working on.
Despite me not being the target audience, here's what I picked up:
- Account-based marketing is precise and targeted. You are marketing to one particular company, or a list of 50-100 companies, and that's it. For example, you are marketing to Ford in particular.
- Demand gen marketing (the opposite and "old" model) is marketing to an entire market segment or industry. For example, you are marketing to the entire automotive sector.
- ABM should be reinforcing *all three* lifecycle phases of an account: Acquisition (getting them in the door), acceleration (leading them through the sales pipeline), and expansion (growing the business after the first contract).
- To that end, it is preferable to think of sales, accounts, and marketing as one team. For a small company like mine that will probably mean literally one group of people led by a single person in charge of all three. For larger companies, this will mean tearing down walls/silos.
- When its doing its job, ABM should be creating customized experiences for every target account -- landing pages, custom email, knowledgeable people, etc.
The audience for this book is not small business owners! That's worth repeating. It's not for small business owners, and in fact much of the advice offered here would only make sense in a large (500+ person) organization. The author assumes that you already have a strong and performant "demand gen" (this is the opposite of ABM) marketing team, along with separate accounts and sales teams. At my company, all three of these "teams" are me. We've got a few people who help with some of those functions but it's not something we have dedicated people working on.
Despite me not being the target audience, here's what I picked up:
- Account-based marketing is precise and targeted. You are marketing to one particular company, or a list of 50-100 companies, and that's it. For example, you are marketing to Ford in particular.
- Demand gen marketing (the opposite and "old" model) is marketing to an entire market segment or industry. For example, you are marketing to the entire automotive sector.
- ABM should be reinforcing *all three* lifecycle phases of an account: Acquisition (getting them in the door), acceleration (leading them through the sales pipeline), and expansion (growing the business after the first contract).
- To that end, it is preferable to think of sales, accounts, and marketing as one team. For a small company like mine that will probably mean literally one group of people led by a single person in charge of all three. For larger companies, this will mean tearing down walls/silos.
- When its doing its job, ABM should be creating customized experiences for every target account -- landing pages, custom email, knowledgeable people, etc.
June 25, 2021
Ultimately this book was an ad.
January 20, 2020
B2B marketing is broken. ABM (account-based marketing) is the solution. ABM is B2B by Sangram Vajre and Eric Spett is the book your B2B firm didn't know it needed. For the longest time, B2B marketing has been monotonous and boring following a one-size-fits-all approach of advertising and counting leads. But, turns out, less than one percent of all such leads turn into actual customers!
ABM is B2B challenges the status quo in B2B marketing and introduces its own methodology of practicing ABM. ABM is about marketing to a specific audience, to the sort of potential customers you know can benefit from your product and will be interested in working with your firm. In this book, we examine how regular B2B marketing compares to ABM, analyze the marketing transformation from status-quo to ABM 2.0, and gain practical guidance for adopting an account-centric mindset in your B2B marketing.
Its guidelines are practical in many ways: The book uses real world examples to illustrate their ideas; it contains insightful statistics with citations that help drive its points home; it cites references to online resource to expound on the TEAM framework; and at the end, lists a directory of helpful podcast episodes on the subject.
All of that sounds amazing. But, in reality, this book was so hard to read. So, so, hard. I'm tempted to give it a zero rating just because of how boring it was.
Firstly, the book doesn't even define the terms it uses. I kept expecting it would at the right time; it didn't, and I was left lost halfway into the book when I decided to look up these terms myself. I learned more in 10 minutes on the internet than I had in the whole week it took me to get 40 pages into the book.
As a business student, I'm well-versed in business-related terminology. But such terminology is used by different writers with different connotations. My marketing textbook uses the word 'pipeline' to mean the same thing as 'supply-chain', but this book used it to mean something more specific and, unfortunately, I'm still unsure what that was – because they never explain! Even the central subject of the book, 'ABM', was not effectively defined. Other terms and acronyms such as 'funnel', 'C-Suite', 'CTO' could've really done with definitions.
Then, the writing. In some places, the book really dragged the simple points. The introduction that was 20 pages long could've easily been explained in less than 5 pages. While in others, the authors just expected you to understand the context - but I had no idea what they were talking about; for example, the entire section titled 'Strategy eats your tactics for breakfast', went over my head; I read it thrice over and had no idea what point was being made. To be fair, there were some areas where they delivered the information very well, such as the sections titled Engaging authentically and Orchestrating Multichannel Campaigns.
The writing was not engaging, and it had a one-sided excitement to it; it felt as if the authors were so pleased with their findings that at times, they just came across as know-it-alls, so to speak. The writing was also not very good at making the more important information stand out. It could've used bullet points and text formatting to do this, but they didn't.
If you're skimming through the book, and you most likely will be if you're a management level employee in the marketing department, you'll miss them. For example, in the section titled 'TARGET: CREATING YOUR IDEAL CUSTOMER PROFILE', the steps in creating an ICP are all lumped in paragraphs; I would've missed some important points had I not been reading carefully. They really could've used a diagram or two here.
Another problem I faced with this book was that my PDF copy had no navigation. I had a hard time grasping the structure of the points the book was making. Furthermore, I didn't even notice there was a glossary at the end of the book till I reached it!
I feel like the authors confused their intentions in writing this book. The introduction covers topics titled ‘WHY MOST B2B MARKETING SUCKS!’ and ‘The value of marketing is defined by sales’ which are things you would only tell people who do not know how ABM compares with regular marketing, and thus do not know what ABM really is. The synopsis on Amazon gives the impression that this book will tell you everything you need to know about ABM. Then, on page 73/200, nearly halfway through the book, the authors say this:
"The good news is that unlike a stranger in a strange land, you’re probably starting this adventure with a solid understanding of the fundamentals of account-based marketing. At least, we’re assuming you are. If not, there’s an earlier book about ABM that you might want to check out. "
What?!
The writers seem like very passionate marketers, they are not very good writers. Overall, I rate this book 2/4. I'm reducing one point for how boring it was, and another for failing to tell me early on that I was expected to know the basics of ABM before reading. The book was professionally edited, and I found no significant errors. It's hard to recommend this book to anyone since I did not enjoy any of it. But the book does contain a lot of information, however inefficiently put together, and can benefit a lot of readers. This book will be useful to people looking for effective marketing solutions. Just remember to read the glossary!
ABM is B2B challenges the status quo in B2B marketing and introduces its own methodology of practicing ABM. ABM is about marketing to a specific audience, to the sort of potential customers you know can benefit from your product and will be interested in working with your firm. In this book, we examine how regular B2B marketing compares to ABM, analyze the marketing transformation from status-quo to ABM 2.0, and gain practical guidance for adopting an account-centric mindset in your B2B marketing.
Its guidelines are practical in many ways: The book uses real world examples to illustrate their ideas; it contains insightful statistics with citations that help drive its points home; it cites references to online resource to expound on the TEAM framework; and at the end, lists a directory of helpful podcast episodes on the subject.
All of that sounds amazing. But, in reality, this book was so hard to read. So, so, hard. I'm tempted to give it a zero rating just because of how boring it was.
Firstly, the book doesn't even define the terms it uses. I kept expecting it would at the right time; it didn't, and I was left lost halfway into the book when I decided to look up these terms myself. I learned more in 10 minutes on the internet than I had in the whole week it took me to get 40 pages into the book.
As a business student, I'm well-versed in business-related terminology. But such terminology is used by different writers with different connotations. My marketing textbook uses the word 'pipeline' to mean the same thing as 'supply-chain', but this book used it to mean something more specific and, unfortunately, I'm still unsure what that was – because they never explain! Even the central subject of the book, 'ABM', was not effectively defined. Other terms and acronyms such as 'funnel', 'C-Suite', 'CTO' could've really done with definitions.
Then, the writing. In some places, the book really dragged the simple points. The introduction that was 20 pages long could've easily been explained in less than 5 pages. While in others, the authors just expected you to understand the context - but I had no idea what they were talking about; for example, the entire section titled 'Strategy eats your tactics for breakfast', went over my head; I read it thrice over and had no idea what point was being made. To be fair, there were some areas where they delivered the information very well, such as the sections titled Engaging authentically and Orchestrating Multichannel Campaigns.
The writing was not engaging, and it had a one-sided excitement to it; it felt as if the authors were so pleased with their findings that at times, they just came across as know-it-alls, so to speak. The writing was also not very good at making the more important information stand out. It could've used bullet points and text formatting to do this, but they didn't.
If you're skimming through the book, and you most likely will be if you're a management level employee in the marketing department, you'll miss them. For example, in the section titled 'TARGET: CREATING YOUR IDEAL CUSTOMER PROFILE', the steps in creating an ICP are all lumped in paragraphs; I would've missed some important points had I not been reading carefully. They really could've used a diagram or two here.
Another problem I faced with this book was that my PDF copy had no navigation. I had a hard time grasping the structure of the points the book was making. Furthermore, I didn't even notice there was a glossary at the end of the book till I reached it!
I feel like the authors confused their intentions in writing this book. The introduction covers topics titled ‘WHY MOST B2B MARKETING SUCKS!’ and ‘The value of marketing is defined by sales’ which are things you would only tell people who do not know how ABM compares with regular marketing, and thus do not know what ABM really is. The synopsis on Amazon gives the impression that this book will tell you everything you need to know about ABM. Then, on page 73/200, nearly halfway through the book, the authors say this:
"The good news is that unlike a stranger in a strange land, you’re probably starting this adventure with a solid understanding of the fundamentals of account-based marketing. At least, we’re assuming you are. If not, there’s an earlier book about ABM that you might want to check out. "
What?!
The writers seem like very passionate marketers, they are not very good writers. Overall, I rate this book 2/4. I'm reducing one point for how boring it was, and another for failing to tell me early on that I was expected to know the basics of ABM before reading. The book was professionally edited, and I found no significant errors. It's hard to recommend this book to anyone since I did not enjoy any of it. But the book does contain a lot of information, however inefficiently put together, and can benefit a lot of readers. This book will be useful to people looking for effective marketing solutions. Just remember to read the glossary!
December 14, 2024
Imagine you’re starting a game, and it kicks off with a tutorial level.
It’s simple, easy to follow, and filled with a lot of optional, atmospheric details that aren’t really necessary. In this level, you’ll learn the basics: the main tabs in the interface, a few hotkeys, and you’ll get an easy win — with plenty of praise for your effort.
This book was my first step into understanding modern ABM marketing. I don’t regret the time I spent reading it, but honestly, it felt like a tutorial level for ABM.
What’s great about it?
- Everything is super clear and easy to understand.
- You’ll learn the rules of the game.
- You’ll get through it without feeling the urge to quit halfway.
What’s missing?
- It doesn’t prepare you for the “black dragons” you’re going to face down the road.
It’s simple, easy to follow, and filled with a lot of optional, atmospheric details that aren’t really necessary. In this level, you’ll learn the basics: the main tabs in the interface, a few hotkeys, and you’ll get an easy win — with plenty of praise for your effort.
This book was my first step into understanding modern ABM marketing. I don’t regret the time I spent reading it, but honestly, it felt like a tutorial level for ABM.
What’s great about it?
- Everything is super clear and easy to understand.
- You’ll learn the rules of the game.
- You’ll get through it without feeling the urge to quit halfway.
What’s missing?
- It doesn’t prepare you for the “black dragons” you’re going to face down the road.
June 12, 2020
Sangram is interesting, and I follow him on LinkedIn and was looking forward to reading his book. Getting past its rather pedestrian title the book is decent, mainly as Sangram's personality comes through. I was expecting a little bit more advanced ABM execution details. Even though it provides some guidelines for implementing ABM strategy into your company it still lacks any specific detail for ABM execution. I was slightly discouraged that a large part of the book just references other resources. Still a good read and up-to-date. And yes, of course, ABM is B2B :)
August 4, 2022
Bastante bueno, aunque el inicio se hace un poco pesado con los casos de éxito, hasta que por fin entra en materia. El método que propone utilizar en el marketing B2B (empresa a empresa), sin ser lo nunca visto, es simple y claro, aprovechable por tanto; y además estoy bastante de acuerdo con el cambio de enfoque que proponen para este tipo de marketing, más centrado en las cuentas (empresas) que en los leads (individuos)
March 23, 2020
Very good introduction to ABM
If you're struggling with configuring your B2B marketing team then this is the book for you. Sangram does a phenomenal job breaking down the essentials of account based marketing. He does it in an accessible and non boring way which is rare for a business book.
If you're struggling with configuring your B2B marketing team then this is the book for you. Sangram does a phenomenal job breaking down the essentials of account based marketing. He does it in an accessible and non boring way which is rare for a business book.
December 16, 2025
This book is a great introduction to ABM if you’re totally new to it, like I was.
It’s quite heavy on the theory and light on the actual doing, but the case studies were interesting.
Probably not for people who already have a solid or intermediate knowledge of ABM, but it’s a good place to start.
It’s quite heavy on the theory and light on the actual doing, but the case studies were interesting.
Probably not for people who already have a solid or intermediate knowledge of ABM, but it’s a good place to start.
January 15, 2026
Clear, practical, and timely. ABM Is B2B challenges outdated lead-driven thinking and replaces it with a focused, account-based approach that aligns teams around real business outcomes. A valuable guide for organizations ready to stop wasting effort and start building meaningful customer relationships.
February 22, 2020
I love Sangram and his way of evangelizing ABM. He doesn't make his podcast, this book, or any keynote about Terminus despite being a founder.
This is a quick read with examples and case studies. Worth having on the shelf.
This is a quick read with examples and case studies. Worth having on the shelf.
January 5, 2021
I wish the book provided more specific details about the implementation of ABM, specially about digital solutions that could be useful. It is a great introduction to ABM but it definitely lacks more information on how to do a the transition to B2B 1.0 and to B2B 2.0
January 10, 2020
One of the best B2B books I've read.
I loved reading this book. Well definitely read it 2 or 3 times over. I highly recommended it to anybody looking to grow their b2b sales
I loved reading this book. Well definitely read it 2 or 3 times over. I highly recommended it to anybody looking to grow their b2b sales
April 15, 2020
3.5 stars, needed editing, and one chapter completely focused on a detailed ABM campaign, going through the entire TEAM framework for a particular tranche
December 31, 2020
Good read for beginners only.
August 20, 2021
Great intro to the steps needed to take to level up a marketing program to ABM. Lots of new acronyms to learn.
November 12, 2021
Very clear and inspiring to start a B2B Initiative
I enjoyed reading this book. Authors explain very clearly their view on B2B and the proposed methodology. I recommend this book!!!
I enjoyed reading this book. Authors explain very clearly their view on B2B and the proposed methodology. I recommend this book!!!
September 9, 2022
Avoid. Waste of time.
December 12, 2022
I definitely had a few takeaways from the book and found it helpful- but painfully redundant and a bit of a sales pitch for the Terminus software
May 18, 2022
What makes ABM is B2B different from what you may have heard three years ago at choose-your-tech conference, is that the fabric of this narrative is woven with real stories, real examples, and real results. The field now has several years of widely varied experience to pull from, and can now say for itself, here is what ABM is and why it matters. This easily positions ABM is B2B as the visionary’s narrative on “why ABM,” while also demonstrating that Account Based Marketing as it exists today is markedly different from what you may have been doing in the past.
ABM is B2B takes Sangram’s personable and relatable communication style, blends it with real-life in-the-trenches stories, and shifts as much focus as possible onto the leading practitioners in the field today. This book delivers the narrative required to build a common understanding across the business, and it provides the framework that your team needs to establish that coveted common understanding of ABM. However, despite the excellent coverage that ABM is B2B brings to the subject, it struck me that a practitioner truly new to the concepts of ABM could still greatly benefit from a bridge between the lead generation of old, and today’s ABM narrative. Enter Sangram’s 2016 book, ABM for Dummies.
After reading both books back to back I walk away from the experience thinking about ABM for Dummies as the practitioner’s field guide. It provides actionable insight into building and executing as you transform your lead generation into ABM. So much so that, ten years in to my own B2B demand generation journey, I walked away from the book with a nineteen-point action plan.
It is with this background that I can unequivocally say: If you are a visionary, read ABM is B2B, if you are a practitioner, read ABM for Dummies. But, if you want to understand the vision and you are looking for a bridge from the lead generation of old to the ABM of the future, then read both. The TEAM framework presented in ABM is B2B is easily applied to the practical tips of ABM for Dummies. Don’t miss out.
ABM is B2B takes Sangram’s personable and relatable communication style, blends it with real-life in-the-trenches stories, and shifts as much focus as possible onto the leading practitioners in the field today. This book delivers the narrative required to build a common understanding across the business, and it provides the framework that your team needs to establish that coveted common understanding of ABM. However, despite the excellent coverage that ABM is B2B brings to the subject, it struck me that a practitioner truly new to the concepts of ABM could still greatly benefit from a bridge between the lead generation of old, and today’s ABM narrative. Enter Sangram’s 2016 book, ABM for Dummies.
After reading both books back to back I walk away from the experience thinking about ABM for Dummies as the practitioner’s field guide. It provides actionable insight into building and executing as you transform your lead generation into ABM. So much so that, ten years in to my own B2B demand generation journey, I walked away from the book with a nineteen-point action plan.
It is with this background that I can unequivocally say: If you are a visionary, read ABM is B2B, if you are a practitioner, read ABM for Dummies. But, if you want to understand the vision and you are looking for a bridge from the lead generation of old to the ABM of the future, then read both. The TEAM framework presented in ABM is B2B is easily applied to the practical tips of ABM for Dummies. Don’t miss out.
September 16, 2019
Meh. I have a great deal of respect for both Terminus and Sangram, but this book has very little to say, and is primarily filler and sales pitch. ABM has evolved exponentially in the past few years. I'm a little surprised that someone like Sangram would put out a book filled with platitudes and fluff.
November 3, 2023
Good book full of insights and key marketing takeaways. Started reading it for work purposes and I found great knowledge and thoughts in it. Useful for people like me, starting in B2B marketing.
My fav:
‘The role of marketing is to make change happen’
My fav:
‘The role of marketing is to make change happen’
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews