Transcript

Unqualified Leads – Episode 012 Highlights

Hosts: Harry Hughes & Dan

Topic: How to execute ABM once the foundations are in place, warming accounts up, using LinkedIn as a pre-awareness engine, building account dossiers + stakeholder maps, and activating accounts without turning ABM into “lead gen theatre.”

ABM Part Two: Execution Is Easy, Planning Is Where ABM Is Won

This episode follows on from ABM Part One, where the focus was foundations:

• Building the right account lists

• Defining measurements and outcomes

• Aligning the entire team on the ABM operating system

• Treating your ICP as a gate, where exclusion matters more than inclusion

• Ensuring tiered lists are sourced, justified, reviewable, and reversible

Harry frames the key principle:

ABM execution is relatively simple. ABM success is mostly determined by planning.

He calls it roughly:

• 60–70% foundations + planning

• 30–40% execution

The Goal of Execution: Make Outreach Feel Like Continuation, Not Interruption

Once the list, tiers, and measurement are set, execution becomes:

“How do we engineer familiarity so our outreach doesn’t feel random?”

Dan describes the core ABM outcome:

When your name appears via outbound (email, DM, SDR, call) it should not feel like a cold interruption, it should feel expected.

Stage 1: Warm Up Key Accounts

Dan frames execution in stages, starting with warming accounts up.

You’re trying to ensure buying committee stakeholders become:

• Aware of you

• Aware of the problem you solve

• Familiar with your POV

• Primed for engagement when the vendor-switch moment happens

He connects this to pre-ABM signal collection:

Demand gen can reveal which accounts show “enterprise intent” and deserve deeper 1:1 or 1:few attention.

The Core ABM Advantage: Familiarity, Credibility, Relevance

Dan breaks the warm-up phase into three specific levers:

Familiarity

• Have they seen you around?

• Do you show up consistently in the feed?

• Does your name feel known?

Credibility

• Do you demonstrate expertise publicly?

• Are you clearly a “serious operator” in the category?

Relevance

• Are you talking about their problems and context, not your own internal issues?

  
  

If you skip this, your outbound message has to do all the work in one shot, which is extremely hard in high ACV environments.

LinkedIn: The Pre-ABM “Landing Page” for Target Accounts

Both hosts reinforce that if your ICP is on LinkedIn, you should be using it,ABM or not.

Harry frames LinkedIn as:

• An initial landing page for target accounts.

Execution basics:

• Post 2–3 times per week

• Posts should be value-led and pain-point driven

• Content must be written from the ICP’s perspective (stakeholder-by-stakeholder)

• You’re not “selling what you do”, you’re solving what they’re experiencing

  
  

The Two-Way LinkedIn Play: Publish + Engage

Dan highlights the pattern used by top operators:

1. They publish consistent POV content

2. They engage outward via comments on target account posts

Harry adds the ABM-specific layer:

Use engagement to dial up familiarity with target stakeholders:

• Set notifications for target stakeholders posting

• Add thoughtful comments that provide value

• Avoid “nice post” comments and spam engagement

The goal is simple:

Create pattern recognition so outreach becomes a continuation.

LinkedIn Profile Optimisation Is Non-Negotiable

Harry warns:

Don’t spend months building engagement, then lose the moment when a stakeholder clicks your profile.

He gives practical optimisation guidance:

Headline: Outcome + ICP Specific

Good: “Helping RevOps teams fix forecast confidence and pipeline leakage”

Bad: “Helping companies scale pipeline” (too vague)

About Section Should Answer

• Who you help

• What problem you solve

• What proof you have

• What you actually do

Pinned Proof

Use the pinned section for:

• Case studies

• Strong value posts

• Evidence of competence

  
  

Natural > Spam: Don’t Ruin the Play With DMs

Dan gives a real example:

Accepting a relevant connection request → immediate sales DM → instant disqualification.

Key rule:

• Don’t connect and immediately pitch. That destroys trust before curiosity even forms.

Harry adds:

AI-sounding comments and summary-comments are worse than doing nothing.

A useful comment should:

• Add insight

• Challenge a point

• Extend the idea

• Invite thought (without forcing a reply)

Measuring Early Success on LinkedIn

Harry outlines “early doors” ABM indicators:

• Profile views from target accounts

• Company page views

• Website visits from ICP accounts (de-anon tools)

• Comment replies / reactions from stakeholders

• Connection acceptance rates

This is not about immediate conversions, it’s about visible account-level momentum.

Insight Capture: Account Dossiers + Stakeholder Maps

Harry introduces an execution layer that matters most in one-to-few and one-to-one ABM:

Build an account dossier.

This includes:

• Context signals (hiring velocity, product launches, geo expansion)

• Strategic moves and competitive context

• Compliance/regulatory changes

• Tech signals and operational realities

But the real payoff is the stakeholder map:

• Who’s the champion?

• Who influences?

• Who blocks?

• Who signs?

• Who uses the tool day-to-day?

This lets you tailor messaging by persona and multi-thread deliberately.

Dan adds an operational warning:

• Stakeholders change roles.

If you’re not updating the map, you’re wasting time targeting people who left.

One-to-Many ABM vs Demand Gen: Where the Line Is

Dan argues:

One-to-many often resembles demand gen (large list, broader message), more like a pre-ABM stage.

Harry clarifies the distinction:

One-to-many is still ABM if it’s designed to warm named accounts and make sales outreach feel non-random.

The key differentiator:

ABM is sales-led preparation for account-specific conversations, not broad market capture.

One-to-One Execution: Message First, Vehicles Second

Dan emphasises: This isn’t about landing pages or ads or emails.

It’s about getting the right message to the account across all channels.

Once you know if the account is:

• Problem-aware

• Solution-aware

• Already has a vendor

• New to the category

…your narrative changes.

ABM Tactics That Work in One-to-One

Dan outlines several activation routes:

1) Paid Ads to the Account

• Targeted to the account

• Can include video POV, statics, case study snippets

• Reinforces familiarity + credibility

• Less intrusive than DMs/calls

  
  

2) Personalised Landing Pages

“Pitch deck logic” brought forward:

• Account-specific narrative

• Their business named if appropriate

• Speaks directly to their context

• Custom demo/audit framing rather than generic product tour

  
  

3) Non-Digital Plays

High ACV accounts justify offline orchestration:

• Private dinners

• Roundtables

• Customer + prospect rooms

• Networking-first, sales-second

  
  

Dan frames the dinner principle:

• Not pitching.

• Engineering value + proximity to advocates.

Moving From Recognition to Conversation to Activation

Harry maps a simple progression:

Recognition

• They know who you are (LinkedIn + ads + engagement)

Conversation

• Start a dialogue without pitching

Examples:

• Podcast invite

• Dinner invite

• Low-friction “insight exchange”

• Soft opens that feel human

Activation

Once trust exists, move to structured conversion mechanics:

• 1:1 workshops

• Roundtables (more focused than dinners)

• Multi-threaded sessions using role-based invites

A simple multi-thread line Harry recommends:

“These workshops work best if X and Y roles are there too."

Ads in ABM: Reinforce, Don’t Convert

Both hosts hammer the same point:

• ABM ads are not for direct conversion.

• This is not e-commerce.

Ads are for:

• Reinforcing credibility

• Maintaining a consistent narrative

• Supporting relationships being built elsewhere

• Keeping you top of mind

Harry adds a practical rule:

• Make case studies relevant.

• If the target accounts are finance and your case study is manufacturing, credibility drops.

Also: not all ads should be case studies.

• POV content and proof snippets matter too.

A Critical Rule Repeated: Exclude ABM Accounts From Generic Demand Gen

Harry repeats the operational rule from Part One:

If you’re running broad demand gen campaigns, exclude tier 1/2 ABM accounts from generic TOFU.

Why:

• Conflicting messaging

• Confusing account experience

• Paying twice to show mixed narratives

Dan adds:

You’re literally spending more to target them, don’t dilute that with competing ads.

Final Takeaways

• ABM execution isn’t complex, planning is where it’s won

• Warm-up is about engineering familiarity, credibility, relevance

• LinkedIn is the easiest early-stage ABM lever if your ICP is there

• Profile optimisation matters because LinkedIn becomes your “landing page”

• Build account dossiers + stakeholder maps for 1:1 and 1:few plays

• Activate accounts via conversations (workshops, dinners, roundtables), not pitches

• ABM ads reinforce narratives, they shouldn’t be treated like lead gen

• Exclude tier accounts from generic demand gen to avoid conflicting exposure

• Keep lists and stakeholder maps updated, roles change, and stale targeting wastes time