6sense RevCity

Gilroy have compiled a summary of the key discussion points, tips, campaign ideas, and cross-team collaboration suggestions in the below. These insights form part of the continued performance marketing optimisation and sales planning success using 6sense, as we head towards 2025.

Engaging revenue teams: Build alignment from day one

A common challenge attendees face and a reoccurring theme with previous events is aligning marketing and revenue-generating teams’ usage on the 6sense platform. Many note that without input from sales or customer success teams during planning, ABM initiatives often suffer from misaligned goals and a lack of trust in 6sense data and the overall strategy.

Our discussion highlighted the importance of setting clear, cross-functional goals from the start. Regular check-ins with smaller groups like BDRs and AEs ensure everyone is aligned and supported. Although broader check-ins with all stakeholders can be time-consuming, they are essential for aligning objectives, meeting shared KPIs, and providing necessary support.

This ongoing collaboration is vital, as ABM is a long-term strategy requiring sustained effort and coordination.

It's important to set goals and establish metrics to measure success. There’s often a disconnect between marketing metrics (e.g. impressions, website visits) and sales metrics (e.g. customer lifetime value, account-based opportunities). Clear goal setting from the start can help avoid this issue, and it’s something we often correct when aligning marketing and sales.
Kevin Sleap – Senior Partner, Gilroy

Workshops are helpful, followed by bi-weekly check-ins with teams (BDRs, AEs, channel/partner teams) separately. Having everyone in one room is tough, so smaller groups help with alignment and tracking progress. Remember, ABM is a marathon, not a sprint.
Katya Tarapovskaia – CEO & Founder, YouStellar

ABM to ABX: Prioritising customer experience

One key talking point stood out: “What’s the key criteria for determining whether a company should move from an ABM to an ABX model?” We began by defining ABX (Account-Based Everything) as an evolution of ABM, where marketers engage with customers throughout the entire buying journey, not just during lead generation.

The responses were varied. Some companies hadn’t yet launched an ABM model and were still refining their account intelligence workflows. Others felt that ABX was more aligned with brand-focused strategies, making it challenging to justify the budget in the current market and difficult to attribute directly to the pipeline.

It starts with brand. We need to measure intent and interest for different personas.
Avishai Sharon – CEO of Trendemon

Many are still getting the basics right for ABM. It’s not something you can pilot for six months – it requires long-term commitment.
Natasha Holloway – Strategy Director, Gilroy

Crafting the optimal messaging for 6QA outreach

The next topic was particularly relevant for the sales-focused attendees: how to approach initial outreach to your 6QAs without coming across as, well, creepy. Christian Ketterer, Senior Sales Development Rep at 8X8, posed the question,“How open are prospects to search and intent signals? How much trust is there?”

This sparked a lively debate among the marketers and strategists in the room. The consensus was that while intent signals and information are valuable for timing and making discussions contextually relevant, it’s crucial not to make it obvious that you’ve been tracking their activity.

A few helpful observations from the community:

• ‍Consider all buying signals – Brittany Meakin, GTM Planner at Gilroy: “The key to success lies not only in capturing intent signals but also in combining them with other indicators – such as engagement with marketing campaigns and feedback from sales teams – to create a more complete picture of each prospect.”‍
• Leverage Sales Navigator AI tools – Mik Lewicki, Agency Director at Infuse Media: “I leverage Sales Navigator’s AI-generated features highlight company pillars and challenges to help in crafting messaging. Be mindful of where prospects are in their buying journey and align your content accordingly.”‍
• Test your messaging – Paul Wright, Head of Media & Technology at Gilroy: “We test different messaging around products to match what prospects are searching for, if it doesn’t work we flex and we can capitalise on what works best.”

Getting the best results from 6sense to generate meetings

Joseph Ryan, BDR Manager at 8x8, highlighted a common issue: “There’s been initial distrust and lack of adoption with SDRs about 6sense.”

Many attendees shared their insights on fostering adoption across account teams, with some acknowledging this as a current or past challenge since implementing 6sense.

Paulo Moreira, Senior Customer Success Manager at 6sense, recommended getting your team Next-Gen Sales Certified, as this has been shown to boost both adoption and performance among SDRs and AEs.

Here are the other inputs:

• Clear 6QA workflow: Allocate accounts to SDRs and establish a clear process. Multi-threading across influencers and the full buying unit is crucial.
• Correct configurations: Ensure your 6sense settings are accurate to avoid poor intent signals. Maintain good account lists and conduct regular reviews.
• Incentivise SDRs: Offer initial incentives to SDRs. Once others see the success, they’ll follow suit.
• 2-way chatbots: Engage users in real-time to convert site visits into opportunities.

Preparing for 2025: Where ABM and GTM strategies meet

The discussion focused on how attendees can demonstrate ROI from 2024 ABM initiatives to secure continued budget and prepare for 2025. Many noted that ABM has already proven its value by shortening sales cycles through 6sense’s predictive analytics and aligning marketing efforts with revenue generation.

It was agreed that 6sense has been instrumental in showcasing pipeline revenue linked to marketing efforts. However, some attendees expressed frustration that their businesses still use MQLs as the primary KPI for campaigns. The consensus was that there needs to be a clear framework or consistent narrative across businesses for measuring ABM ROI. Metrics like account uplift and penetration from 6sense can help gauge interest and engagement with marketing-led initiatives.

By focusing on long-term alignment, embracing the customer experience, and fully utilising intent data, ABM leaders are positioning themselves for success as they move towards 2025. Platforms like 6sense will continue to play a critical role in this journey, providing deeper insights and more powerful tools for both marketing and sales teams.

If you missed the last event and are interesting in joining the discussion at the next RevCity User Group, register here to receive all the latest event news or reach out to Scott Pearson.