Observations
Internal Conflicts in ABM Implementation and How to Avoid Them
Implementing account-based marketing (ABM) is not just a matter of theory; it’s a real challenge for the team. A strategy designed for synergy can become a breaking point if there is no basic alignment of processes, goals, and responsibilities within the company.
ABM requires mature coordination between sales, marketing, and analytics. Otherwise, internal conflicts, budget battles, and the destruction of trust between departments will result instead of growth. This is especially evident when the strategy begins to change the established order: roles are revised, influence is redistributed, and metrics become shared.
Marketing can no longer operate within the logic of mass lead generation, and sales can no longer close just anyone. However, if the goals remain different and marketing continues to report on traffic while sales report on revenue, fragmentation arises. Each department considers its own metrics primary and the others’ secondary. Instead of a cohesive team, there are three autonomous groups incapable of delivering a shared result.
When Goals Diverge, the Team Begins to Stall
A common mistake when implementing ABM is allowing marketing and sales to continue operating as usual. Marketing continues to pursue reach, traffic, and the number of leads. Sales pursues quick deals that can be closed within the current quarter. Meanwhile, neither department considers the strategic goal of building trust and increasing conversion with key accounts.
In this scenario, each department begins to pull attention and resources toward itself. Marketing insists on additional investment in personalized content. Sales demands priority in travel, meetings, and access to data. The analytics department pushes for expanded tools and full access to the CRM. Without shared KPIs and priorities, all of this turns into a tug-of-war.
Instead of operating as a unified whole, the ABM team starts operating as separate performers, each defending their own area, metrics, and sphere of influence. Consequently, no one is directly responsible for the overall outcome, which does not appear at all.
Redistribution of Influence and Internal Resistance
ABM changes the external logic of interacting with customers and internal roles. Former areas of responsibility become blurred. For example, marketing is no longer the primary lead generator, and sales are no longer the sole point of customer contact. This creates internal discomfort. Some fear becoming irrelevant. Others fear losing control. Some simply do not understand why this transition is necessary when the old model “somehow worked.”
Those who have worked according to a well-established template for many years react particularly strongly. To them, ABM appears to be a passing management trend or just another “top-down initiative” that complicates their work. If communication is not established in time and key questions are not answered, specific goals and benefits are not demonstrated, the strategy will become just another reason for sabotage.
This resistance is not a weakness but a reaction to uncertainty. It is precisely management’s task to remove this uncertainty. This requires systematic work, such as training, discussions, feedback, and clear boundaries of responsibility, not slogans.
Communication: The Main Risk Zone When Launching ABM
Even with agreed-upon goals and a trained team, the strategy may fail if basic communication channels are disrupted. In ABM, you cannot afford “separate calendars” or backroom decisions. Every action must be integrated into the overall framework. Consider the following questions: Who is taking what step? When and why? What will it lead to? And how will it affect others?
Without constant synchronization, the team begins to act based on assumptions. Marketing creates materials without knowing what meetings Sales is preparing. Analysts build reports without understanding the nuances of negotiations. Salespeople complain about “raw” content even though they have not provided a single brief themselves. As a result, everyone operates in their own reality, and the strategy begins to fall apart.
Effective communication in ABM is not a “we’ll discuss it later” format. Rather, it requires daily alignment, where priorities, data, insights, and decisions are unified and accessible to all participants in the process. Without such an environment, even strong specialists work not toward results, but toward eliminating the consequences of systemic blindness.
The Role of the Leader: Conducting, Not Just Coordinating
An ABM team needs a conductor, not a controller. The leader manages tasks and maintains overall focus. The leader sets the rhythm and resolves conflicts before they escalate into open confrontation. The leader sets the tone with open feedback, personal accountability, and a focus on results rather than reporting.
They articulate goals in a way that requires no additional interpretation. They define roles for synchronized work, not for formality. They take responsibility for failures and help the team see the cause-and-effect relationships between actions and outcomes. Within their scope of control are tasks, motivation, and the culture of interaction.
Everything depends on how well the ABM team leader understands the mechanics of internal processes. In this strategy, there are no small things. Any deviation from the agreed-upon course of action in one department results in costs, losses, and breakdowns in another.
Why Preparation Is More Important Than the Strategy Itself
If you want ABM to be successful, preparation must begin in advance. Not with a beautiful presentation, but with a plan to reorganize processes. With KPI alignment. Resource allocation should not cause disputes. It should include training in which everyone understands how their work will change and what they are responsible for now. There must be an agreement on change management so that every new stage is perceived as a predictable part of the journey, not a cause for panic.
ABM is not about getting off to a quick start. It is a strategy in which the winner is not necessarily the one who started first, but rather, the one who has persevered without self-destructing. It is a team model, not a set of functions. Without mutual respect, transparency, and systematic interaction within the team, no marketing innovation will help.
ABM Requires Maturity, Not a Trend
Without alignment within the company, ABM is ineffective. If there is, ABM accelerates. There are no intermediate scenarios. ABM is not “just another way to work with clients,” but rather a complete restructuring of interaction logic, including internally.
The market does not allow for a second attempt. In conditions of high competition and long sales cycles, you must know how to work in sync, or you will lose to those who do. The key to success is not the strategy. It’s the people and how they interact with each other.
