Evolution of ABM in Modern Demand Generation
A conversation with Rick Collins, VP of Demand Generation at Connectwise.
“We’ve hit what I call the Great Ignore. Everyone’s overwhelmed with messages across channels… even the good ones are getting ignored.”
In the past 12–18 months, pipeline generation has become increasingly challenging. Rising revenue goals and shrinking budgets have pushed marketing teams into a corner. Traditional tactics—especially high-volume lead generation—are no longer effective. In this environment, Account-Based Marketing (ABM) has emerged as a vital strategy. But to truly succeed, teams must rethink how they define ABM, how they align with sales, and how they scale through integrated processes.
This blog, based on a Revenue Lounge podcast episode with Rick Collins, VP of Demand Generation at ConnectWise, is your deep dive into:
The evolution of ABM in modern demand gen
Aligning go-to-market teams
Building operational systems for scale
Tools, data, and attribution best practices
Key lessons Rick learned the hard way
From IT to Demand Gen: Rick's Unconventional Path
Rick’s journey began in IT—working in QA, implementation, and CRM systems. Over time, he gravitated toward marketing operations, and eventually demand generation.
“I bring a different lens to demand gen. I’ve built the ops side first, which gave me an appreciation of data, systems, and how to scale programs with precision.”
He was the first marketing ops hire at ConnectWise, scaled the team through multiple acquisitions, and later took over demand gen during one of the toughest periods for pipeline creation in SaaS.
The Death of Traditional Lead Generation
Rick calls out three seismic changes that made legacy demand gen ineffective:
The Rise of the Empowered Buyer: Buyers now reach 80–90% of the way through the journey before contacting a vendor.
Digital Fatigue: Automation misuse has saturated inboxes and weakened outreach quality.
Market Competition: More players, more noise, and higher ad costs.
“We used to be a lead-gen machine. Now it’s all about understanding signals, providing value, and making every touchpoint count.”
Strategies That Actually Work
Rick’s team has focused on three core strategies to cut through the clutter:
1. Provide Thought Leadership Without Selling
Publish content that helps the audience do their job better.
Avoid product mentions in early stages.
“The more we can help you without asking for anything, the more trust we build.”
2. Respond Fast When Intent is Declared
If someone shows intent, ensure a quick, seamless follow-up.
Architect systems for real-time handoff to sales.
3. Revive Direct Mail
Physical mail cuts through the noise and makes an impact.
Combine gifting with value-driven messaging.
“You send me a direct mail piece—I’m going to see it. It stands out.”
ABM is Not a Tool. It’s a Strategic Motion
“Start with the strategy. Don’t buy the tool until you know what you want to achieve.”
Too many organizations make the mistake of buying an ABM platform before defining their motion. Rick recommends starting small and proving success manually.
MQLs vs Buying Groups: A Nuanced Approach
Rick doesn’t claim MQLs are dead—but they are misunderstood. The definition varies drastically across companies. What’s more effective? Tracking buying group signals.
“We’re operating under the buying group model in our upmarket motion. One person may raise their hand, but we’re watching the whole committee.”
MQL vs Buying Group Comparison:
| Criteria | MQL | Buying Group |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | Individual | Committee/Swarm |
| Common in | SMB | Enterprise, Mid-market |
| Trigger | Email open, form fill | Intent + multiple touchpoints |
| Limitation | Ignores influence | Holistic engagement |
| Ideal motion | Automated lead nurture | High-touch ABM |
Solving Attribution & Measurement Challenges
“We use cohort reporting to measure ABM. Attribution is helpful, but it’s directional.”
Attribution is complex—especially when sales teams don’t tag every contact or touchpoint in CRM. Rick’s solution is cohort-based reporting:
Cohort Reporting Process:
Choose a set of 500 target accounts
Launch a defined campaign or series of campaigns
Measure:
Pipeline creation
Opportunity conversion
Win rates
Double-click into successful accounts and identify what worked
Aligning with Sales: The Non-Negotiable Element
“If sales isn’t bought in, it’s just marketing playing by themselves. It doesn’t work.”
Rick emphasizes that sales buy-in is crucial. Here’s his playbook for driving that alignment:
Sales Alignment Checklist:
Joint Sales-Marketing ABM Execution Plan
| Phase | Action | Owner |
| Account Selection | Agree on Tier 1 accounts | Sales + Marketing |
| Persona Mapping | Identify roles & pains | Marketing |
| Messaging | Customize value stories | Marketing + Enablement |
| Outreach | Sequence delivery | SDRs + Reps |
| Follow-Up | Meetings & nurture | Sales |
| Reporting | Track cohort progress | Ops |
Tech Stack and Data Activation: A Pragmatic View
“Tools won’t fix your strategy. They help scale what’s already working.”
Rick breaks the ABM tech landscape into three layers:
Signal Aggregation – intent data, website visits, email behavior.
Activation – digital ads, gifting, outreach.
Measurement – pipeline contribution, cohort lift, influence.
His recommendation: push data into Salesforce and trigger workflows from there. Otherwise, data sits idle.
“We built a prospecting dashboard showing intent scores, untouched accounts, and pipeline priority. Next step: automate the whole motion.”
Balancing Short-Term Metrics vs Long-Term Relationship Building
“If someone has the answer to balancing short- and long-term pipeline generation, I’m all ears.”
Rick’s team avoids meeting-based comp for SDRs. Instead, they’re measured on accepted pipeline and closed-won influence. But this is still a work-in-progress.
SDR Measurement: Old vs New
| Model | Meeting-Based | Pipeline-Influence-Based |
| Pros | Easy to track | Aligned with revenue |
| Cons | Short-term focus | Complex to implement |
| Outcome | Flimsy meetings | Better qualified pipeline |
The Power of Insightful Personalization
A campaign that stood out to Rick? A vendor targeting ConnectWise built a hyper-personalized series referencing his CMO’s Boston roots and even tied it to Tom Brady.
“It wasn’t just clever—it was relevant. And it solved a real pain. That’s what made it stick.”
Lesson: Don’t just personalize. Make it insightful and timely.
Final Lessons Learned
“We made two big mistakes early on: Lack of executive alignment and poor account selection.”
What Rick Would Do Differently:
Spend more time aligning with sales leadership.
Don’t rely only on systems to pick accounts—get sales input early.
“Sales will throw out your list if even one account looks off. And then you’ve lost them.”
Conclusion: Context is Everything
“As a demand gen leader, 60% of my job is setting context. Why does this matter? Why should our CRO care?”
Rick’s approach blends strategy, systems thinking, and human alignment. ABM success isn’t about tech or tactics—it’s about trust, process, and focus.
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More Resources
How to Strategically Engage and Conquer Buying committees
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5 Steps to Navigate Buying Groups in 2025: A RevOps Guide
5 Steps to Navigate Buying Groups in 2025: A RevOps Guide RevOps 10 min In today’s business environment, B2B buying is never just one person. According to Forrester Research, more than half of global business buyers purchase in complex buying scenarios that include more people, more departments, and generally higher price points. And this buying group can be made up of 7 to 20 people! Unlocking the power of buying groups is a crucial aspect of the B2B landscape. This blog is a synopsis of our conversation with revenue operations leader, Nandini Karkare. She is currently the SVP of RevOps at Zywave. Nandini suggests strategic steps to navigate through the realms of Revenue Operations and helps uncover the strategies, insights, and best practices that constitute a comprehensive guide to mastering the dynamics of buying groups. Read on to get actionable tips on how you can navigate buying groups in 2025 (and beyond). And implement the learnings to create a winning GTM motion. Here are the 5 steps Nandini recommends: 1. Decode Your Buying Groups The buying groups typically consist of members from departments and they all contribute different aspects. It is critical to understand the scope of decision-making including the people who play the most significant roles in making the call. Gartner’s report on B2B Buying highlights that 77% of B2B purchases involve a buying group of four or more people. PS: The key stakeholder can turn out someone altogether different from who you had building a relationship with all along. a. Capturing Buying Group Members Effective buying group management means considering not just decision-makers but influential stakeholders across departments. Misidentifying key players or focusing solely on the main contact risks derailing the sale. (i) How can you map the entire buying group efficiently? Leverage internal and external data to identify the key players Segment the Group by Role and Influence (ii) Not everyone in the buying group holds equal power or influence. Segment them into categories: Decision-makers (who give the final heads-up) Influencers (who sway the decision) Users (who use the product and provide feedback) Budget owners b. The Role Transition Within a Buying Group Moving the focus from a buying group to a renewal or expansion committee includes knowing precisely who remains in the relationship, as well as who becomes more active as an account grows. (i) New roles may emerge in a Buying Group Technical or operational leaders may become more influential post sale, since they are now using the product. (ii) The focus shifts from buying to renewal The interaction should be more about the return on investment (ROI) of the product placed on the market, ongoing value delivery, and ongoing needs. (iii) Alignment between the buying groups and renewal committee Leveraging the same enthusiasm and relationships generated at the first-buying stage helps in anchoring the transitions and preventing any drop-offs in engagement. Related Resource: Navigate Enterprise Buying Committees: Strategies for Driving Alignment c. Understand the Personal and Collective Priorities of a Buying Group As per McKinsey & Company, B2B buying decisions increasingly require engagement across departments, with 60% of purchasing committees including members from outside traditional procurement, like IT and HR. 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This helps in understanding the customer needs better. iv. Dive into Your CRM Understand your CRM (whether Salesforce or HubSpot) to assess how the data is organized. This is to check whether it’s easy to use, and identify immediate improvements. The CRM should be the central source of truth, with other tools supporting it. The data should be unified with easier adoption for the teams. v. Build Trust Internally Establish trust within your teams by listening carefully, asking questions about how RevOps can help, and addressing quick fixes to show you’re there to help. Having this trust shows them that you’re here to support their success. Quick wins, such as small fixes that make people’s jobs easier, helps in establishing credibility early. 2. Establish Clear KPIs i. Understanding Team KPIs It is important to ask you stakeholders about the KPIs that matter to understand their goals and what their expectations are. ii. Aligning KPIs Across Teams Different departments oftentimes work in silos. RevOps should strive to align these departments and check if these KPIs match the overall business objectives. Gaps must be closed if their KPIs don’t align. iii. Setting RevOps KPIs As you approach the end of the first 30 days, start establishing RevOps-specific KPIs that match company goals, which may involve metrics like revenue increase, conversion rates, or improvements in overall efficiency. 3. Tech Stack Audit Deep dive into the existing tools that your company is using. Identify all redundancies, and find opportunities to streamline the entire tech stack. i. Map Out Tools Compile a list of all tools used by teams, noting their purpose and how they work with the CRM. ii. Evaluate Use and Cost Determine if tools are actively used or if there are duplicates. Look for cost-saving opportunities by consolidating tools when possible. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVDJ9KI1tGw&t=869s Next 30 days – Alignment and Control The next 30 days marks a shift from discovery to alignment. The goals should be to create cohesion between departments (e.g., Sales, Marketing) and laying down effective controls. The improvements need to be implemented without overwhelming the teams. This phase combines