Pick One Account, Prove It, Scale It: Executive ABM Without the Lip Service (with Chris Moody from Demandbase) | Ep. 222

Nov 13, 2025

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Scrappy ABM host Mason Cosby sits down with Chris Moody from Demandbase to confront why so many ABM programs have failed inside B2B organizations that “tried ABM” over the last five or six years. The conversation centers on executives who launch impressive strategy decks and shiny new initiatives without changing real behavior, staying close to sales, or aligning on who does what when the rubber hits the road. Chris calls out the pattern of marketing introducing “ABM” as a new object to sellers who have always focused on high-value accounts, and why that tension stalls programs before they start.

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Together, Mason and Chris walk through starting with one account, proving a different, more coordinated way of working, and then scaling what actually works. They dig into buying groups, resource allocation, dedicated ABM leadership, and why celebration of wins matters. Most importantly, they offer a human test for alignment: whether sales would actually choose to spend time with marketing outside the conference room.

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👤 Guest Bio

Chris Moody is the chief evangelist at Demandbase and has spent years around the ABM space, including time at TOPO and Gartner. In this conversation, he brings a practical, sales-first lens to account-based programs, leadership alignment, and coordinated go-to-market execution.

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📌 What We Cover

Why many well-intentioned executive-led ABM initiatives fail when marketing doesn’t truly talk to sales or align on metrics, ownership, and execution.
How “new shiny object” ABM pitches can feel like a slap in the face to sellers who have always focused on high-value accounts.
The two paths after the leadership meeting: lip service and Slack messages vs. real behavior change, clear roles, and shared work.
Starting scrappy: picking one account, one seller, and one cross-functional group to prove a new, more personal, more relevant, more strategic approach.
The role of a dedicated account-based leader and cross-functional pods that pull in sales, marketing, customer success, events, and social as needed.
How CMOs can walk in “hat in hand,” join calls, understand buying groups, and reallocate people, time, and budget toward the highest-value accounts.
Why celebrating wins, sharing stories, and weekly communication (like Moody’s “M5”) reinforce trust and momentum across teams.
The “dinner test” and direct Slack messages as simple signals that sales and marketing are genuinely aligned, not just aligned on paper.

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🔗 Resources Mentioned

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