Fullfunnel.io

At Fullfunnel.io we are growing B2B companies with long and complex sales cycles since 2006.

We were and still are “in trenches”, know the lowdown of these businesses, and bring to the table our 30+ years of combined experience and knowledge.

I've been selling and marketing B2B tech and services since 2006. 

What makes Fullfunnel.io different?

1. Ins and outs of selling to enterprise

Coming from the mid-market and enterprise world, I know all the ins and outs of selling to these segments: the research and evaluation processes, decision-making procedures inside the buying committee and the approval workflows.

We’ve been there, done that, and know how to generate opportunities with these segments and influence the decision-making processes.

2. Niche experience

While we could help many B2B business, since 2007 we focus exclusively on two verticals: high-value B2B tech (enterprise SaaS, blockchain technology, hardware) and service-based companies (software development, consulting, cybersecurity, DevOps as a service, etc).

We were and still are “in the trenches”, know the lowdown of these businesses, so you’ll get access to 30+ years of our combined experience and knowledge.

3. Knowledge transfer and in-house operations

We believe that the real growth can only be driven in-house. You need to have people who are in the trenches every day, talking to customers, experiencing the sales hurdles, refining the messages and positioning.

We join your team as external marketing advisors, provide consistent support and training including step-by-step playbooks, templates, marketing and sales dashboards, tech stack and process maps.

As a result, you get an evergreen in-house growth engine.

Co-founder

Trenches - B2B marketing community

Trenches — a community created by B2B marketers for B2B marketers who are in the trenches every day getting their hands dirty in growing B2B companies with high ACV and long sales cycles.

We talk about ABM (account-based marketing), marketing-sourced pipeline, demand generation, lead nurturing, GTM strategy, buyer’s journey, and all other hot topics that are ignored in the sales communities.

Community is FOREVER FREE.

Co-Founder

6-Week ABM Playbook

An actionable account-based marketing playbook and training to consistently land sales opportunities with your dream clients in 6 weeks or faster. 

Cut through the noise and get busy decision makers to respond to your campaigns without spammy outreach, wasting money on enterprise tech stack or expensive ip-based advertising, and significant shifts in the company’s organization.

The account-based marketing strategy and campaigns we are sharing in this playbook can be executed by a team of 2 people (1 marketer + 1 sales) on a Ramen budget.

Author

Scale XL

Helping B2B entrepreneurs install a reliable process to predictably fill their pipeline with high-value clients. 

Scale XL process addresses the 4 critical challenges of client relationship building:

1. TARGETING: identify, target and engage with more of YOUR business’ ideal potential clients, not someone else’s. 
2. ATTRACTING: define, create and communicate compelling messages that cut through the noise and clearly establish your business as a natural answer to your ideal potential client’s problems.
3. QUALIFYING: qualifying which prospects are ideal for YOUR business and which of them are ready, and then applying different processes to sales-ready leads and those that need nurturing.
4. ROI: fix low return and underwhelming results of B2B marketing 

Scale XL relies on a process to build relationships with more key decision makers in your market by targeting, attracting and nurturing your ideal clients, not someone else’s.

And if your business is anything like 100+ niche B2B software and service companies I’ve helped before, it’s likely that my methodology could help you do just that.

To find out if this process can work for your business, feel free to get in touch here, or visit our website at scalexl.com.

Founder

Lean Startup Circle Brussels

We're a group of entrepreneurs taking lean startup and customer development techniques to practice in our startups. We're ready to talk implementation and share data from our experiments.

http://www.meetup.com/lean-brussels/

Every meetup addresses a different (lean) startup topic (minimum viable products, go to market, sales for startups, customer interviews...)

Most startups fail not because they fail to execute and build their product, but because they fail to build a viable business around it. Lean startup helps us validate our business model as fast as possible. Lean startup is a collection of techniques built around maximizing validated customer learning thought fast Build/Measure/Learn iteration loops.

*The Lean Startup is a trademark and service mark owned by Eric Ries.*

Co-Founder and Organizer

Growth Hacking Belgium

Your new business went online yesterday and you've got a marketing budget of zero. How are you supposed to create a movement around your product? How can you get to your first thousand - or million - customers? Starting from zero, it feels impossible. Enter the growth hacker. You may not have heard of growth hacking yet, but you've certainly used the billion dollar brands built by it: Hotmail, AirBnB, Facebook, Dropbox, amongst many others. This group is for people who want to adopt the growth hacker mindset. It is all about sharing hands-on tactics that bring you results.

Grant Snap

Grant Snap is an online service that helps you get your innovation funded by providing guidance in preparing winning R&D grant proposals.

€375 billion gets granted annually in the EU. Get your share.

Sirris

I help software companies in different phases of product development and innovation:
•	For entrepreneurs: to turn their ideas into viable product concepts by applying customer development and lean startup™ methodologies
•	For companies building product for early adopters: introduce flexibility needed to quickly respond to new opportunities and changing customer requests 
•	For companies shifting their focus from customer to market: to master product management
•	For companies established in a market: to deal with increasing product complexity and how to differentiate through innovation

Account Manager Software Industry

Development activities (middleware components of a distributed data storage system, test management system, framework and tools used for automation of system tests) 

Participating in introduction of agile methodologies in two R&amp;D teams and setting up test automation infrastructure

Senior Software Engineer

Sony

Participating in the transition of an R&amp;D team into a product development organization 

Development activities (several packages of DVB MHP standard for digital television, an integrated environment used for development, execution and automatic reporting of functional tests for digital television)

Setting up a test department (conceiving a test strategy and infrastructure, test specifications/reviews, recruiting, supervising and training of testing personnel)

Full-funnel ABM for B2B brands with 5+ figure deals | Co-Founder @ FullFunnel.io

You need more pipeline that turns into revenue. But:
- Most marketing leads never convert to deals
- ⁠Outbound is in continuous decline 
- All the investments in trendy programs, agencies or tech didn’t move the needle. 

It’s time to try implementing full-funnel sales and marketing programs. 

Why? 

So you can:
- Accelerate this quarter’s revenue while building the future pipeline
- ⁠Convert 5-15% accounts to pipeline
- ⁠Bring marketing and sales teams together to drive the KPI that matters the most: sales velocity. 

We helped dozens of B2B tech companies implement full-funnel marketing and sales programs with 10%+ account-to-pipeline ratio. 

We will take your team by the hand and together, implement a scoped pilot program with clear milestones to prove the key KPIs, before investing in operationalization and scaling. 

To learn more or ask me anything, connect with me here or visit our website at fullfunnel.io



Vladimir Blagojević

Accounts that fit your ICP ≠ buying intent. Instead of wasting SDRs' time and ads budget, segment your accounts into three lists:

1. CLUSTER ICP
= Vendor unaware + Product need unknown

🎯 Goal: Build brand awareness at scale
📢 Marketing: Cluster-based demand gen
🤝 Sales: light touch, <10% of effort (e.g. connect with DMs and Champions)
📊 Opportunity likelihood: <5%

2. FUTURE PIPELINE
= Vendor aware + Product need unknown

🎯 Goal: Validate product need & nurture
📢 Marketing: Cluster-based demand gen, feature in content
🤝 Sales: multi-touch, 30% effort (progressive profiling, connect with buying committee, trigger-based engagement, invite to ABM events...)
📊 Opportunity likelihood: <30%

3. ACTIVE FOCUS 
= Vendor aware + Product need evidence strong

🎯 Goal: Sales opportunities
📢 Marketing: Personalized content, interviews, gifting
🤝 Sales: 1:1, 60% effort (multi-threaded engagement, personalized offers, strategy sessions...)
📊 Opportunity likelihood: High

----

The impact when you align your playbooks to this routing:
→ SDRs stop wasting time on unaware accounts
→ Stop irrelevant personalization 
→ Ad spend has higher returns
→ Marketing-sourced revenue increases
→ You build future pipeline while accelerating this quarter's deals

Full-Funnel ABM and Demand Gen For B2B Companies w/ High ACV | Co-Founder @ FullFunnel.io

No VP of Sales ever said: "I expect marketing to orchestrate our engagement playbooks". 
Yet this is what often happens with ABM:

Marketing:

- Creates multiple sales playbooks & engagement sequences
- Designs timeline
- Add best practices

Then, marketing shares with sales 87-pages deck and asks to implement.
One month later: "Sales doesn't use our playbooks and content".

This year we've interviewed two dozen enterprise B2B Saas VP of Sales to dive deeper into the challenges they want to solve with ABM and get marketing hands-on help.

Here are 5 core areas:

1. AWARENESS AMONG STRATEGIC ACCOUNTS

Awareness is not created by running more ads, drip personalized nurturing and outbound cadences.

Awareness is not created by creating more AI content nobody is going to read.

Awareness is created through the engagement with ICP ecocystem:

- High-quality thought leadership program with SMEs & execs
- Top-notch events
- Collaborations and direct engagement with the target accounts
- Constant engagement with the communities and thought leaders

2. CONTENT THAT CHALLENGES THE STATUS QUO

Modern B2B buyers don't need one more "How to cut your costs" whitepaper. Modern buyers want to see:

- Industry trends and stats
- Concrete practical examples and best practices: dashboards, workflows, templates
- How to challenge an internal inertia and status quo

In most cases, sales don't use marketing content because it doesn't fall in any of these categories. 

3. COMPLETE ACCOUNT ENGAGEMENT

Most organizations use lead handoff as a default function:

MQL generated -> assign to SDR.
Webinar signed up -> Assign to SDR

In 2026 to cut through the noise you need to have a holistic visibility:

- Who engaged with what content and ads
- What were historical interactions
- When was a spike in high-intent page visits
- Which events buying committee members has attended

This way sales move from desperate pitching to meaningful 1-1 account planning.

4. BUYER ENABLEMENT

You don't win deals with fancy pitch decks. You win when your Champion can sell your product at the next internal meeting.

Sales can create business cases showing challenges, cost of inaction, and recommended solutions.

But they need marketing's help with:

- Product screenshots that address specific buyer questions
- Relevant customer testimonials and references
- Data snapshots

5. CLEAR MESSAGING

Nothing frustrates sales more than prospects asking: "But what exactly does your product do?"

--- 

In many organization, sales ignore marketing, don't buy in for joint programs like ABM, and gate-keep access to customers. 

How to fix this:

- Make both functions revenue-responsible
- Get fundamental alignment on GTM strategy (ICP, buyer journey, value prop, metrics)
- Fix knowledge gaps through joint planning, involvement of SMEs
- Define a small pilot team on one market/vertical
- Run regular pipeline review meetings during the pilot
- Document and share results before scaling

Why Sales Ignore Marketing

What's marketing role in sales outreach and engagement?

A VP at Snowflake got this question at a sales summit:
"How can a rep get your attention with cold outreach?"

His answer: "You can't."

"I don't trust cold outreach. But if someone I trust vouches for the solution, I'll take a look."

This is the reality for most enterprise buyers.

They ignore cold outreach, skip your ads, filter out your nurture emails.

But they listen to their team, peers and trusted industry voices.

That's why your ABM team can't just target buyers.
(and why marketing needs to own part of the engagement)

Here's how to engage the entire ecosystem around your buyers:

1. Peer-to-peer multithreading

The other day I heard from a VP of Sales: "it's hard for a young SDR to get the attention from a senior executive".

Their solution? Their CEO and CMO regularly share thought leadership insight on LinkedIn, and book senior executives as guests on on their podcast.

2. Non-decision makers with influence

Back to the Snowflake VP: "The best way to get my attention is to have my team bring something to me."

Executives rarely care about the tactical problem your product solves.

Here's how it works: A power user experiences a problem daily (e.g. losing candidates to poor hiring experience). That problem impacts a business objective the executive does care about (e.g. slowing market expansion).

You engage the power user. They bring it to their boss when the problem comes up. 

3. Industry peers

People trust their peers more than they trust vendors.

Our buyers mention they discovered our content because someone from their network engaged or shared it. Often someone who will never buy from us.

The more you're present and connect to people from the industry, the more your brand or content get recommended.

4. Industry voices 

These can be leaders in renown companies, leaders from technology partners, or even local "micro-influencers" known in a city or a region.

We regularly host partner webinars, local partner events in target locations, and run an annual summit with people respected by our buyers. 

5. Niche media and communities

Event organizers, industry media companies, communities and podcasts. 

♜ Arthur Castillo shared: "The best community sponsorships weren't standard packages. They were custom programs: co-hosting research, integrated campaigns, or bringing community members to our dinners in key cities."

--- 

Cold sales outreach won't get you in the door with senior buyers.

But when the whole team builds relationships across the ecosystem, you become known, and increase the chance of ending up in their consideration set.  

That's the shift: marketing isn't just generating leads and providing air cover.

Marketing creates trust, presence, and recommendations in the networks your buyers already rely on.

P.S. Andrei Zinkevich and me are breaking down the role of marketing in ABM on our next Full-Funnel Live: 
https://bit.ly/48azQnB

ABM ≠ industry & persona personalization. This misses: 
- Actions matching buyer intent & awareness
- Progressive discovery & personalization 

Here's a framework that shows this more clearly. 

1. Level of intent (vertical axis)

- TAM*:  Any company that could potentially use your solution (e.g. My HR solution is used by companies 200+ employees)
- ICP*:  Companies matching your ideal profile (e.g. 200+ people tech companies who are actively hiring)
- Cluster: Priority segment with competitive advantage (e.g. SaaS companies with distributed dev teams, hiring remote developers)
- Need:  Validated problem that needs solving
- Buying: High-priority, can't postpone, actively looking for solutions

(* yes, I know that strictly speaking "TAM" and "ICP" are about fit, rather than intent - but look at my drawing skills, do you think I could draw a 3D diagram?)


2. Level of awareness (horizontal axis)

- Cold: No awareness of your solution
- Aware: Know what you do, no relationship yet
- Relationship: Active back & forth conversation
- Meeting: Discovery calls with buying committee members


3. Aligning actions w/ level of intent and awareness

ANY + TAM → Qualify. Do they fit our ICP?
COLD + ICP → Create awareness
AWARE + ICP → Research to uncover cluster and account insights
AWARE + Cluster → Build relationships, start progressive discovery
RELATIONSHIP + ICP or Cluster → Validate the need through progressive discovery
RELATIONSHIP + Need → Book discovery calls
MEETINGS BOOKED → Discover needs, priorities, stakeholders. Create the opportunity.

(In practice, we use a simpler framework with three lists:
- Cluster ICP: Researched accounts, unaware, unknown need. Goal: create awareness.
- Future Pipeline: Vendor aware, need unknown. Goal: validate need and build relationships.
- Active Focus: Validated need, established relationship. Goal: book discovery calls and create opportunities.)


4. Progressive discovery and personalization 

By progressive discovery, I mean: 
- Account research 
- Progressively gathering insider information, challenges and priorities shared by target buyers via
→ Content collabs
→ Webinar polls/Q&As/registration forms
→ Social and email conversations
→ Transcribed interviews and calls

With each new insight, personalization becomes better. 

--- 

The mistake? Assuming that industry and persona personalization is enough. 

In reality
- Same industry ≠ same challenges. Relevant personalization requires deeper insight 
- Most relevant insights come from buyer conversations 
- Outreach by unknown people gets ignored even when relevant

Industry-based ABM v.s. Use Case-Based ABM. 

If your product has multiple use cases, stop targeting industry verticals, and start targeting clusters.

VERTICAL-BASED ABM 

Most ABM programs create vertical-based list, messaging and content. 

But if those accounts have different use-cases and challenges, you risk ending with content and messaging that's either: 
- Irrelevant to the majority of accounts you target
- Generic, “common denominator” messaging that doesn’t differentiate you and doesn’t address the highest priority need

CLUSTER-BASED ABM

Cluster: group of companies with a similar challenge/use-case, despite their tier or vertical.

With cluster targeting you can:

- Cut through the generic noise with messaging, content and case studies that address the highest priority need that's top of their mind
- Differentiate in a way that matters to them (by showing how you're supporting that use-case better than competitors)
- Focus on accounts with a high probability to become a sales opportunity instead of just chasing vertical Tier 1 accounts

EXAMPLE 

As an ABM lead for Hubspot, I might create an ABM program for B2B SaaS companies. After all, they all need sales and marketing tools. It’s also helpful to have industry related assets, case studies and messaging. 

But different SaaS companies have different buying triggers: 

- Switching from a legacy system, because they lack functionality and integrations
- Companies that want to start ABM but their CRM/marketing platform don’t support it
- Startups that outgrew their separate siloed tools

You can already see how each of these use-cases deserves completely different messaging. 

---

Once you've defined the clusters, the next step is mapping accounts to them.

Here is how.

1. Export all your won deals and segment them by use-case

2. Group all accounts by use-case and compare revenue metrics 

- Revenue
- Average deal size 
- Sales cycle length
- Lifetime value 
- # of successful case studies 

You'll be able to make an unbiased decision which clusters have a higher priority.

3. Select a top cluster aligned with your goals and run deal analysis 
- Top 5 clients by LTV/ACV
- Top 5 fastest deals
- Recent 5 lost deals

4. Extract patterns

- Firmographics
- Technographics
- Buying committee structure
- Won and lost reasons
- Signals and account insights that signal the specific use-case

5. Develop a cluster ICP with qualification & disqualification criteria

--- 

Now you can build a highly targeted list of accounts that are more likely to convert into pipeline and be a good fit, and align your program with their high priority needs. 

We recently published results and a breakdown of four programs where a switch to cluster-based ABM generated $7 million in pipeline: 
https://lnkd.in/dZWKNAbC

You have one quarter. 20% of content marketer's time. And you need to generate pipeline.

What do you do? 

1. Place smart bets

Look at your best recent deals and figure out WHY they purchased.

What was the underlying business objective? Why now? Why you?

Drill down to specific attributes, needs, pain points, events and situations so you can:

- Find other accounts with similar needs and priorities (=account cluster)
- Understand what will attract their attention

2. Plan an educational event 6-8 weeks into the quarter

The event (webinar, field event) should address a key challenge or transformation that accounts from the target cluster need to solve.

Why events work:

- Focuses the team on a concrete deliverable 
- Forces them to break down generic challenges into specific jobs to be done, problems, solutions and root causes — then connect them into a narrative
- Each element of the event narrative becomes a LinkedIn post
- Creates a natural milestone with a hard deadline
- Genuinely useful to target accounts

3. Turn the event into LinkedIn content for sales

Sales shares content directly from their profiles because
- They connect daily with buyers
- It creates opportunities to start conversations 

This also shortens the feedback loop: you see which content resonates and leads to conversations. 

4. Break content into three streams 

#1 Expert content (Goal: Nurturing). 
Infographics, templates, proprietary data, how-tos
→ positions sales as trusted advisors
→ each post becomes input for the event deck

#2 Curated content (Goal: Engagement). 
Collaborations, roundups, co-created posts
→ pulls in voices of buyers, peers, partners
→ lets sales use collaborations to start conversations and get insight from target buyers

#3 1:1 account content (Goal: Awareness). 
"Account love letters" and personalized content hubs tailored to specific high-potential accounts
→ guaranteed awareness at target accounts
→ works incredibly well to start conversations with buyers

5. Repurpose outputs

Each piece of content feeds into the next:

LinkedIn --> Event Deck --> Content Hub 
Content collabs (& webinar polls) --> LinkedIn --> Event --> Market research report 

--- 

This is the process we use with clients and for FullFunnel.

In Q4, we did it for a cluster of B2B companies struggling to prove marketing attribution to pipeline while juggling executive pressure to do more with AI.

Results:
- 12 new posts
- 1072 webinar signups 
- 160 people shared their top priorities and challenges with us 
- 52 accounts with deeper back&forth conversations 
- 2 new closed-won deals 

The step most companies struggle with?

Selecting a cluster where they have a highest chance to win, and linking it to a content strategy that will cut through the noise, and help sales start conversations. 

Andrei and me are  breaking this down in detail on the next Full-Funnel Live: 
https://bit.ly/4pSSPZN

Do reps even matter, if 80% B2B buyers buy from vendors they preferred BEFORE contact with sales? 

Here's what Jon Miller says (quoting Kerry Cunningham's update of 6sense's B2B Buyer Experience Report for 2025):  

1. SALES RELATIONSHIPS AS BRAND AWARENESS 

Reps are a critical part of building your brand preference and awareness. 68% of buyers *personally knew a seller* from the winning company before the buying process began (Kerry’s research).

We see this over and over again. The teams who involve salespeople early in the buying process always see way better results from their programs. 

2. PREVIOUS VENDOR EXPERIENCE > BRAND AWARENESS

95% of net-new wins came from *existing vendor relationships* - not just brand awareness. 

For new business deals: 
- 48% already bought from that vendor
- 13% used the vendor at a prior company
- 34% evaluated the vendor (but didn't buy)

And get this: less than 5% had no direct experience but were familiar with the brand.

The disheartening conclusion here: our efforts to build a brand have a very small effect (5%). 

Category leaders - companies with the biggest market share - have an enormous advantage. 

But what should the rest of us do? 

Jon's advice: 
✅ Hire sellers with experience selling to your core ICP
✅ Give them time and air cover to build relationships outside active buying cycles
✅ When you lose a deal, make sure you have complete notes, named champions, mapped stakeholders, and a clear path to reconsideration. Because that "loss" might be the reason you win the next opportunity

I'd add: 

☑ Double down on expansion and renewal programs 

And practically, in your net-new programs: 

PRIORITIZE accounts with: 
☑ Buyers who are a former customer 
☑ Existing relationships 

INCREASE "RELATIONSHIPS AS BRAND AWARENESS" by:
☑ Letting sellers work on future pipeline and relationships, too
☑ Increasing the footprint in target accounts by multithreading 
☑ Involve non-sellers (your subject-matter experts, executives...) with industry connections 

MEASURE:
☑ Don't only measure revenue from won deals, but also relationships, target account footprint, and ALL qualified net-new opportunities (remember: lost opportunities account for 34% of future won deals). 

Because, as Jon puts it, the deals you win next quarter were decided 6 months ago.

"Can you give examples of 1:1 content? And the format you deliver it in?"

Here are three examples, along with a step-by-step how-to. 

EXAMPLE 1. Account Love Letter 

Example: "Here is how I'd optimize the new enterprise pipeline ABM strategy for multi-regional B2B tech company like Agicap."
(https://lnkd.in/ebUxaR6w)

Format: LinkedIn post + content hub + 1:1 messages. 

How to: 

1. Every week, check new engagement and intent signals for your target accounts 

2. Identify accounts that reach criteria to be promoted 
- From Cluster ICP to Future Pipeline list (e.g. repeated visits to high intent pages + 1+ named buyer engaged via social or newsletter or webinar)
- From Future Pipeline to Active Focus (e.g. provided insight about priority problem via progressive profiling)

3. Run account research and define blind spots 

- Map the buying committee, their responsibility and KPIs 
- Research information we need to know about the target account to create relevant content and a personalised offer (e.g. they started an expansion to a new region, challenges: lack of brand awareness in target regions, stronger local competition...)
- Plan touchpoints to get insider information (=progressive profiling)

4. Plan the activities you will use 

In this example, Andrei Zinkevich created the "account love letter" LinkedIn post, and used it to connect to the members of the buying committee. He also created a personalized content hub and used in in follow up (see below). 

EXAMPLE 2. Personalized Solution 

Example: "What do cycling and complex B2B SaaS have in common?"

Format: 1:1 letter sent in a parcel with a book about the prospect's hoby (Alpine cycling). 

How to (continued): 

5. Start mapping your value proposition with the identified KPIs, goals, and challenges of every buying committee member.
6. Write a 1-page personalized solution for target buying committee members. Include:
- Context
- How exactly your product helps to achieve their goals or solve the challenges
- Relevant social proof

EXAMPLE 3. Personalized Content Hub 

Example: in both examples from above, we created a personalized content hub. 

Format: deal room tools (e.g. we use Aligned), to quickly spin up 1:1 content hubs. 

How to (continued): 

7. Map content that can help demonstrate how you can solve the challenges identified in research, along with any relevant social proof, product information and answers to questions frequently asked by buyers 

8. 1:1 distribution of the content you've created to the buying committee members. 

---

BONUS EXAMPLE: Answer to Buyer's Question 

The first line of this post was actually a question we got during our last week's Full-Funnel Live. 

I decided to create this LinkedIn post as an answer, and use it to "show, not just tell". 

Next step: I'm going to share it with the person who asked.

"We struggle with 1:1 and 1:Few ABM. We just can't figure out personalization at scale" - VP of Marketing shared on a call (and was laid off a week after). 

Here's the brutal reality in many B2B orgs:

- Teams pressured to "personalize at scale"
- Any "non-scalable" approach is disregarded
- Teams deploy AI research and/or AI SDRs
- Every prospect receives a "uniquely irrelevant message" (Jon Miller)

Teams get blamed. Leaders let go.

Why? 

Because they MISUNDERSTAND what personalization is.

Personalization ≠ "{first}, {some unique insight / signal}" followed by a pitch asking for a call. 

ABM personalization = matching account insights with individual buyer needs across the buying journey.

Here's how we go from manual personalization to personalization at scale.

1. Pick an engaged strategic account

Together with an experienced AE, define:
- Key questions and information you need to know about this account 
- Sources and platforms where you can find that information 
- Run an actual research on that account 

Save as an example of high-quality output.

2. Train AI with proper input

- Deep insights and research about the target ICP segment
- Always request quotes to prevent hallucination and preserve buyer language
- Give AI detailed prompt describing the research questions and sources 
- Show it what 'good looks like' with the example of high-quality output to use as a quality benchmark

3. Make account research a joint responsibility

AI research is complemented by:
- RevOps input on buying signals, engagement and intent data
- Marketing research of industry trends and competitive landscape
- SDRs research of the buying committee, and recent role changes

4. Include insider information 

The deepest insights you gain only from 1-1 conversations.

SDRs and AEs run regular 1-1 engagements with buyers to build relationships, understand where they are in the buyer journey, and their current needs.

5. Create a 360° account view

Create a holistic account dashboard with all collected insights.

6. Create account-specific content, not "personalized templates"

Match content with the buyer journey stages, buyer persona, and current needs.

Sales distributes it manually to target buyers and listen to their feedback.

Save successful examples validated by the buyers (with responses, engagement and calls). 

7. Feed the proven formats to your AI model to replicate them in the future. 

You'll then only need to polish and customize it.

Same principles: deep insight + playbook as prompt + quotes + quality benchmark. 
---
Personalization at scale is only possible when there is a proven playbook in place.

The only way to create the process and quality output benchmarks is MANUAL first. When you see what works, you can scale it with AI.

But it requires JOINT marketing and sales work, not just pushing your VP of marketing to find a solution to "personalization at scale".

Customer interviews are overrated. 
Use progressive discovery instead. 


1. Turn natural touchpoints into progressive discovery

Customer interviews = conversations you have with your customers, from the moment they are prospect through the whole lifecycle. 

→ First sales calls with prospects
→ Business case building with your champion 
→ Demos & discussions with other buyers 
→ The moment someone signs 
→ Onboarding sessions with new customers
→ Quarterly business reviews with existing accounts
→ Support tickets and feature requests

Even: conversations you have with prospects and customers on industry events. 

Where you make a difference: 

2. Ask the right questions at the right time

Good conversations always focus on their world, and ask the right question at the right time. 

E.g. 

- Business triggers, problems, how did they discover you → initial discovery 
- Cost of doing nothing → business case building
- Purchase criteria → consensus building & demos with users and buyers 
- Why us → when they sign 
- Value → post onboarding, reviews 
- General "out of buying cycle" topics → buyer research, customer events, social... 

3. Systematically process and develop customer insights

Interviews ≠ Insights. 

Record, transcribe, structure and process the input to get to real insight. 

Regularly review the insight and updates with the team. 

4. Turn the insight into action

Insights ≠ Actions. 

Lots of teams collect insight, and only use it to update their copy. 

You can do much more. Refine targeting, qualification and disqualification criteria, account research process, content strategy, buyer enablement... 

5. Voice of customer

Use their actual words. 

Not your positioning deck. Their language. Their pain points. Their priorities. 

--- 

Thank you Patrick Cumming  for starting this discussion. 

Patrick's workflow is brilliant: mine first sales call transcripts, extract the top 5-7 pains/gains, use their exact words in your ads.
He saw a 40% lift in SQLs with the SAME budget. Just "using their exact words to build ad content". 

Bottom line: customer research is not a project.

It's an essential, evergreen process that includes progressive discovery, structured insight collection and review, and continuously refining your GTM as the market and your understanding of it evolves.

LinkedIn should make you money, not drain your time. I turn CEOs into the most trusted voice in their market, FAST, with only 1 hour per week. | Top 1% LinkedIn Storyteller | CEO of Storytold

You’re busy running a company. You don’t have hours to spend on LinkedIn trying to guess what to post, why nobody responds, or how everyone else seems to be growing while you stay stuck.


That’s where Storytold comes in.


We turn your LinkedIn into a powerful lead engine, with almost no extra work from you.

We write your posts, rebuild your profile, create your content, grow your audience, and help you show up as the leader people want to follow.


All you do is talk with us for an hour a week, and approve what we create.


We handle everything else. Suddenly, your wasted 20 hours a week coming up with new ideas and writing content, just went down to 1 hour per week.


With Storytold, you get:

→ More time back each week

→ More trust from your audience

→ More leads without chasing anyone

→ More visibility with the people who matter

→ More momentum than you’ve ever had on LinkedIn


Our proven system works because it’s built on psychology, storytelling, and years of results with CEOs and world-leading companies.


If you’re tired of posting and getting nothing…

If you want LinkedIn to actually bring in clients…

If you want to look, sound, and perform like the expert you already are…

Book a call with us:   →  cal.com/storytold

Let’s get your story told.

Jack Dyer🕺

Yesterday, I had 7 calls booked.
Only 1 person showed up.



6 people just ghosted, despite several confirmation emails.

My afternoon was blocked out,
and the time waiting felt wasted.

But what annoyed me most, was
that every no-show took up a slot
that someone else truly needed.


I do these free 20-minute calls to HELP people.


- Not as a funnel.
- Not for lead gen.
- Not a sales tactic.

I do them because I remember
what it felt like to be a CEO who
didn’t know where to turn for help.


→ who felt invisible online…

→ who was embarrassed to ask for help…

→ who thinks everyone else has it figured out.

→ who didn’t know what they were doing wrong…


By booking a call and not appearing,
these people didn’t just waste my time.

They actually stole an opportunity
from someone who’s struggling,
and now can’t book in.

Someone who needs clarity.
Someone who needs direction.
Someone who’s been stuck for
months posting into the void.

Someone who could’ve had the slot.
🤬🤬🤬 (and I never use this emoji)


It’s SO EASY, barely a few seconds,
to message and say “I can’t make it.”
So I can open the slot to others.

I get it, life happens. Traffic happens.
Kids happen. Emergencies happen.

But respect is still free.

I ended up wrapping Christmas
presents during the empty slots
so it saved time this weekend…

but I kept thinking about the
people who actually needed
me, that I had to turn away.



So here’s my ask, as we head
into the season of goodwill:

→ If you book a call… show up.
→ If you can’t show up… say so.
→ If you need to reschedule… do.
→ If you no longer need the help…

Cancel, and free the slot
for someone who does.

Rant over.


If you’re giving and giving to LinkedIn
but not getting anything back, drop
me a message or book in a free call
(as long as you show up)!

Chat to me. No agenda, just a friend.
And I’ll help you get your story told.

I worry that I’m never going to be rich.



When I was a freelancer in 2019,
I designed a campaign to the Maldives…

And every day I worked on the project,
I was constantly jealous that this was
a once-in-a-lifetime, luxury holiday,
I’d never have the chance to go on.

It was for the top Citroen salespeople.
The top dealers across the UK could
win a trip to LITERAL paradise.

And I got to design all the
collateral for the whole trip:

→ The itinerary
→ The brochures
→ The web banners
→ The branded menus
→ The personalised boxes
→ The excursions and events
→ Even the damn luggage tags


And I’d never get to go.

Except…. I was dead wrong.

6 years ago I designed this.


But last month,
with my proven Storytold system...
I finally got to go to the Maldives!


This is the power of hard work,
combined with having a dream
that you keep working towards.

For 5 days, my girlfriend and I
experienced what the super-rich
experience about 6 times a year.

So keep working,
keep building something,
and know that anything can
happen if you put your mind to it.

If you’re not where you want
to be right now, I hear you.

But you can be.

If your LinkedIn is neglected
That’s the best place to start.

I grew from 740 to 46K followers
with my proven Storytold system.

And you can too.


Let’s get you to the Maldives!

Stop posting in the dark. We turn your LinkedIn into a business asset, with almost ZERO effort from you. | Top 1% LinkedIn Storyteller | CEO of Storytold.

Burnout isn’t sexy. 




For the last 4 weekends, I’ve been:

- attending business shows in London
- going to public speaking events
- travelling across the UK for work
- running workshops to help others

On top of that, I’ve been working
12 hour days for 5 days a week. 

Which means I haven’t had a 
day off to rest in over a month. 


And y’know what? 


I’m an idiot. 


Because if I want to perform at my best
during the week, I need some downtime!

Humans aren’t designed to run on empty.
We need days off.


So today, I’m not travelling, I’m sat at home 
with my feet up and actually letting my brain 
recover by playing a mindless PC game! 

That photo is from Cardiff on Thursday
(one of many, many, many trips recently)


I’m not getting anyone’s #storytold today! 


Have a great weekend all, and remember:
High achievers like you can only achieve
if you give yourself permission to rest.

No alternative text description for this image

The loudest leaders are losing their voices.



Sometime in the last 20 years,
leadership became about showing off.

Every post was carefully crafted to say:

“Look how brilliant I am.”
“Look how many things I know.”
“Look how successful I’ve become.”


But thankfully, things have changed.


There’s so much ‘perfect’ AI content,
that those ‘perfect’ leaders are DONE.
We don’t believe them, and switch off.

The ones who ACTUALLY get attention
are the leaders who admit when they
falter, fail, or even duck things up.


Because it makes them HUMAN!


We pay attention to Leaders who:

→ Admit when “I made a mistake.”
→ Say, “I don’t know, but I’ll find out.”
→ Share the lessons they’re learning,
not just the ones they’ve mastered.


Your flaws don't make you weak.

They makes you RELATABLE.


So next time you want to share
something, don’t make it perfect.

Tell us about a time you got it wrong,
and we’ll all respect you a hell of a lot
more than all those ‘look at me’ leaders.

THAT’s how you get your Storytold™ 🕺
Join us for a limited time offer:

https://lnkd.in/e633ifJr

“I want him to do well, but not better than me.”



I overheard this in the gym the
other day (well, the locker room).

And I thought to myself…
I used to think this way.

No need to comment or tell us.
Have you ever thought this too?


This is a very limiting belief.
A mindset winners DON’T have.


For context, here’s the full story:

I was changing after going swimming.
Two other guys were in the locker room.

One guy was talking about his friend.
He got him a job at the same company,
and watched as his friend climbed the
ranks quicker than the guy talking did.

Eventually, his friend became his boss.
And he completed his story by saying:

“Like, I wanted him to be successful…
Just not more successful than me! 😂”

And I get it.
When I was young,
I thought this way too.
(to my shame, looking back)

But if someone is truly your friend,
And if you have an infinite mindset,

You don’t let your own jealousy
begrudge them their success.

You’re happy for them!
You want them to win!
You cheer them on!
You support them!

THEIR success is NOT a reflection of
your own inadequacy. But thinking that
you’re only successful if they’re not, IS.

Leaders know we can all be successful.
And: That comparison keeps you small.

The friend who did well was focused
on being the best version of himself.
By not comparing, he succeeded.

The jealous friend was constantly
comparing. And he got left behind.

Focus on your own journey.
Do the work. Make it happen.
And support others to join you.

There’s enough success for us all.

Jack 🕺

How I hit 46k followers (without using AI)



“AI really pulled through for me”

Someone said when I was freelancing.

No, really. Let me set the scene for you:

Hey Turnipheads, it’s Natasha here.
Where’s Jack? Don't worry about it.

Recently Jack and I spoke about the
hot topic of AI, live on Radio Cardiff.

We’re not against using AI as a tool.
But people become too reliant on it.
It can’t do what people really need.

For example, last year I designed
a little logo for a castle coffee shop.

Showed the guy the logo, and he said
“Nah, we used AI & it pulled through!”


Hint, it didn't.


The logo was badly drawn, low pixels,
not adaptable, no colours, not unique.
A coffee cup with a castle thrown in.

And they liked it….. For 3 days.
Then they just stopped using it.


AI didn't understand the nuances,
or their personality, or their SOUL…
so nobody connected with the logo
emotionally. They deserved BETTER.


👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇

Connecting with an audience (and
growing to over 46k followers means
understanding personality and nuance.

This is something AI cannot replicate.

AI skips the ‘why’ and “gives outcome”
Worse, everyone can tell when you get
ChatGPT or Claude to write your posts.

I used to have 740 LinkedIn followers.
Now my team and I have +46,000…
Because we connect with EMOTIONS.
We tell authentic stories. AI doesn’t.

AI cannot get your story told.
No matter how fast/easy it is.


For brands that want to build trust.

For those who connect with people,

And for those who have a story to tell:

Thats where real design pulls through.

I’m Natasha, the designer at Storytold.


And our dedicated little team has helped
global CEOs grow on LinkedIn & beyond
with more genuine connections.

Let us help you get your story told:
https://lnkd.in/e2e-4UVa

🕺

AI cant design proper good like

If LinkedIn makes you feel invisible, this is for you.



Most CEOs think LinkedIn is broken.
It’s not. Their content is.

You know you’re an industry expert.
You run a successful company.
You post regularly because you
know you should be more visible.

But you feel like you’re shouting
into the void. You’re putting in so
much effort, but nothing happens.

Zero profile visits, zero engagement,
Zero new followers, zero new leads.


What a waste.


You’re seeing your competitors
look louder and clearer than you.
You're missing revenue 'cos the
algorithm makes you feel like
you just "don't get LinkedIn".


It time for CHANGE.


You're a CEO!  You’re the top dog!
Your expertise deserves attention.

Your LinkedIn needs to stop being
a time-sucking chore, and become
the inbound lead engine it should be.

Some people tell me
"I can just do all this myself"

If you’ve got time, sure! But in reality,
you're too busy running a company.
You don't need to be good at content:
you need a team who turn your ideas… 

into LEADS.


Last week, one of our clients (a busy
Director of a global firm) spent just
one hour talking to us. He’s getting
941% more profile viewers than last
week, and he’s got the next 2 weeks
of posts ready without lifting a finger.

And on Friday, he sent us a screenshot
on WhatsApp of his latest milestone:
7,500 new followers in only 4 months
(and an inbox overflowing with leads)


You run your business.

We handle everything.

You get real results.


So if you’re tired of posting in
the dark, we’ll turn your profile
into a predictable source of leads.

It’s not magic. It’s proven strategy.
And it all starts with a free call.
Book it from my page.

And happy Tuesday!

I realised most CEOs are failing at LinkedIn, and here’s why:



Last week at the 
The Business Show London
a CEO told me difficult to hear:

“Jack… I think LinkedIn just isn’t
for people like me anymore.”

He sounded almost embarrassed
to admit it, and realised he meant:

“I’m posting into the void and
it’s making me doubt myself.”


I get it.


LinkedIn makes smart leaders feel invisible.
Especially when see competitors post the
same recycled ideas, and somehow get
200 likes and three inbound leads from it.


Meanwhile, their own content, the stuff they
spent 20 hours a week sweating over, gets
70 impressions, 2 likes, and duck-all else.
No clicks on their website, no calls booked.


I’ve learned this issue hides a very real fear:
He also said: “Maybe the problem is me.”


It’s not.


The problem is that today, CEOs are
expected to run a business AND magically
become world-class Content Strategists too.


That same CEO told me: “I’ve got a writer.
I’ve got a marketing person. But none of
it is landing us any new clients.”


And ‘cos I want to help him, I told him the truth.


A copywriter can write. A marketer can post.
But neither can build influence if the strategy,
psychology, and story aren’t connecting on
an emotional level with your audience.


–  It’s not about posting more often.
–  Or designing prettier photos.
–  Or being “more creative.”


It’s about having a message that
cuts through, CONSISTENTLY, without
draining the CEO’s time or brainpower.


So we ran a Brand Discovery session.
We rebuilt his message. We stopped
guessing. We created a strategy that
matched his buyers’ behaviour.


And within 3 weeks, his posts were
doing what they were supposed to:

Getting attention. Building authority.
Starting conversations. Attracting leads.

Not because he changed.
But because his strategy did.


You don’t need to post more.
You need a team that posts SMARTER,
and turns your expertise into demand.


That same CEO who used to spend
20 hours of worry, now spends one
hour a week laughing on a call with us.

And his LinkedIn has become a real
business asset, not just a time sink.


And if you’ve been spending 20 hours
a week writing LinkedIn posts that take
all your energy and give nothing back…


Then it’s time for a change.


It’s time to make LinkedIn work for YOU,
without you doing all the work. DM me.


We’ll help you get your story told.
https://lnkd.in/ecCVYZhK

My team and I are so busy delivering, that we don’t often stop to smell the roses.



Or in this case, to recognise
that our partners enjoy the
work as much as we do!

I’m grateful for all the work we
do with Tania, because it’s real.

It’s meaningful.

And we’ve grown her in the hearts
and minds of her community, both
on LinkedIn and in the real world.

Thank you Tania - it’s a genuine
pleasure to work with you and
I love seeing you grow with us!

We love getting your story told.
Want to grow like Tania has?

My BLACKFRIDAY promo code
(a huge 53% discount)
ends at MIDNIGHT. 

Even if we start work in January, 
don’t lose out on the discount:


Make me attractive:
👉  https://lnkd.in/e5p3jDq6

Do my LinkedIn for me:
👉  https://lnkd.in/e633ifJr

Give me clarity in 2 weeks:
👉  https://lnkd.in/eYP2t_7D


Which one will you choose?

Most CEOs get 0 leads from LinkedIn for 1 reason:



Because they’re scared to look unprofessional.

LinkedIn creates a strange pressure where
leaders feel they must always be perfect:

Perfect tone, perfect message, perfect ideas.
But really, perfection is damaging their brand.

Humans (y’know the people who buy from us)
connect with other relatable, flawed humans

Not polish, perfect, poetic, professional posts
Stop PEEING everywhere! We need REAL!!

The moment you share something real,
not rehearsed, everything changes:

→  Your authority grows.
→→  Your audience pays attention.
→→→  Your content converts into leads.

Not because you kept being perfect.
but because you start sounding like YOU.


This is exactly what we help CEOs do:
turn your voice into posts that build trust,
cut through AI noise, and bring you leads…

… without you spending hours
writing posts that go nowhere.


We’ve done it for Leaders from New York
to Dubai. Join us to turn your LinkedIn into
consistent authority and new opportunities.

Let’s get your storytold.
Trust me on this one.


P.S. Who spotted the spelling mistakes in this post? They're importnat: They prove I wrote this myself, without AI!

I was writing a description of Storytold today, and there was a little “Generate with AI” button. Curious, I clicked it.

I also wrote my own, from my brain.
Can you guess which one is which?


OPTION A:
We emphasise authentic, real stories, an intimate Brand Discovery process, and help our clients communicate with real, ego-less stories about their past that connect them more authentically to their audience.


OPTION B:
We think creatively to deliver impactful results for our clients. We specialize in crafting and implementing strategies that elevate brand narratives and drive growth.
 
 
Did you guess which was which?
 

Mine was A. While my version isn’t
perfect, it definitely sounds more 
real than B, the AI written version.

The AI impressed me with how 
accurate the description was… 
But something wasn’t right. 

It somehow managed to be factual
correct with the description of our 
services, yet it also reads as hollow 
and soul-less at the same time.


This is why we need to use 
our human brains more often. 

This is why, when it comes 
to something important, 
we CANNOT outsource it to AI.

So if you're using AI to write content, 
you're damaging your reputation.

It doesn't have to be us, but get
a team of humans who write in
YOUR tone of voice instead.


Your business grows when you get your Storytold™

Here's the moment I stopped paying twice:



The question we all ask ourselves
when buying professional support:

"Is this worth the money?"

I’ve had that knot in my stomach.
Every time I’ve paid out for help,
two fears hit me at the same time.

The first is the price tag itself.
“Can I afford to pay it each month?”

Second is a deeper, scarier worry:
“Will this investment be for nothing?”

Let’s say you’re looking for a writer.
You’ve tried the cheaper options.
→ A £50/hour twice a month writer
→ The generic VA who ‘does it all’
→ The £500/month freelancer


And you paid twice.


Once on a low-cost, low-effort service,
twice with your time by fixing all their
mistakes, and with frustrating effort
to ‘do it right’ because they didn’t.

That frustration is the worst part.
The content was fine, but nothing
changed. You remained invisible.


Buy cheap, buy twice.


That’s a lesson I’ve learned the hard
way more times than I care to admit.


So instead of hiring cheap writers,
I created a company. A dedicated,
hardworking, loyal team who have
a secret that makes us successful:

We truly care about what we write.

What sets Storytold apart isn't just
affordability; it’s the impact with have.

We don't just 'make content'. We make
growth, and we actually care if it works.

For us, that means tangible results.
We consistently see client audience
growth of 2-4k followers every month.

(yes, you read that right. 2,000+ new
followers from our writing, every month,
with your inbox flooded with leads).

And if you don’t get at least 1,500 new
followers as a direct result of our work:
You get your money back. Guaranteed.

(a guarantee nobody has needed yet).


So it’s not £500 and it’s not £50/hour.
How much is it?


Working with Storytold is £2,350/month.
You may be thinking: "that's expensive."

The reality is that the opportunity cost
of remaining invisible on LinkedIn is
much, much higher.

When you invest this for a 3 month trial,
You become a go-to expert in your field.

We make your profile a predictable
source of leads, which genuinely
changes your business trajectory.

You're not buying posts.
You're buying opportunity, relief,
and time back to run your business.

We do your strategy, psychology,
and ALL content creation each week.
You approve. LinkedIn finally works.

If you're ready to stop guessing
and start growing, and to see a
genuine ROI on your time and
investment, we need to talk.

Message me to secure your spot for
a Brand Discovery call in January.

And finally, after being
invisible for far too long...

We'll get your story told.

🕺

Last week I did my first ever LinkedIn Live!  Let me know what you all think

Host of “Consulting Leaders”, Top 10% Active Podcasts Globally | I help B2B Coaches & Consultants get clients with Podcasts.

Description: 

Jack Dyer🕺 is the CEO of Storytold™, where he helps founders and consultants become influential online through authentic, visual storytelling, especially on LinkedIn. With 15+ years of experience in UX, branding, and narrative design, he turns a leader’s story into a commercial asset.
In this episode, we break down how consultants can use digital storytelling to attract better clients, build trust at scale, and communicate in a way that actually feels like them.

***************************************************************************

Links:

StreamYard (for guest):  https://lnkd.in/d3e233pv
YouTube (for sharing):  https://lnkd.in/dvJhggWp
Apply to be a guest: https://lnkd.in/dt6pEfjE

***************************************************************************

Jack's Bio: 

Jack Dyer is the CEO of Storytold™, a firm that helps founders and CEOs go from invisible to influential with authentic, visual storytelling. He’s a Top 1% LinkedIn storyteller with 45,000+ followers and more than 15 years of experience in UX, branding, and digital design.
His background spans award-winning websites, national digital systems, UX work across industries, and global brands like Jaguar Land Rover and Mercedes-Benz. At Storytold™, he and his team build story-driven websites and content systems that elevate a leader’s profile and grow their net worth.

***************************************************************************

Show Notes: 

Jack Dyer is a designer-turned-founder who now runs Storytold™, a consultancy focused on transforming how leaders communicate online. He helps consultants and CEOs move from being “good at what they do but invisible online” to becoming influential voices with a clear narrative and a recognisable digital presence.
His team creates UX-led websites, LinkedIn makeovers, creative concepts, video, and content that reflect a leader’s true personality, not the generic, polished persona most people default to. The goal is simple: make your digital presence a revenue-generating asset.
For consulting firm owners, Jack’s experience sits right at the intersection of story, design, and growth, a combination that can help any consultant communicate more clearly and close clients more easily.

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