The Old Way vs The Right Way | Ep. 204

A slightly provocative title sets the tone: the old way versus the right way. On Scrappy ABM, host Mason Cosby brings together leaders who’ve been in the belly of the beast—people who built ABM programs at technology vendors and across startup, mid-market, and enterprise realities. The panel aligns on a clear definition: a B2B revenue strategy that aligns marketing, sales, customer success, and rev ops around a shared target account list that reflects best customers, with data-driven decision making.

From pre-COVID tool stacks (Engagio→Demandbase, Terminus, Uberflip/PathFactory, Marketo, Salesforce, LinkedIn Campaign Manager, Google Ads) to unbundled, signal-driven programs, the group contrasts platform-led decisions with strategy-first programs. Costs spiraled—$200k+ in tools and team lift pushing some stacks to $910k—while teams chased account-level intent that often came from one contact or disappeared inside the ICP filter. Today’s shift centers on signals, precision, and orchestration: pick the right accounts, design plays around triggers, personalize experiences, and measure contribution, not just source. The takeaway: get the foundations right, then add tech that plays nicely together.

👤 Guest Bios

• Amber Bogie — Director of Global UCC Marketing at GoTo Technologies. Long-time ABM practitioner who has seen changes, trends, and disasters, built programs with Terminus and Uberflip/PathFactory, and calls for data-driven decision making and realistic goals with leadership.
• Jess Cook — Head of Marketing at Vector, a contact-based marketing platform. Background in copywriting, creative direction, and content; highlights signals and the contact-level reality behind account intent, plus ads audiences built from website and competitive research signals. Also hosts “This Meeting Could Have Been a Podcast” with CEO Josh.
• Pete Lorenco — Leads Growth Marketing at Flexera (field, partner, and ABM campaigns). Has worked in enterprise and startup, made “every mistake…5,000 times,” and now pushes strategy first, signals and plays, personalization, and measurement beyond sourced attribution.

📌 What We Cover

• A working definition of ABM: B2B revenue strategy aligning marketing, sales, customer success, and rev ops on shared best-customer accounts with data-driven decision making.
• Pre-COVID stacks that shaped early programs: Engagio→Demandbase, Terminus display, Uberflip/PathFactory for content, Marketo/Salesforce, LinkedIn Campaign Manager, Google Ads, direct mail (manual to sending platforms).
• Why it got so expensive: platform black boxes, novel data, “full-suite” promises, and the conflation of tool = strategy, plus team cost on top of licenses (examples up to $910k).
• The signal reality: half of account intent from one contact; ~90% of account intent drops when filtered to ICP—so who is the contact and what is the next play?
• Moving from mass outreach to preci