Building a Better ABM Motion

ABM falls apart fast when teams jump in before locking down who they’re chasing, why it matters, and how it’s all supposed to run. Sales pushes one list, marketing builds another, and no one agrees on who actually matters. No shared ICP? No clean data? Well, no chance. You need a strategy.

Guest host Jon Russo (B2B Fusion) corrals Heidi Bullock (Tealium), Patti Newcomer (Centerbase), and Bindu Chellappan (Corpay) for a breakdown of how they’re keeping their ABM engines running clean. Think pods with purpose, seller-first workflows, and data that matters. 

In this episode: 

• Heidi on running pods that bring marketing, sales, and CS into one motion 

• Patti on aligning across the funnel and why ABM needs ownership 

• Bindu on activating firmographic and intent data with shared definitions

Plus: 

• Where alignment really starts 

• Why trust beats tech every time 

• How AI is speeding up the grunt work without losing the signal 

• The metrics that actually tell you it’s working 

Tune in to learn about what breaks ABM, what fixes it, and how to keep teams pulling in the same direction. 

Renegade Marketers Unite, Episode 462 on YouTube

Resources Mentioned 

• CMO Huddles 
• CMO Super Huddle 
• Tools mentioned 
  • Clay 
  • copy.ai 
• Past episodes mentioned 
  • Heidi Bullock 
    • B2B Content Marketing 
  • Patti Newcomer 
    • The CMO “Plus” 
    • Job Hunting 
  • Bindu Chellappan 
    • B2B Marketing Metrics

Highlights 

• [2:12] Heidi Bullock: It starts with ICP clarity 

• [7:52] Focus first, scale second  

• [10:30] Patti Newcomer: ABM lives and dies by the target list 

• [11:41] Own the tech or don’t buy it 

• [14:11] Bindu Chellappan: Dabbling to doubling down ABM 

• [16:21] Align over the same insights 

• [19:42] CMO Huddles: solving alone together 

• [22:27] Get the list, set the pace, fix the base 

• [26:11] Scaling smart with AI 

• [29:31] Lead math vs. real growth 

• [32:32] Friction is the real enemy 

• [37:05] ABM is a team sport 

• [40:01] Final Words of Wisdom on ABM strategy 

 Highlighted Quotes 

"You really have to understand what you're going after, what the end point is, before you jump off into ABM and get random acts of marketing as opposed to an ABX type approach.”— Jon Russo, B2B Fusion 

“A tool is not going to solve your problems. There's this belief in the world, that if I just buy this one thing, things are solved. Your tool is not your ABM strategy.”— Heidi Bullock, Tealium 

"It doesn't matter what we bring into the top of the funnel if we're not working with the team to drive stuff through the funnel and have it come out the bottom."— Patti Newcomer, Centerbase 

"If your existing processes are broken to start with, ABM will only make it worse. The foundation is: get your data right, work on the alignment between the different teams, and work on your processes.”— Bindu Chellappan, Corpay 

Full Transcript: Jon Russo in conversation with Heidi Bullock, Patti Newcomer, & Bindu Chellappan