Beyond the Booth: How ABM is Rewriting the Rules of Engagement in Cell & Gene Therapy
TL;DR
Market Shift: The sector faces narrowing pipeline opportunities and increased competition, making ABM more critical than ever.
Sales & Marketing Alignment: Alignment, shared goals and open communication is essential for effective ABM.
Strategic Account Selection: Employ a framework to select target accounts and tier them for personalised approaches.
Create Value: Share insights that position your organisation as a trusted advisor, not just a vendor.
Rethink Events: Integrate events into your ABM plan, considering smaller (micro-small), focused events for deeper engagement.
Prioritise Relationships: Building genuine relationships and trust is paramount; focus on human connection over purely transactional approaches.
Pipeline opportunities are narrowing, competition is intensifying. As one industry leader aptly noted, "The number of customers we're all going after is seemingly shrinking, while the number of competitors has increased. The market is way more competitive, and ABM is probably more important than it's ever been."
Last week, I brought together commercial and marketing leaders from across the industry to discuss how Account-Based Marketing (ABM) can address these challenges and create meaningful connections with the accounts that matter most.
Here are the key insights that emerged from our discussion:
Aligning Sales and Marketing: The Foundation of Effective ABM
The alignment between sales and marketing (and often product) teams emerged as the cornerstone of successful ABM implementation. Our discussion revealed several approaches to strengthen this alignment:
One VP explained their approach: "We establish shared goals and KPIs amongst the exec teams. Sales have an input, marketing have an input, and we collaborate to select target accounts."
This collaborative target setting helps ensure both teams are working toward the same objectives, reducing the traditional friction between marketing's broad messaging and sales' account-focused approach.
Agree a Framework for Account Selection
The FIRE framework was proposed by a marketing leader:
Fit: Does the account match our strategic direction?
Intent: Is the potential customer showing interest in our category?
Relationships: What kind of relationship exists already?
Engagement: How engaged is our company with this account?
This systematic approach helps teams work together to build ideal customer profiles and create tiered account plans.
Create Forums for Open Communication
Several participants emphasized the importance of regular meetings between sales and marketing teams. One leader shared how they conduct objection sessions: "Bring the unhappy news together, discuss it openly. What do our customers hate most about what we do? Put it right out there. Then marketing can address these objections in the next email or ad."
This approach helps sales feel heard and gives marketing relevant insights to improve their messaging.
ABM can be the Pam/Pan of your commercial efforts.
Integrating ABM into Your Commercial Strategy
Resources are limited, and not all accounts deserve the same level of personalization. A marketing consultant advised: "Score and tier your accounts before activating your programs. Start with three simple tiers: Tier 1. Top accounts where you treat the account as a market of one, Tier 2. One-to-few accounts that get regular communication but not as much, and Tier 3. One-to-many accounts that essentially is your wider marketing campaign."
This approach helps teams allocate resources effectively while still maintaining some level of personalization across all tiers.
Technology integration can streamline ABM efforts. One CDMO executive shared: "We've integrated Global Data into our instance of Salesforce, which has been amazing. It gives both our marketing and sales teams independent firepower."
This integration enables both teams to access consistent information about accounts, improving coordination and reducing duplicate efforts.
Rethinking Event Strategy
The conversation shifted, as it often does, to events, budgets, and the eternal ABM dilemma.
"Conferences can be an opportunity to compress the sales cycle, but the conference is not the end goal—it's part of the ABM journey," noted one participant.
Another added: "What if we couldn't go to that conference but had the same pile of money? What else would we do? Maybe hold our own symposia, or focus on certain customers with small, intimate settings?"
This opportunity-cost thinking helps teams prioritize presence and resources while considering alternative approaches that might yield better results.
One participant put it bluntly: 'Let's face it, CGT events are pricey. Eye-wateringly so. You can drop a million on shows and get... what, exactly? Hard to trace.'
BIO came under the microscope.
'Our execs,' someone sighed, 'they're fixated on BIO. 'Our customers are there,' they say. And yes, some are. But they're also there for market access intel, pharma trends, clinical updates… their focus is scattered. You're talking about 20,000+ people. Not all biotech and certainly not all looking for what we're selling. It's a diluted pool.'
Then came an aha moment. What if, instead of the generic booth blitz, you laser-focused? Micro-experiences. Targeted accounts. Clear outcomes defined upfront. You could still play the big shows, but on your terms.
"Sometimes the things that work don't scale," observed one participant, describing how small, targeted interactions often deliver greater impact than broad campaigns. Examples included taking five key prospects out for drinks or an intimate dinner—approaches that if scaled, would lose their impact to create meaningful connections.
The room's energy shifted. Smaller, focused events – workshops, special interest groups, user meetings – started sounding a lot more appealing. Less sales pressure, more connection. As one participant with experience on both sides of the table put it, ' In the highly competitive environment we’re in right now, there is a lot to be said around relationships and building trust. Sometimes leading with your sales and marketing hat on can be counterproductive. Any effective BD approach is about creating those relationships.'
Courtesy of Julius Solaris
Building Trust Through Authentic Relationships
Perhaps the most compelling theme that emerged was the critical importance of building genuine relationships and trust.
"Having a relationship that is beyond the products that you sell is so important," one participant emphasized. "Your solution is like a liver of their life. Look at the other 99% and keep engaged with them around the other aspects of their life. That's building trust."
This approach shifts the focus from transactions to relationships, building a foundation of trust that supports long-term partnerships.
Create Community Connections
Let's be honest: most sales strategies are pretty transactional. But one participant shared the hidden benefits of being part of a women's networking community. The result? Unexpected pipeline growth. 'It's one of those touch points with prospect customers that I didn't even realize was supporting my sales,' she admitted. It begs the question: are we overthinking sales? Are we so focused on the hard sell that we're missing the power of genuine community to forge those initial connections, to build trust where none existed before?
Deliver Value Beyond Sales
It's almost criminal how much untapped knowledge sits within our teams. The underutilized power of insight. One participant captured it perfectly: 'As BD teams we have access to all this insight that we don't realize how valuable it is.' It's not enough to have the knowledge; you've got to share it. Turn those, ‘check-in’ meetings into insight-sharing sessions. That's the key to building trust and positioning yourself as a true partner, not just someone pushing a product.
Anthony Iannario
Final Thoughts
"So, where does this leave us? The cell and gene therapy space is changing fast, no doubt.
ABM can be a lifeline – aligning sales and marketing, smart strategy, all that good stuff. But let's not kid ourselves. At the end of the day, as one of our roundtable participants reminded us, 'People buy from people.'
In an industry obsessed with innovation, with solving incredibly complex problems, it's easy to forget that. To get lost in the tech and the data. But here's the thing: the human connection isn't just part of the equation; it is the equation.
So, my challenge to you is this: how are you building relationships that go beyond the transaction? How are you making your accounts feel seen, heard, and understood? Because in the long run, that's what will truly set you apart.
This article is based on a roundtable discussion with commercial and marketing leaders in cell and gene therapy. Hosted monthly email michael@2410.consulting to join the next one.
