It’s an amazing tale which just goes to prove that there is a real human with a back story behind every corporate executive

To be able to advise people properly you need some battle scars to go with the medals. I certainly have a few, some of which I gained in the back streets of south east London trying to sell advertising space on a wall planner in the 80s! I am pleased to say I have learned from all my experiences and I use them as frames of reference when advising my clients.

Leading B2B organisations have been practising ABM for about 3-5 years now but to the vast majority of marketing professionals, and to SME business leaders in particular, it is a relatively new concept and, whilst it seems easy and like common sense, it takes some work to make it effective.

20 years ago, at an awards dinner, I sat next to the Business Development Director of a global law firm. I was running my own creative agency at the time and, when he told me his marketing budget ran into millions, I was naturally excited. As I was about to launch into the pitch on the wonders of brand building in the professional services industry, he cut me short and told me they spent most of their money on a process he called “One Step Closer”.

Sadly, I have heard this question asked too many times by too many business people. It may be a little too contentious to say that the people who ask this tend to share the same fate – lack of fulfilment and failure…..so I won’t say that.

What I will say, on record and supported by 3 decades of working with different businesses, is that those who “get” marketing are much more likely to succeed than those who don’t.