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Are your BDR team’s processes aligned with your ABM goals?

Written by Maria Gianotti

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You’ve worked relentlessly for the last three months building your account based marketing (ABM) strategy. You’ve identified your tech stack, redefined your ideal customer profile (ICP), pinpointed the right target accounts using engagement and intent intelligence and crafted the perfect channel mix to hit your program goals. Yet, as you step back, a crucial question surfaces: is your BDR team’s current inbound and outbound sales process truly aligned with these ambitious ABM goals?

This alignment is the bedrock of ABM program success and ultimately, revenue growth. It’s also the area that demands the most significant change management—and if it’s not clearly defined, your ABM program is unfortunately set up for failure.

In this blog, I walk through four critical areas of alignment: account assignment, lead routing, inbound and outbound balancing, and incentives. You’ll find:

The essential questions to ask your own BDR team
Common problems to listen for—and what they tell us demand gen marketers,
The actions to take so your ABM strategy can thrive

Make sure to download the B2B Sales Enablement BDR Checklist so you can have this information handy when you’re talking to your BDR team!

1. Account assignment that sets the foundation for success.

Clear account assignment directly impacts BDR motivation, their ability to focus and, ultimately, their success in generating qualified opportunities. However, without a clear strategy, account assignment can quickly become blurry, leading to confusion, duplicated efforts and missed opportunities within your ABM framework.

Questions to ask your BDR leader about account assignment.

How are accounts currently assigned to BDRs? Is it based on territory, account type or an inbound vs. outbound focus?
Are there any documented processes or guidelines for account assignment that the team follows?
What are your challenges or pain points associated with the existing account assignment strategy?

Problems we hear from BDRs.	What this tells demand gen marketers.	What action to take.
Overlapping territories.	Unassigned accounts, especially those showing high intent, fall into ambiguous zones, often getting ignored by BDRs entirely.	Assign a dedicated BDR to each territory. Make sure at least one BDR is clearly responsible for every territory, regardless of account type or size, to ensure no accounts are ignored.
Lack of clarity on inbound vs. outbound responsibilities.	BDRs will almost always gravitate toward accounts where they anticipate the highest compensation. If inbound leads offer better incentives, proactive outbound efforts will inevitably be neglected.	Redefine the compensation model. Ensure BDRs receive equal or, ideally, higher compensation for working outbound accounts. This directly incentivizes the proactive engagement vital for ABM.
Uneven distribution of high-potential accounts.	Some BDRs will be set up for greater success than others, regardless of their individual effort and talent. This undermines morale, hinders development, and can lead to demotivation and increased turnover.	Collaborate on alternative assignment models. Explore options like vertical-based assignments, categorizing accounts into tiers based on their potential (e.g., A, B, C accounts), or focusing on strategic accounts. The goal is to ensure clear ownership and a balanced distribution of high-potential accounts.

2. Lead routing processes built to ensure timely follow-up.

Efficient lead routing is a game-changer. It empowers BDRs to focus on their core strengths: qualifying leads and generating pipeline. When routing is smooth, it minimizes wasted effort, maximizes conversion rates, and directly contributes to BDR success and the overall triumph of your sales organization.

Questions to ask your BDR leader about lead routing.

Can you walk me through the current lead routing process, and what systems or tools are involved in it?
What are the different lead sources, and are they handled differently based on their origin (e.g., website forms vs. event leads)?
Are there any Service Level Agreements (SLAs) in place for BDR lead response times? If so, can you share the documentation for these?

Problems we hear from BDRs.	What this tells demand gen marketers.	What action to take.
Leads fall through the cracks because there is no clear lead assignment.	Your marketing time, resources and budget are effectively wasted because they aren’t translating into sales opportunities. This directly impacts your ROI and the overall effectiveness of your marketing campaigns.	Explore automation tools. Invest in platforms that can automate lead routing, reduce manual processes and clearly define lead ownership (e.g., LeanData, Chili Piper.)
Lack of clear instructions on how to prioritize or approach leads from different lead sources.	BDRs might lose trust in the leads provided by Marketing if certain sources consistently yield low-quality prospects (e.g., bad contact info, irrelevant titles). This can lead them to cherry-pick or ignore leads, further impacting efficiency.	Define specific response times and attempted contact numbers for each lead source category. For example: – Demo requests must be contacted within 1 hour – Event leads within 24 hours (first touch, then 5 touches over 2 weeks) – Content download leads within 48 hours (first touch, then 3 touches over 1 week)
Unclear about what happens with a lead once it’s in their CRM system.	Without clear next steps or visibility into lead progression once in the CRM, your carefully nurtured leads may not receive the consistent and persistent sales follow-up they need to convert.	Ensure consistent tracking of sales outreach. Implement a sales execution platform that automatically captures all outreach activities (calls, emails, social touches) within your CRM. This provides marketers with crucial visibility into follow-up and engagement (e.g., Apollo.io, Outreach, Salesloft).

3. Balancing inbound and outbound efforts.

A successful ABM strategy requires a balanced approach to lead generation and a strong emphasis on tracking outbound efforts to identify what truly works.

Questions to ask your BDR leader about tracking and measurement.

How is the BDR team structured, and how do individual BDRs typically allocate their time between inbound and outbound lead handling?
For outbound activities, how do BDRs currently track their efforts (e.g., calls made, emails sent, social selling interactions)? What specific tools are they using for this?
What key metrics are currently used to measure both the activity and effectiveness of outbound efforts?

Problems we hear from BDRs.	What this tells demand gen marketers.	What action to take.
Difficulty balancing the immediate demands of inbound leads with the strategic, longer-term focus required for outbound efforts.	Uncertainty may lead to delayed response times to inbound leads requiring swift action or outbound leads signaling engagement—or both.	Define distinct SLAs for inbound vs. outbound leads. Work with sales leadership to establish clear, documented service level agreements for response times, tailored to the urgency and nature of each lead type. This ensures critical leads get immediate attention.
Lack of standardized tracking for outbound activities.	The absence of standardized outbound tracking means you lack crucial data to optimize your campaigns and prove ROI.	Define KPIs for outbound activities. Establish clear, measurable metrics that focus on outcomes (e.g., qualified meetings booked, pipeline generated) rather than just activities (e.g., number of calls and emails sent).
Unsure what mix of outbound activities are truly the most effective.	BDRs may spend valuable time on messaging and channels that don’t yield results, focusing on the wrong prospects without realizing it.	Implement a sales orchestration tool. Leverage technology that automatically captures all outbound outreach activities (emails, calls, social touches) and integrates them with your CRM. This ensures data consistency and makes analysis stronger.

4. Incentives that actually motivate your BDRs.

A thoughtfully designed incentive model for BDRs is more than just compensation—it’s a powerful tool that encourages BDRs to focus on the activities that drive the most value for the sales organization. This includes generating qualified leads, booking meetings with key decision makers, and achieving specific outreach goals.

By providing a clear link between effort and reward, incentives motivate BDRs to work harder, smarter, and more consistently. Ultimately, a well-designed incentive model can significantly impact BDR motivation, leading to a much higher success rate for your ABM strategy.

Questions to ask your BDR leader about incentives.

Are BDRs currently incentivized beyond their base salary? If so, what are the specific incentives (e.g., bonuses for qualified opportunities, meetings booked, deals closed)?

If no formal incentives are currently in place, what are your thoughts on potential incentive models that could motivate the team? (It helps to have the BDR leader’s feedback on what would work well to ensure buy-in for creating a new model.)

Problems we hear from BDRs.	What this tells demand gen marketers.	What action to take.
Difficulty balancing the immediate demands of inbound leads with the strategic, longer-term focus required for outbound efforts.	Delayed response times—whether to inbound leads requiring swift action or outbound leads signaling engagement—which will significantly decrease conversion rates and jeopardize sales opportunities.	Define distinct SLAs for inbound vs. outbound leads. Work with sales leadership to establish clear, documented service level agreements for response times, tailored to the urgency and nature of each lead type. This ensures critical leads get immediate attention.
Lack of standardized tracking for outbound activities.	The absence of standardized outbound tracking means you lack crucial data to optimize your campaigns and prove ROI.	Define key performance indicators (KPIs) for outbound activities. Establish clear, measurable metrics that focus on outcomes (e.g., qualified meetings booked, pipeline generated) rather than just activities (e.g., number of calls and emails sent).
Unsure what mix of outbound activities are truly the most effective.	BDRs may spend valuable time on channels or messaging that don’t yield results, focusing on the wrong prospects without realizing it.	Implement a sales orchestration tool. Leverage technology that automatically captures all outbound outreach activities (emails, calls, social touches) and integrates them with your CRM. This ensures data consistency and makes analysis stronger.

Empowering your BDR team for growth.

By asking your BDR team the right questions, and truly listening to their responses, you can gain invaluable insights into your BDR operations and identify key areas for improvement. Getting a better understanding of account assignment, lead routing, team focus, tracking mechanisms and incentive structures will enable you to optimize processes, boost BDR motivation and foster stronger sales and marketing alignment to ensure your ABM strategy is a success.

Remember, understanding the nuances of your BDR team’s activities—from how they handle inbound versus outbound leads to how they’re incentivized—is not just about efficiency; it’s about empowering your BDRs to succeed. This, in turn, fuels a more effective sales organization and drives sustainable revenue growth. Take these questions to your BDR leaders, start the conversation and begin building a stronger foundation for sales success.

The Iron Horse insight.

Ultimately, this isn’t a one-and-done exercise. What becomes more powerful is when Sales and Marketing truly become partners, continuously refining these processes together. By fostering open dialogue and a shared commitment to adaptation, you’re not just optimizing a program; you’re building a resilient, revenue-generating engine ready for whatever the market throws its way.

Don’t forget to download the B2B Sales Enablement BDR Checklist to guide your conversation with your BDR team!

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