We recently sat down with Tara Pritchett, Executive Director, Customer and Digital Marketing at SAIC, and one of our ABM Academy alumni. We talked about building ABM from the ground up in an industry where it is still relatively new, the power of curiosity, and why sometimes the best marketing tool is a conversation.
The interview
You’re at a dinner party and someone asks what you do – how do you explain ABM?
This is a very Washington DC question actually!
I do highly personalised marketing. I focus on connecting our most important customers to the value we can provide them. In practice, that means working closely with our account and business development teams to understand what those customers are trying to achieve and crafting marketing strategies that get the right message in front of the right people.
How did you get into ABM? Was it intentional or by accident?
Serendipitously. I’m one of those rare people who majored in Marketing and have been fortunate enough to love it and stay with it my entire career. After leaving management consulting, I really missed being close to the customer, understanding their needs and finding ways to help them. When Accenture launched a dedicated ABM program for their top customers, a mentor suggested I look into it. When the right account came up, I went for it. We ultimately scaled that program to over 200 marketers. From there, I was recruited by my current employer to build their ABM and pursuit marketing capability from the ground up.
What’s the biggest risk you’ve taken in your ABM career, and did it pay off?
Coming over to build ABM in the government contracting industry, an industry that doesn’t traditionally invest in ABM. But that’s what made it exciting and I saw the opportunity. It’s been almost two years, and I’d like to think the risk has paid off! Every time an account team tells me they’re thinking differently about customer engagement,
or that my team gave them the courage to try something new, I know we’re building something that matters.
What was your ‘lightbulb moment’ during the Academy course?
Scenario ABM. Because ABM is still relatively new at my company, we’ve sometimes struggled to keep our marketing anchored to strategy rather than reacting to whatever felt urgent in the moment. The outcome-driven nature of Scenario ABM was a genuine lightbulb moment. It gave me a concrete framework to bring focus and discipline back to our work.
What’s in your ABM toolkit that you couldn’t live without – and what’s the most overrated thing everyone raves about?
Asking questions, listening, and building a clear picture of what’s really going on is invaluable, and it’s the foundation of everything we do. The bigger thing I’d stress is that great ABM requires being embedded with your account teams, not delivering work to them from a distance. In terms of what’s overrated? Don’t get me wrong, one-pagers have their place. But I’ve seen ‘let’s make a slick sheet’ become a reflex when what’s really needed is a conversation.
Fast-forward five years – what does success look like for you?
A 100% customer-centric mindset embedded across the entire company, where account teams apply ABM thinking in their own day-to-day work. We’re already seeing it!
If you could give aspiring ABM-ers one piece of advice, what would it be?
Be curious. Really curious. Ask questions
to ensure you understand the customers your accounts are serving and what they’re trying to achieve. Then turn that same curiosity inward, digging into your company’s capabilities, what makes them unique, and how they can genuinely help. ABM is really just curiosity applied in both directions.
Final thoughts
Tara’s story is a great reminder that ABM thrives on curiosity, courage, and a genuine commitment to the customer. Whether you’re building a programme from scratch or looking to sharpen your practice, the ABM Academy is here to help you take the next step.
If you’re interested in kickstarting your own ABM journey, explore our ABM Academy courses and find the programme that’s right for you.
Read our previous Alumni Spotlight where we chatted to Ulrike Wanner, Head of Account Based Marketing Global Insurances, NTT DATA.
