Account-Based Marketing in Action: How Validis Turned One Bank Win Into Three
Landing a High Street Bank was the breakthrough. But in ABM, the real work starts after you get in. How do you map the territory, win over every stakeholder, and turn one contract into organization-wide adoption?
The ABM Challenge: One Account, Endless Complexity
Validis, a fintech SaaS provider specialising in clean financial data extraction, had achieved what many B2B companies dream of: they'd landed a prestigious High Street Bank. A named account win. A foot in the door.
But anyone who's done real account-based marketing knows that initial entry is just the start. The question isn't "How do we win the account?" It's "How do we grow it?"
The bank wasn't one decision-maker or one department. It was a sprawling organization with:
Internal silos separating UK and international operations, each with different priorities and approval processes
Multiple stakeholder groups with conflicting needs—decision-makers who saw strategic value versus end-users resistant to workflow changes
Complex organizational structures where identifying the real influencers and champions required serious detective work
This is textbook ABM complexity. And it's where most companies stall out.
The ABM Play: Deep Account Intelligence
Validis partnered with RicochetB2B to execute a genuine account-based marketing strategy - not just targeted outreach, but systematic account penetration.
Phase 1: Account Mapping
This is where ABM lives or dies. RicochetB2B worked directly with Validis' lending team to build a comprehensive stakeholder map:
Who were the economic buyers in each department?
Who influenced their decisions?
Who were the end-user champions who could drive adoption from the bottom up?
How did different silos communicate (or not communicate)?
Where were the natural entry points for expansion?
Not org chart theater—actual power mapping.
Phase 2: Persona-Based Engagement
True ABM means different messages for different stakeholders. RicochetB2B designed and delivered personalized workshops and demos tailored to specific personas within the account:
For decision-makers: Strategic value, ROI metrics, operational efficiency gains. The business case.
For end-users: Practical functionality, ease of use, time savings. How it makes their jobs easier, not harder.
Each session addressed specific concerns about process changes, building buy-in at every level of the organization.
Phase 3: Strategic Cross-Selling
This is where ABM gets interesting. Rather than treating each department as a separate sales motion, RicochetB2B used Validis' existing credibility within the bank to open doors elsewhere.
They positioned expansion conversations as "You're already seeing value here—let's explore how this solves similar challenges in other departments."
Not cold outreach. Warm introductions leveraging existing relationships and proven results.
The ABM Results: Deep Account Penetration
This is what systematic account-based marketing delivers:
15+ meetings secured with key influencers and decision-makers across multiple departments
80% adoption rate among end-users—overcoming initial resistance through targeted, persona-specific engagement
Two additional contracts signed within the same bank, representing approximately 30% account growth
But here's where the ABM strategy really paid off: Validis took the playbook from this deep account engagement and applied it across the lending sector, successfully expanding into three additional retail banks.
That's the power of ABM done right—learnings from one account inform your approach to similar accounts.
What the Client Said
"Kirsty did a fantastic job of cross-selling our services across the bank. She worked with our lending team to identify an accurate org chart and tailored messages to each key influencer in order to gain a meeting and buy-in with ultimate decision-makers. She helped our approach become much more strategic, using our footfall in the bank to introduce our services to other areas. We still have a number of opportunities that are open for growth, and this wouldn't have happened without her input."
— Joel Curry, CEO of Validis
The ABM Lesson
Most companies think ABM means "targeted ads to named accounts." That's not ABM—that's just narrow targeting.
Real account-based marketing means: ✓ Deep stakeholder mapping and power analysis ✓ Persona-specific engagement at every level ✓ Strategic relationship-building that leverages existing credibility ✓ Systematic account expansion, not one-off sales
Validis had the product and the initial entry point. RicochetB2B provided the ABM strategy and execution that turned one contract into organization-wide adoption and a repeatable growth playbook.
The result? 30% account expansion, 80% user adoption, and a framework they're using to win additional banks.