$8M in pipeline in nine months. For port software that takes a whole terminal to roll out.

Target ports that fit, not ports that are famous. For a North American yard and port software company, Lemniscate Growth researched mid-segment ports that most vendors miss, grouped them into clusters in Dubai, the Netherlands, the United States and Canada, and ran account-based outreach and closed-door CXO roundtables. The programme built an $8M pipeline in nine months.

Cluster-based ABM groups target accounts that share a region, size or operating profile and runs one tailored programme for each group. Messages reference peers the buyer knows, and events bring the cluster together. Lemniscate Growth used port clusters in four regions to generate an $8M pipeline in nine months for port management software.

They work well for large, complex purchases. Senior leaders will join peers to discuss shared problems even when they ignore vendor outreach. For a port software company, Lemniscate Growth used roundtables to collect each port's problems, turned them into simulations, and moved accounts toward proof of concept, contributing to an $8M pipeline in nine months.

It took nine months. The North American company, which sells a yard management system and a port management system, reached an $8M revenue pipeline in that time, which is fast for software that takes a whole terminal to roll out. The program combined researched lists of mid-segment ports, account-based marketing by regional cluster, closed-door CXO roundtables, and account-specific simulations that moved buyers toward proof of concept and solutioning.

Mid-segment ports were the best fit because large flagship ports attract every vendor, while mid-segment ports have real operational problems and budget but rarely appear in databases or at conferences. The North American yard and port software company built its account lists through port-by-port research on volumes, operators and leadership, prioritizing ports with clear operational pain. Researching its own list cost more effort upfront and removed most of the competition.

Simulations let each port see its own operation modeled before committing. For the North American company selling yard and port management systems, problems that port leaders raised at closed-door roundtables became scenario simulations showing how the software would behave at that terminal. Because the rollout is large and touches operations, IT, finance and terminal leadership, seeing their own case lowered perceived risk and made proof of concept a confirmation rather than an experiment.

It suits enterprise software with conditions like this North American yard and port management vendor's: a large rollout with many stakeholders, buyers who must see the system fit their operation, and a best-fit segment competitors overlook. The approach also needs a team able to build simulations and support proof of concept work. If your product is a quick trial purchase, or your buyers are easy to find in databases, simpler demand generation may be enough.