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How do you know which accounts you should be focusing on?
In sales, that’s one of the most important drivers behind a reps’ success – how effective they are when it comes to prioritizing their accounts. Whether you're dealing with a big pool of ~300 accounts or a smaller subset of 10 strategic accounts, the approach you take to prioritize them should vary significantly.
That’s because all segments aren’t made equal. There are nuances and key considerations that should shape how we approach account prioritization based on a diverse set of scenarios reps encounter.
Let's dive into how you should be thinking about prioritizing your target accounts.
For sellers that manage a larger list of accounts, the challenge is making sure you can give the necessary attention to each one. Prioritization then becomes an art of evaluating which accounts show signs of their intention to buy. Keep in mind that it's also important to consider if these companies even possess the ability to bring on a solution like yours. To figure that out, you have to ask yourself questions like:
Do they have the necessary tech infrastructure in place?
Do they have pain points that we can solve for?
Are they equipped to leverage our solution effectively?
Answers to these questions become the guiding principles for how you should think about prioritizing your commercial or mid-market accounts.
On the flip side, those handling a more limited number of accounts can (and should) take a much deeper look. In this case, it's critical to identify leading indicators that signify an immediate readiness to buy. Other than the bullets above, some of the things you should be looking for are:
Are they actively recruiting to address the pain points we specialize in solving?
Are there recent blogs or news highlighting their efforts to tackle these challenges?
These leading indicators ensure that we can allocate our resources in the right ways. No matter which segment you’re focused on, once you have the answers to these questions, it’s time to go deeper. So what other signals should you be on the lookout for?
Knowing when someone has the right foundation to make a purchase is the first step in figuring out if they're worth prioritizing. Here are some buying indicators and evaluation criteria you should be on the lookout for that helps you measure your prospect’s capacity to buy:
Tech Stack: Assess if your prospect’s existing tools or technology landscape aligns with the problems your product solves for
Business Use-Case: Understand if your solution resonates with your prospect’s pain points and if they have the necessary drivers to seek a solution
Maturity & Organizational Structure: Evaluate your prospect’s readiness and capability to effectively implement and leverage your solution
Dependencies & Existing Tools: Consider if they have other tools integral to the problem-solving process that might complement or conflict with your offering
Knowing when someone is ready to buy, buy from you, and buy right now is the last step in figuring out which accounts to prioritize. Here are some leading indicators you should be on the lookout for that signals immediate buying behavior:
Hiring Signals: Notice if your prospect is actively recruiting to address issues that your product solves for
Publications & News: Look for recent articles or blogs indicating your prospect’s efforts to solve these problems
Account prioritization is an art backed by data-driven decision making. Understanding the nuances between managing a large list of accounts versus a small handful is critical. And the key to prioritization lies not just in identifying potential leads but also in recognizing those showing signs of immediate buying behavior. By considering these factors, we help ourselves allocate our time and effort as effectively as possible, while also maximizing our chances of winning more deals.
