Account-Based Selling

B2B sales is a whole different ballgame. Usually, 5-7 decision-makers are involved in the process, and closing the deal here means efficient management of all these high-value accounts. This is where account-based selling comes in.

If you’ve heard about account-based marketing (ABM), this is much like that. But the focal point of account-based selling is very different.

What is Account-Based Selling?

Account-based selling is a sales strategy in which every target account in a company is treated as a market of one. Instead of targeting single leads/contacts within a company, you have to identify several target accounts. And then, the marketing team and sales reps/SDRs use outreach campaigns to try and nurture these individual accounts through the sales funnel.

Effective account-based selling is only possible through cross-functional team collaboration. While the marketing and sales teams are crucial, a comprehensive account-based selling strategy also requires the involvement of sales development, customer success, product engineering, finance, and the R&D team.

Why is Account-Based Selling important?

When using account-based sales development (ABSD), it is important to note that this differs from the traditional lead-based sales process. In the latter, your salespeople would try to sell your product/service to as many people as you can without understanding the pain points or needs of your buyer personas.

On the other hand, the account-based approach is more personalized and targeted for lead generation and conversion. It can be very useful when your target companies are large organizations. Account-based selling methodology works because it appeals to the needs and requirements of all the key stakeholders in a key account. If executed well, the account-based sales approach results in higher conversion rates, lower customer acquisition costs, and significant improvement in KPIs (customer lifetime value, lead-to-opportunity ratio).

Benefits of Account-Based Selling

By now, you might be familiar that it’s difficult to determine a company’s readiness to invest in your product/service when you have a single point of contact. It’s possible that they might not even be the key decision-maker in the organization. With account-based selling, you can go after high-value accounts that’ll help facilitate conversions.

Here are some of the main benefits of successful account-based sales -

• Your sales and marketing team members wouldn’t have to spend precious time and effort on prospects that are not the right fit.
• More time to research and create personalized messages for the target account list, allowing you to close deals more effectively.
• Lesser dependency on an individual stakeholder. The multi-touch approach means there is no risk of the deal falling through if a target account is unavailable.

Is Account-Based Selling for you?

Consider the following points to decide if you want to switch to account-based selling –

• Your customers: If your clients are small and medium-sized enterprises, account-based selling might not be the best approach for you. Before employing the ABS approach, look at the average contract value and average deal size.
• Ideal customer profile: For account-based selling to work, you need to have sufficient data about the ideal customers.
• Number of stakeholders: If you find that there are multiple stakeholders involved in the purchase decision, it would make the most sense to have multiple touchpoints through ABS strategy.
• Average sales cycle: Account-based approach is a good choice if your average sales cycle lasts around 3 to 4 months.