Starting with account-based sales doesn’t have to be complicated. Run this play to first build a list of segmented list of target accounts in Sales Navigator. Then, you’ll learn how to segment each persona profile with those target accounts.
(Editors Note: We did NOT take any sort of commission from LinkedIn for this post, although we wouldn’t complain )
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.
# OF PEOPLE
Just You!
PREP TIME
Undefined
TIME
30-120 Minutes
DIFFICULTY
Moderate
Reps who strategically select their accounts before prospecting see tremendous results. They don’t waste time with smaller or unqualified deals. More importantly, they force themselves to “go deep” instead of “going wide” with their accounts. Limited reach promotes creativity. Ultimately, this drives engagement & conversion.Â
By the end of this quick exercise, you will have answered the question of, “How do I build a target account list?” and added hours of reclaimed time back to your life.Â
And who knows? Maybe you’ll also pick up a few pointers on leveraging Sales Nav.Â
If you have an account list already, skip this step and go straight to Step 3 (Tagging).Â
For everyone else, we’re assuming you have a sense of what accounts will and will not be good fits.Â
First, navigate to the Lists area in the Sales Navigator interface and click “Create account list.”
Now, keep in mind that the naming convention of this LinkedIn List will have a domino effect on other Lists. So, it’s important to give this list a name with syntax you’ll recognize, understand.Â
Here, we named the list “Q1: Target Account List.”
Â
Our new Account List empty! That means it’s time to run an account search query.Â
Click the “Advanced Search” and click, “Search for Accounts.”Â
Here, we applied a few basic queries for:Â
There’s one problem though.. There’s 2,198 search results. Let’s tighten this up.Â
Good news and bad news.Â
This is very helpful because it allows you to prune out all the companies that are stagnant or shrinking on LinkedIn. By adjusting to “Greater than 1% Growth,” we now have a view of 746 results, not 2,198.
Still, that’s quite a bit more than we could expect to sift through in a reasonable time. Let’s continue.Â
For our targeting, we raise our outbound bar to at least 10 people in sales. This helps us increase our deal size and win probability (since we have more access points to crack into the account).Â
Assuming you sell to a particular function of a business, leverage the department headcount filter to make sure the accounts on this list actually have prospects you can engage.Â
And would you just look at it?! We trimmed the results down to 152 high quality accounts.
We’ll give you four reasons:Â
Underneath each of the “Save” buttons, you’ll see “Add Tag.” As you’re researching each account, take a few extra seconds to apply tags as you see fit.Â
Here’s some of the thinking behind the tags you see here:
These are accounts that are in our ICP that we deem highest potential in terms of both revenue and win probability.Â
For our Tier 1 accounts, we prefer to segment to B2B software companies. However, we also find success in the staffing and services industries. This is an example of us marking an account as a target for later
Let’s say you’re reearching and you find a company that makes you think, “that’s a perfect fit!”
Try using LinkedIn’s “View Similar,” feature. It’ll do its best to pull a list of related companies. It’s not foolproof since AI is incredibly complex for this, but it’s always worth a quick spot check.Â
Given that organizations are much more likely to engage after a trigger event, it’s important to start with these accounts first.Â
Luckily for us, the LinkedIn gods have blessed us with the ability to sort Account Searches Â
In our search results, you’ll notice that of our 152 remaining results, over 1/3rd of them have triggers!Â
Let’s all take a second to thank LinkedIn.Â
“(Crowd in Unison) Thanks LinkedIn!”
Now, you can stop wasting time looking for PR articles about funding. They’re right there. Bookmark those and keep them handy for when you reach out.
From an account perspective, that’s all there is to it! Depending on your bandwidth for outbounding, we recommend a range of how many accounts you should strategically engage.Â
On the lower end, 10 can supplement your pipeline if it’s already full. If you’re in need of stocking more deals and have time on your hands, then upwards of 40-50 is a maximum.
No matter what your 2020 goals are, more pipeline will help. Subscribe and read more tips like this to be the best you can be this year!
January 15th, 2020
Copyright © 2020 FoxBound
GET YOUR FREE COLD-EMAIL CHECKLIST
We analyzed 3M+ emails and identified 9 key characteristics across top-performing campaigns. Grab a checklist and uncover what we found!
We use cookies to deliver a better browsing experience, personalize content, and analyze website traffic. By continuing, you agree to the usage of cookies. Learn more here.Â