When starting out a sales development programme, it is often good to begin with defining the type of clientele you want to target. In just five simple steps you will have a shining account list, and be well on the road towards building a healthy pipeline.
Step 1: Compile a list of your top 15 best clients
In order to find your optimal audience, you need to understand what clients fit best now. What is considered ‘best’ will always be subjective to your business, but we suggest you think about:
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Budgets and revenue
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Potential for growth within the account (i.e. upsell or cross-sell opportunities)
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Length of sales cycle
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Longevity and loyalty
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Your team’s relationship with the account
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Any outstanding issues with the account in relation to your solution
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External risks that may affect the account
Step 2: Identify commonalities between these top 15
Next, take a deep dive into the 15 clients you have selected, have a look at each account:
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Industry
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Headcount
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Finances
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Locations
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Technologies or Solutions they provide
As you note down this information, a pattern of commonalities between clients should begin to emerge.
Step 3: Build your ICP
Take a long look at the client list and identify the similar characteristics they have. What you are trying to navigate is the ‘sweet spot’ for your ideal customer profile. This tends to be the select few accounts that have most characteristics in common.
i.e. 400-500 employees, EMEA Based, In the Cyber Security Industry
You may find two sweet spots, which would suggest you need two ICPs. If you are running an Account-Based Marketing programme, it would be most effective to take a different approach for each group.
Step 4: Remove your Anomalies
The goal of building your best-fit audience is to keep the search specific and sharp, this means getting really detailed with what you are searching for, to avoid generalised search criteria!
There are two common anomalies to keep an eye out for before you input your accounts into a data platform.
If all your best-fit clients are of the same size, location, industry etc. bar one, remove this client from your list.
If your best clients are split 50/50, you’ll need to separate the groups and run two data ranges to avoid affecting your results.
Step 5: Implementing your data ranges
Finally, it is time to use a data provider to build out your account list and input your identified ‘sweet spot’ group of clients, as well as the key characteristics that you are searching for.
It is at this point you would also introduce search criteria such as job titles and departments, to provide the specific contact information of who you are aiming to target in that company.
And, like magic, you will have a shining list of accounts to treasure, that your Sales Development team can then begin to nurture. If you would like to get in touch to learn more about building your best-fit audience, contact us at adam.clarke@punch-sales.com.
