01
Run marketing and sales from one account list
Also called ABM and ABS operating model
One list of target accounts sits in the middle. Marketing warms it with ads and content, signals decide when sales moves, sales runs the play, and every outcome updates the account’s stage and score, which shapes next week’s list.
Why it matters. When marketing and sales work different lists, the ads warm companies sales never calls and sales calls companies that have never heard of you.
How to do it
- Build the list with hard checks and a fit score.
- Marketing: keep the list warm with ads and content, always on.
- Signals: detect changes daily and score each account.
- Sales: when a warm account shows a strong signal, run the play.
- Every outcome, meeting or silence, updates the account’s stage and score.
What goes wrong
- Two versions of the list. Keep one list in the CRM and sync everything else from it.
Signals that trigger the play
02
Track where each account is, not each person
Also called Account journey stages
Give every account a stage: identified, aware, interested, considering, deciding. Stages move up when several people engage and move back down after 90 quiet days. One curious analyst never moves an account alone.
Why it matters. Buying is a group decision. Counting individual clicks overstates interest, while account stages show real momentum.
How to do it
- Identified: on the list, sees brand content, no ask.
- Aware: two or more people engage with content or ads in 30 days.
- Interested: someone in the buying group takes a deliberate step, such as a webinar or a reply.
- Considering: pricing or comparison visits, or a reply weighing options.
- Deciding: meeting booked. Remove the account from prospecting ads.
What goes wrong
- Moving an account up on one person’s activity.
03
Match effort to the size of the prize
Also called ABM tiers: one-to-one, one-to-few, one-to-many
Not every account deserves the same effort. Your top tier gets one-to-one attention with custom research and senior senders, the middle tier gets plays for small groups of similar companies, and the rest get one-to-many programmes.
Why it matters. Custom work for every account does not scale, and generic work for your biggest opportunities wastes them.
How to do it
- Top tier (highest fit): custom brief, senior sender, five to eight contacts.
- Middle tier: shared plays per segment, three to four contacts.
- Lower tier: standard sequences and ads, one contact thread.
- Review tiers every quarter.
What goes wrong
- Putting too many accounts in the top tier. If everything is top priority, nothing is.
04
Know what to do today for each account
Also called Play matrix: account tier × signal strength
Cross each account’s tier with how strong its current signals are. The grid says the move and the response time: a top-tier account with strong signals gets a senior-led play within 24 hours, a lower-tier account with no signals just gets watched.
Why it matters. Reps should not spend an hour deciding what to do. If preparing takes more than 30 minutes, the system is broken, not the rep.
How to do it
- Top tier + strong signal: full play, senior opener, within 24 hours.
- Top tier + some signal: owner opens, within 48 hours, senior sender held back.
- Top tier + no signal: warm it with ads and senior social activity, no pitch.
- Middle tier + strong signal: owner opens, within 48 hours, three to four contacts.
- Lower tier + no signal: watch only, no spend.
What goes wrong
- Pitching top accounts that show no signal. Warm them instead.
05
Open doors with several senders, one owner
Also called Multi-threaded account-based selling play
For a top account, senior colleagues open doors with senior buyers while one account owner handles every reply, record and meeting. The play is a short, dated burst across email, phone and LinkedIn, and cools off calmly if there is no answer.
Why it matters. Senior buyers answer senior senders. But if replies go to five people, nobody owns the account.
How to do it
- Day 0: the owner reads the brief, confirms who is involved and picks the angle (30 minutes at most).
- Days 1 to 2: a short email from a senior colleague to the senior buyer. The owner connects with evaluators and calls.
- Days 4 to 6: the owner sends a second email with a different angle and follows up on LinkedIn.
- Days 8 to 10: a last note from the senior colleague. The owner calls at a different time.
- Day 13: close the loop with an easy "no" question.
- Day 15, no reply: move the account down a stage, keep ads on, pause for 60 days, restart on the next signal.
What goes wrong
- Replies going to several people.
- Mismatched seniority: match the sender’s level to the buyer’s level.
Run it with the Account brief agent
06
Use ads to warm accounts, not to close them
Also called ABM advertising and audience sync
Ads never open a deal. They make the first sales touch feel familiar. Your account list becomes the ad audience, refreshed weekly, the message follows each account’s stage and accounts drop out of prospecting ads once a meeting is booked.
Why it matters. A buyer who has seen your name a few times answers a first email more readily than one who has never heard of you.
How to do it
- Sync the account list to your ad platforms weekly.
- Match the message to the account’s stage: problem-led early, proof and comparison later.
- Remove accounts from prospecting ads once a meeting is booked.
- To test the effect, split the list in half, run ads to one half and compare how far each half moves.
What goes wrong
- Judging account-based ads by clicks. Judge them by how accounts move through stages.
07
Roll it out in 12 weeks
Also called ABM and ABS implementation plan
Weeks 1 to 4: build and agree the list. Weeks 5 to 8: connect signals, scores, CRM fields and ad audiences. Weeks 9 to 12: run plays on the top tier and prove the results before you scale.
Why it matters. Trying to launch everything at once usually means launching nothing properly.
How to do it
- Weeks 1 to 4: customer profile, hard checks, fit score, tiers, sign-off from sales and marketing.
- Weeks 5 to 8: signal detection, scoring, CRM fields, owner routing, ad audience sync.
- Weeks 9 to 12: run the play on the top tier, review weekly, log results by signal.
What goes wrong
- Skipping the sign-off. If sales does not believe in the list, they will not work it.
Questions people ask
What is the difference between ABM and ABS?
Account-based marketing (ABM) is marketing’s part: ads and content aimed at a list of target companies to make them aware and warm. Account-based selling (ABS) is sales’ part: planned, personal outreach to the people at those companies. They work best on one shared list.
Is ABM only for large companies?
No. A founder can run a simple version: a list of 30 to 50 companies, a few ads to warm them, and a planned outreach play when a signal appears. The discipline matters more than the budget.
How many accounts should be in an ABM programme?
It depends on team size. A common pattern is a small top tier for one-to-one work, a larger middle tier in small groups, and a broad lower tier covered by one-to-many programmes.
How do I measure ABM?
By how accounts move through stages and how much pipeline comes from the target list, not by clicks. A simple test is to run ads to half the list and compare how far each half moves.