Account-Based Sales Development Metrics
Account-based sales is on the rise. More and more companies are giving it a try, and there are dedicated tools to help you run and improve your account-based initiatives.
One thing about account-based is that it needs to be a coordinated effort to be successful. Marketing, Sales, and Customer Success all need to be in on the strategy and playing a part to really make it effective for the business.
In this blog, we’re going to focus on the SDR team and the only two account-based sales development metrics you need to be measuring (in addition to the sales development metrics you’re already measuring.)
What is Account-Based Selling?
Account-based selling is a coordinated strategy taken on mainly by Marketing, Sales, and Customer Success to target a number of high-value accounts by using a multi-touch, multi-channel strategy approach.
Using an Account-Based approach requires strong alignment between all team involved – especially Marketing and Sales – in order to identify high-value accounts and employ initiatives that will draw their interest. Moving forward, Customer Success is involved in the collaborative process of upselling or cross-selling.
Account-Based Selling Metrics for SDR Teams
Account-based sales development metrics don’t need to be complicated. To get started, simply take the metrics used for the rest of your lead funnel and apply them to the account.
By replacing the word “Lead” with “Account”, you can see how easily the models map over.
- How many accounts are you assigned?
- How many accounts are you working?
- Are these accounts in a buying cycle now, not now, or never?
- How many of your assigned accounts have you worked, qualified, and won?
This helps give clarity and a shared view of the world to your teams.
Having said that, there are two account-based sales development metrics you should be measuring in addition to determine the health of an account and what needs to be done next to move them along in the sales process.
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Account coverage
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Account engagement
Account coverage
Account coverage measures the depth of our knowledge and engagement within an account.
- How many contacts do we know?
- Do they cover the right personas we need in our sales process?
Account engagement
Account engagement measures the frequency and recency of activities to those leads within an account.
- How many leads are you interacting with within an account?
- Where do they sit in our lead funnel?
- Are they engaging with your Marketing or Sales programs?
Using account-based sales development metrics
Measuring either account-based sales development metric individually will uncover some gaps for you, but the real value appears when you measure them together. You’ll then be able to determine what the next steps in the account should be.
A useful exercise to do with your open accounts is to plot them out on something like this:
Based on which quadrant each account stands, you’ll have a quick judgement on the health of the account and an idea of what sort of next steps you should be taking in order to move it to the upper right.
Identify (Account #1)
You have a lack of knowledge within the account, and need to identify what the organization looks like and where they are in the buying cycle.
Engage (Account #2)
You have a good understanding of the players within an account, and you need to engage them through Marketing or Sales efforts.
Expand reach (Account #3)
You have good engagement with a small amount of leads, and you need to develop access to the rest of the buying team.
Win (Account #4)
You have good engagement across the entire account, identified where they are in a buying cycle, and you’re well on your way to a closed-won deal.
Winning more deals with account-based sales development metrics
Account-based selling is a trending strategy that seems to be sticking around for the long-term. It’s a coordinated effort between Marketing, Sales, and Customer Success, but in this blog we’ve focused on the sales development team.
Measurement of the sales development team is already high, so adding account-based metrics to the mix can sound like a lot – but it’s not. Start by replacing the word “Lead” with “Account” and you’ll be able to map over your lead model pretty easily.
Beyond that, we recommend measuring two account-based sales development metrics:
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Account coverage – the depth of our knowledge and engagement within an account.
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Account engagement – the frequency and recency of activities to those leads within an account.
Add those two account-based sales development metrics to your mix, you’ll be able to measure the health of the accounts you’re targeting as well as determine the next steps you need to take to move the account forward.
