Terms

Target Account List

A target account list is a curated list of companies that a business has identified as its most valuable prospects for sales and marketing efforts. This list serves as the foundation for an account-based marketing (ABM) strategy, allowing teams to concentrate resources and personalize outreach to the accounts most likely to become high-value customers.

Importance of a Target Account List

A target account list is crucial for efficiency. It focuses your team's energy and budget on prospects most likely to convert, preventing wasted resources on unqualified leads. This also ensures sales and marketing teams are aligned and working toward the same goals.

This focus enables highly personalized outreach tailored to each account's specific needs. By delivering relevant messaging, companies increase engagement, build stronger relationships, and improve conversion rates. This ultimately leads to closing more high-value deals and maximizing ROI.

How to Build a Target Account List

This is how you can create a focused list of high-value prospects.

  1. Define your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) by analyzing the common traits of your best customers.
  2. Use your ICP to identify potential accounts, building a master list from various data sources.
  3. Research each account to understand their needs, find key decision-makers, and confirm they are a good fit.
  4. Prioritize the list by scoring accounts and segmenting them into tiers based on their potential value.
  5. Collaborate with sales and marketing to finalize the list and ensure alignment on the top targets.

Target Account List vs. Target Market List

While both lists guide outreach, they serve different strategic purposes based on a company's goals.

  • Specificity: A target account list is a curated set of high-value companies for personalized ABM campaigns. It offers higher ROI and team alignment but is resource-intensive. Enterprises and mid-market firms use it for strategic, high-value deals where personalization is key.
  • Reach: A target market list is a broader collection of potential customers for wide-net campaigns. It's simpler and better for general brand awareness but often has lower conversion rates. This approach is useful when launching new products or when the ideal customer profile is less defined.

Best Practices for Managing a Target Account List

Managing your target account list is an ongoing process, not a one-time task. To maximize its effectiveness, you need to regularly refine and update it. Adopting a few key practices ensures your list remains a dynamic and valuable asset for your GTM teams.

  • Alignment: Ensure sales and marketing teams collaborate closely, working from the same list and sharing insights.
  • Refinement: Revisit and update your list quarterly, but avoid refreshing more than 20% to allow for outreach.
  • Prioritization: Segment accounts into tiers and use a scoring system to focus resources on the highest-potential prospects.
  • Data: Leverage firmographic, technographic, and engagement data to keep your list accurate and relevant.
  • Tracking: Monitor campaign performance against the list and make data-driven adjustments to optimize your strategy.

Common Mistakes to Avoid with Target Account Lists

Creating a target account list is a great first step, but several common pitfalls can undermine its effectiveness. Avoiding these mistakes ensures your ABM efforts don't go to waste and that your teams remain focused on high-value opportunities. Watch out for these common errors:

  • Foundation: Lacking a clearly defined Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) to guide account selection.
  • Alignment: Failing to ensure sales and marketing teams are on the same page.
  • Data: Relying on outdated or incomplete information, leading to mis-targeted outreach.
  • Stagnation: Treating the list as a one-time project instead of a dynamic, evolving asset.

Frequently Asked Questions about Target Account List

How many accounts should be on a target account list?

The ideal size depends on your team's capacity. A good starting point is 50-100 accounts per sales rep. This ensures each account receives the personalized attention required for effective account-based marketing without overwhelming your team.

How often should I refresh my target account list?

Refresh your list quarterly to keep it relevant, but avoid replacing more than 20% at a time. This allows your team enough time to properly engage accounts while still adapting to market changes and new opportunities.

What's the best way to measure the success of a target account list?

Measure success by tracking metrics like account engagement, pipeline velocity, and win rates within your target accounts. The ultimate goal is to see a higher conversion rate and deal size from these accounts compared to non-targeted outreach.

Other terms

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FAB Technique

The FAB technique is a sales framework connecting product features to advantages and then to the specific benefits for the customer.

FAB Technique

Sales Cycle

A sales cycle is the series of steps a company takes to close a new customer. It starts with prospecting and ends with a signed deal.

Sales Cycle

Lightning Components

Lightning Components is a UI framework for building dynamic web apps for mobile and desktop devices on the Salesforce Lightning Platform.

Lightning Components

CRM Integration

CRM integration connects your CRM software with other tools, creating a unified system for all your customer data and business processes.

CRM Integration

Software as a Service

Software as a Service (SaaS) is a cloud-based model where users subscribe to an application and access it over the internet.

Software as a Service

Net Revenue Retention (NRR)

Net Revenue Retention (NRR) is the percentage of recurring revenue kept from existing customers, including upsells, downgrades, and churn.

Net Revenue Retention (NRR)

Request for Quotation

A Request for Quotation (RFQ) is a document that a company sends to one or more suppliers to get a quote for specific products or services.

Request for Quotation

Sales Engagement

Sales engagement is the sum of all interactions between a seller and a prospect, aimed at building a relationship and moving a deal forward.

Sales Engagement

Direct Mail

Direct mail is a marketing method where businesses send physical promotional materials directly to potential customers' mailboxes.

Direct Mail

CRM Enrichment

CRM enrichment is the process of adding third-party data to your existing customer profiles to make them more complete and accurate.

CRM Enrichment

Intent leads

Intent leads are prospects who show buying signals through their online actions, indicating they're actively looking to make a purchase.

Intent leads

Multi-threading

Multi-threading allows a single CPU core to run multiple independent threads (or tasks) at the same time, boosting efficiency and performance.

Multi-threading

Outside Sales

Outside sales reps sell products/services in person, traveling to meet clients and close deals face-to-face, outside of a traditional office.

Outside Sales

No Forms

No Forms is a method for capturing lead data directly from your website visitors' profiles without requiring them to fill out any forms.

No Forms

B2C2B

Learn about B2C2B, including how B2C2B transforms sales, key strategies for B2C2B success, & differences between B2C2B and B2B2C.

B2C2B

Product Champion

A product champion is an internal evangelist who drives a product's adoption and success by ensuring it solves real problems for their team.

Product Champion

Signaling

Signaling is using credible actions to convey information about quality or intent to a less-informed party, effectively building trust.

Signaling

Salesforce Object Query Language

Salesforce Object Query Language (SOQL) is a query language used to search your organization's Salesforce data for specific information.

Salesforce Object Query Language

Corporate Identity

Corporate identity is the visual and verbal persona of a company, encompassing its logo, color palette, communication style, and core values.

Corporate Identity

Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR)

Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) is the predictable income a company expects to receive from its customers over a one-year period.

Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR)

Enterprise

An enterprise is a large-scale organization, often a corporation, defined by its complex structure and substantial number of employees.

Enterprise

Account-Based Selling

Account-Based Selling is a B2B strategy where sales and marketing treat high-value accounts as markets of one, using personalized outreach.

Account-Based Selling

Weighted Pipeline

A weighted pipeline forecasts sales revenue by assigning a closing probability to each deal based on its stage in the sales funnel.

Weighted Pipeline

Sales Champion

A sales champion is your internal advocate at a target company. They believe in your product and help you push the deal forward to close.

Sales Champion

Channel Partner

A channel partner is a company that works with a manufacturer or producer to market and sell their products, software, or services to customers.

Channel Partner

Sales Rep Training

Sales rep training is the process of equipping your sales team with the skills, knowledge, and tools to effectively sell and hit their targets.

Sales Rep Training

Dark Funnel

The Dark Funnel describes customer buying activities that are untrackable by companies, such as private chats and word-of-mouth referrals.

Dark Funnel

Audience Targeting

Audience targeting is the process of segmenting consumers into specific groups to deliver more personalized and relevant marketing messages.

Audience Targeting

Cost Per Click (CPC)

Cost Per Click (CPC) is a digital advertising model where an advertiser pays a fee each time one of their ads gets clicked by a user.

Cost Per Click (CPC)

High Availability

High availability (HA) describes a system's capacity to function continuously with minimal downtime, ensuring consistent operational performance.

High Availability

Direct-to-Consumer

Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) is a business model where companies sell products directly to customers, bypassing traditional retail middlemen.

Direct-to-Consumer

BANT Framework

Learn about BANT framework, including implementing BANT in sales strategy, advantages of the BANT methodology, & BANT vs. other qualification models.

BANT Framework

Break-Even

Learn about break-even, including calculating your break-even point, importance of break-even analysis, & break-even analysis vs. profit margins.

Break-Even

Value-Added Reseller

A Value-Added Reseller (VAR) is a company that adds features or services to an existing product, then resells it as an integrated solution.

Value-Added Reseller

Geo-Fencing

Geo-fencing creates a virtual boundary around a real-world location. It triggers actions on a device when it enters or exits this area.

Geo-Fencing

Use Case

A use case is a detailed description of how a user interacts with a system to achieve a specific goal, outlining the steps from start to finish.

Use Case

Retargeting Marketing

Retargeting marketing is a digital advertising strategy that targets users who have previously interacted with your website or brand online.

Retargeting Marketing

Network Monitoring

Network monitoring is the continuous process of tracking a computer network's performance and health to detect and resolve issues proactively.

Network Monitoring

Outbound Lead Generation

Outbound lead generation means proactively reaching out to potential customers who haven't yet expressed interest to introduce them to your brand.

Outbound Lead Generation

Time on Site

Time on site, or session duration, is a key web metric that tracks the total time a visitor spends on your website during a single visit.

Time on Site

Positioning Statement

A positioning statement is a concise description of your target market and how your product or service uniquely fills their needs.

Positioning Statement

Quarterly Business Review

A Quarterly Business Review (QBR) is a recurring meeting to assess performance against goals and align on strategy for the next quarter.

Quarterly Business Review

Data Privacy

Data privacy is an individual's right to control their personal information, including how it's collected, processed, stored, and shared.

Data Privacy

B2B Data Solutions

Learn about B2B data solutions, including unlocking the power of B2B data, & key components of effective B2B data solutions.

B2B Data Solutions

Loyalty Programs

Loyalty programs are marketing strategies designed to reward repeat customers. They offer incentives like discounts or exclusive access to encourage retention.

Loyalty Programs

DMP

A Data Management Platform (DMP) is a tech platform used to collect and manage data, mainly for digital marketing and advertising campaigns.

DMP

Account-Based Advertising

Account-based advertising is a hyper-focused B2B strategy that targets key accounts with personalized ads across multiple channels.

Account-Based Advertising

B2B Marketing Attribution

Learn about B2B marketing attribution, including challenges in B2B marketing attribution, & key metrics for effective attribution.

B2B Marketing Attribution

Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)

Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) is the predictable, recurring income a business expects to receive each month from all active subscriptions.

Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)

Lead Enrichment Software

Lead enrichment software adds crucial data to your leads, like contact info and firmographics, to help you better understand and engage them.

Lead Enrichment Software

Fault Tolerance

Fault tolerance is a system's ability to continue operating without interruption when one or more of its components fail.

Fault Tolerance

Lead Management

Lead management is the process of capturing, nurturing, and qualifying leads to guide them from initial interest to sales-ready.

Lead Management

End of Day

End of Day (EOD) refers to the close of business hours. It's a common deadline for tasks and reports to be completed before the workday ends.

End of Day

ABM Orchestration

ABM orchestration aligns marketing and sales actions across channels to deliver seamless, personalized experiences to high-value accounts.

ABM Orchestration

Incident Response

Incident response is an organization's systematic approach to managing and mitigating the aftermath of a security breach or cyberattack.

Incident Response

Solution Selling

Solution selling is a sales approach focused on understanding a customer's pain points to offer a comprehensive solution, not just a product.

Solution Selling

Rollback Procedures

Rollback procedures are a set of steps to restore a system to a previous, stable version after a failed update, ensuring minimal disruption.

Rollback Procedures

Touches

Touches are the individual interactions you have with a prospect throughout the sales process, from emails and calls to social media messages.

Touches

Vertical Market

A vertical market is a niche where businesses cater to a specific industry or group of customers with specialized needs, not the mass market.

Vertical Market

Payment Gateways

A payment gateway is a service that authorizes and processes payments for businesses, acting as a secure link between the customer and the merchant.

Payment Gateways

Social Proof

Social proof is a psychological phenomenon where people assume the actions of others reflect correct behavior for a given situation.

Social Proof

Customer Buying Signals

Customer buying signals are the actions, behaviors, or statements a prospect makes that indicate they are moving towards a purchase decision.

Customer Buying Signals

Programmatic Advertising

Programmatic advertising uses AI and real-time bidding to automate the buying and selling of digital ad space, targeting specific audiences.

Programmatic Advertising

De-dupe

De-duping, or data deduplication, is the process of eliminating duplicate copies of data within a dataset to improve accuracy and save space.

De-dupe

Warm Email

A warm email is a message sent to a prospect with whom you have a pre-existing connection, like a mutual contact or a prior interaction.

Warm Email

Lead Velocity Rate

Lead Velocity Rate (LVR) is the growth rate of your qualified leads, measured month-over-month. It's a key indicator of future revenue.

Lead Velocity Rate

User Interface

A User Interface (UI) is the point where humans and computers interact. It encompasses all visual elements like screens, icons, and buttons.

User Interface

Feature Flags

Feature flags let you remotely control features in your app without new code. This enables safe testing, gradual rollouts, and quick rollbacks.

Feature Flags

Sales Enablement Content

Sales enablement content refers to the materials and tools that empower your sales team to engage prospects and close deals more efficiently.

Sales Enablement Content

Sales Pipeline Velocity Formula

The sales pipeline velocity formula is a key metric that measures how quickly deals move through your pipeline and turn into revenue.

Sales Pipeline Velocity Formula

Compounded Annual Growth Rate

Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) measures the mean annual growth of an investment over a specified period of time longer than one year.

Compounded Annual Growth Rate

Inventory Management

Inventory management is the process of ordering, storing, and using a company's inventory, from raw materials to finished goods.

Inventory Management

Content Rights Management

Content Rights Management involves controlling the use and distribution of copyrighted digital media to protect intellectual property.

Content Rights Management

Competitive Landscape

A competitive landscape is an analysis of your direct and indirect competitors, revealing their strengths, weaknesses, and market positioning.

Competitive Landscape

Adobe Analytics

Adobe Analytics is a leading web analytics solution for gaining real-time insights into user activity across websites and mobile applications.

Adobe Analytics

Data Pipelines

A data pipeline is a set of automated processes that move raw data from various sources to a destination for storage and analysis.

Data Pipelines

SDK

A Software Development Kit (SDK) is a set of tools that allows developers to create applications for a specific software package or platform.

SDK

Value Gap

A value gap is the difference between the value a customer expects from a product and the actual value they receive, often leading to churn.

Value Gap

Precision Targeting

Precision targeting is a marketing strategy that uses data to identify and reach a highly specific audience most likely to convert.

Precision Targeting

Sales Kickoff

A sales kickoff (SKO) is an annual event for a sales team to celebrate wins, align on goals, and get motivated for the upcoming year.

Sales Kickoff

Functional Testing

Functional testing verifies that software performs its intended functions as specified in the requirements, ensuring it works as users expect.

Functional Testing

SEO

SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to your website through organic search results.

SEO

Lead Response Time

Lead response time is the duration between a potential customer showing interest and your team's first point of contact with them.

Lead Response Time

NoSQL

NoSQL ("Not only SQL") databases offer a flexible alternative to relational models, excelling at managing large and unstructured data sets.

NoSQL

Territory Management

Territory management is the process of segmenting customers into groups by geography or other factors to optimize sales efforts and resources.

Territory Management

Hot Leads

Hot leads are prospective customers who have shown significant interest and are ready to buy, making them a top priority for sales teams.

Hot Leads

Sales Intelligence

Sales intelligence is technology that gathers and analyzes data to help salespeople find and understand prospects and existing clients.

Sales Intelligence

Expansion Revenue

Expansion revenue is the extra money a business makes from its current customers via upgrades, new products, or additional services.

Expansion Revenue

Robotic Process Automation

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) uses software bots to mimic human actions and automate repetitive, rules-based tasks on digital systems.

Robotic Process Automation

Elevator Pitch

An elevator pitch is a short, memorable summary of what you do, designed to be delivered in the time it takes to ride an elevator.

Elevator Pitch

Process Builder

Process Builder is a Salesforce automation tool that lets you create 'if/then' business processes with a user-friendly visual interface.

Process Builder

Unique Value Proposition (UVP)

A Unique Value Proposition (UVP) is a concise statement that clearly communicates the unique benefit a customer gets from your product or service.

Unique Value Proposition (UVP)

Sales Team Management

Sales team management is the process of leading, coaching, and motivating a sales team to achieve its sales goals and drive revenue growth.

Sales Team Management

Smile and Dial

"Smile and dial" is a high-volume sales tactic where reps make numerous cold calls from a list, often with little to no prior research.

Smile and Dial

B2B Sales

Learn about B2B sales, including key strategies for B2B success, types of B2B sales models, & B2B vs. B2C sales: understanding the differences.

B2B Sales

Sales Operations Management

Sales Operations Management streamlines sales processes, tech, and data analysis to help sales teams sell more effectively and efficiently.

Sales Operations Management

AI Data Enrichment

AI data enrichment uses artificial intelligence to automatically enhance and update raw data, making it more complete, accurate, and valuable.

AI Data Enrichment

Sales Calls

A sales call is a real-time conversation between a salesperson and a prospect, aiming to persuade them to purchase a product or service.

Sales Calls

Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a web analytics service that tracks and reports website traffic, offering insights into user behavior and marketing effectiveness.

Google Analytics

Decision Buying Stage

The decision stage is where a well-researched buyer chooses a vendor. They compare specific products and pricing before making their final purchase.

Decision Buying Stage