Target Account Selling (TAS): What Is It

Commonly referred to as “TAS”, Target Account Selling is a sales strategy designed for the age of personalized sales. As customers search for more customized solutions to their problems, they’re automatically drawn to companies that appear to understand their needs and pain points. Today, we’re looking at the Target Account Selling methodology and what it means to your business.

What is Targeted Account Selling?

Targeted account selling, (or Target Account Selling), is an approach to sales where teams create structured, well-researched strategies for specifically targeting a set of highly qualified leads. Companies use Target Account Selling and Account Based Marketing (ABM) in tandem, to convert leads with highly personalized approaches.

The TAS selling methodology can be complex for beginners to access at first, because it requires sales reps to have a deep understanding of each lead they approach. Companies need extensive access to customer data and information, so reps can design sales plans targeted to the individual needs of target accounts. However, when used properly, the TAS strategy can generate benefits like:

• Stronger customer relationships
• Improved customer lifetime value
• Access to new brand advocates and supporters
• Stronger brand reach and reputation
• Increased average order value

Where Does the Target Account Selling Strategy Work Best?

Target Account Selling, or “TAS”, is an approach used by B2B sales teams. The solution works better for high-value sales, where long-term relationships with customers are necessary. The customer-centric approach to selling requires strategies for building deeper relationships with multiple decision makers in highly qualified target accounts.

Companies with subscription-based products, tiered pricing products, and opportunities for extensive upselling and cross-selling will generally benefit most from TAS strategies. However, all companies using this method will also need to ensure they have access to the right information to ensure their efforts are successful.

Companies can build entire target account selling templates to help guide sales teams. However, to do this, they need access to everything from service desk information, to market research, CRM, data, and other sources of valuable information. Generally, the more familiar a sales team becomes with their target accounts, the easier the account-based selling strategy becomes.

Target Account Selling Methodology

Target account selling requires companies to build very specific, targeted lists of potential customers that can receive personalized assistance throughout the buying process. The goal here, is to deliver a more customized, intimate experience, while ensuring the right resources are directed towards the leads with the highest potential value.

Target Account Selling requires solid cooperation and alignment between customer, sales, and marketing teams. The three teams will usually collaborate through a basic three-step approach:

• Sales and marketing work together to build a list of general characteristics for best-fit customers, who are referred to as the “Ideal Customer Profile”. Sales reps then only target accounts with businesses who fit this ideal profile.
• Once the marketing and sales teams have a clear profile for their ideal customers, the sales teams continue to research each qualified account, to collect additional information, and build unique buyer personas for every individual decision maker. The buyer persona is even more specific and highly focused than the ICP, allowing sales reps to customize their content and deliver a better nurturing experience.
• Sales and marketing teams continue supporting each stakeholder through the buying, and sales-funnel process, until the deal is closed. Teams can then either close communication, and deliver information to the customer success team, who can then deliver valuable insight into the customer’s experience after the purchase.

What is a Target Account List?

A target account list is essentially the list of accounts you’re going to be targeting in your sales and marketing efforts. Your list will reflect all the information you currently have about your ideal customer and should be a good fit for the service or product you’re selling. Having a highly detailed target account list will help you to create a more successful strategy for sales.

To build your list of target accounts, you’ll need to conduct extensive research, to create your “Ideal Customer Profile”. Your Ideal Customer Profile will need to include plenty of basic information about the firms you’re trying to target, including which industry they belong to, how many employees they have, their annual revenue, their budget, their customer base, and the age of the company.

Information for an Ideal Customer Profile and a Target Account List will often come from:

• Account intelligence: Information collected through interaction with ideal customers
• Competitor intelligence: Data gathered from an assessment of your closest competitors
• Marketing information: Data pulled from marketing user personas and insights
• Industry reports: Market research and industry reports can often be useful for research
• Feedback: Feedback from customer service and sales teams can support your account list

The more you work on connecting with your target accounts, the more you’ll learn about them, their needs, and their expectations. This will help you to strengthen the quality of your Ideal Customer Persona and build buyer profiles at the same time.

Target Account Selling Training Courses

As mentioned above, the target account selling methodology has a lot of value to offer in the right circumstances. In B2B environments where meaningful relationships with clients are crucial, the TAS selling approach ensures you can strengthen your chances of long-term brand loyalty, and increase average order value. However, using this methodology requires some training and guidance.

Target account selling training courses will help you to prepare your sales reps for a new strategy of sales. You can even find courses which offer access to target account selling templates, and strategies for improving the quality of your personas and targeted sales strategies over time.

For companies new to highly focused, and account-based selling, a training course could be the key to strengthening potential relationships with crucial customers.

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