Big Deal Depeche #1 - Preliminary Account Research Framework

Hi there,

And welcome to the premiere issue of Big Deal Dépêche!

Today I'll cover the framework that I use before reaching out to strategic accounts.

The topic is extremely unattractive, I get it. But here is why it's extremely important to any enterprise seller:

• Everybody says that you need to do your research; however, almost no frameworks show how to do it.
• As a result, most enterprise sellers do their research intuitively and waste an insane amount of effort with nothing to show for it besides surface-level intel (tech stack, growth rate, exec hires, etc.)
• At the same time, the bar for engaging the C-Level execs is so high right now that your pitch needs to be super-relevant to grab attention.

So let's step up your account research game!

The framework consists of five steps:

Step 1. Grasp the big picture of what’s going on in the account's industry

You need to feel the zeitgeist: what are the major market shifts, what the leaders are doing etc. Then understand how your target account is coping with those changes.

What to look for

• What’s going on in the industry (trends, lay-offs, growth, stagnation, geopolitical stuff, etc.)
• How the client’s business works (product line, target industries etc)

Where to look

• Industry analyst reports
• 10K/10Q reports of the target account
• Earnings Calls (don’t forget the Q&A section, sometimes it can provide crazy insights)
• • Check out my short presentation on extracting data from EC

Step 2. Understand the key initiatives of the account

It's extremely hard to land a large deal if it's not somehow attached to a strategic initiative.

What to look for

• Top priorities inside the account
• “Star Products” that are getting major investments

Where to look

• Investor Day Presentations
• Here's a short post with examples of data that can be extracted
• Leadership Interviews
• Initiatives with wide PR Coverage
• Recent C-level hires

Step 3. Deep-dive into the initiatives that can be tied to your offer

Now let's take a closer look at the important projects that could benefit from your offerings

What to look for

• What initiatives can we tag along?
• What departments are responsible for these initiatives?
• What’s the “connective tissue” between our prop and the client’s initiative?

Where to look

• Job posting and overall hiring dynamics
• Nate Nasralla has a brilliant example of working with this data
• Niche podcasts and interviews with C-1 level managers
• Product/customer webinars
• Materials from tech days and user conferences

4. Draft the account map

Now let's get a glance at the potential members of the decision-making unit (DMU).

What to look for

• What can the chain of command look like?
• Who can be involved in the buying process?
• One more shout-out to Nate Nasralla and his brilliant article on account mapping (with a small comment from yours truly)
• What department should we reach out to first?

Where to look

• LinkedIn SalesNav
• DiscoverORG (or a similar vendor)
• Case Studies by other vendors selling to this account
• Job postings (both current and archived)

5. Research the potential stakeholders

Let's uncover some insights that will help engage with the buying group members (I prefer to start low and get some additional intel before reaching out to the C-Suite).

What to look for

• Relevant KPIs
• Career trajectory
• Contact data
• Personal context

Where to look

• "Casual" social profiles (FB, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter)
• LinkedIn profile
• Zoominfo, Cognism, or similar data providers
• “Creepy” open-source intelligence (OSINT) tools and some social engineering.
• Here's my infamous "$4M ARR with a Blue Jersey story" to give you an example of this approach

Final thoughts

This is a solid foundation that provides enough insights to get the initial convos that will enrich your research with insider intel to bulletproof the value hypothesis.

More on those topics - in the upcoming Big Deal Depeches.

Stay tuned.

Cheers!

Dan Gridin