A new trend is emerging. A trend that is changing the way B2B sales teams operate and individual reps sell. It was a big focus at the 2016 SaaStr Annual conference, it’s been talked about on countless sales blogs, and it’s been predicted as the future of sales by leaders in the sales world, such as Max Altschuler, Lars Nilsson, Craig Rosenberg and many more.

This new trend is Account-Based Sales Development and there are many benefits of adopting this strategy.

The account-based sales development model has caused a fundamental shift in the way prospecting and outbound sales is performed. Reps are focused on creating new qualified pipeline, but the difference lies in the way they do it. Previously, reps had to meet their goals with high volume efforts: engaging in more sales activities, sending more emails, making more dials, and moving on to the next prospect as quickly as possible.

Now however, since the average contract size of a targeted account is much larger and more valuable, the focus is on high quality efforts; targeting high value accounts by following up multiple times, using numerous channels, and moving across decision makers within the account. This approach not only allows for more time researching and creating highly personalized messaging, but demands it.

There are many benefits to ABSD. First, it’s a much more organized approach to selling. Instead of prioritizing volume in your strategy, with ABSD you can take the time to be more strategic and methodically plan out every step. In fact, in order to be successful at ABSD, you must be more strategic. Another benefit is that your results become easier to measure. Simply put, it’s easier to track, process, and manage fewer account transactions, giving you more visibility into what is working and what’s not.

When you hone in on what’s working, management can begin to hold individual reps and entire teams more accountable to their numbers. The metrics and KPIs will be different, but all managers know that an increase in accountability and responsibility directly correlates with an increase in performance.

One more major benefit worth mentioning is brand reputation. The spray-and-pray model is what gives sales teams and companies a bad reputation. The combination of impersonal messaging directed at contacts that may not be qualified, sent out at a high volume, burns your brand’s reputation. When you’re selling at the account level, you mitigate that risk and avoid the actions that burn reputation. Since accounts are pre-qualified and you’re taking more time with messaging, you are no longer interrupting prospects at every turn and you’re creating more value with each interaction.

Below is an infographic highlighting the Account-Based Sales Development Playbook for Revenue-Driven Teams ebook. Click the image to get more details.

Megan is the Director of Marketing and is responsible for QuotaFactory’s marketing strategy, creating valuable content for sales and marketing professionals, overseeing the Sales Wars blog, and collaborating with industry thought leaders on co­marketing and partnership  initiatives. She also helps to bridge the gap between the sales and marketing processes by taking on sales enablement responsibilities to adhere both the sales and marketing department. Connect with her on Twitter and LinkedIn.

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