Target account sales model advantages and disadvantages

Before throwing all of your current sales strategies in the trash and investing all of your time in TAS, you still need to be realistic about whether account selling is right for you.

For all the benefits of target account selling, there are some disadvantages to the process as well that sales managers should be aware of👇

Benefits & advantages of target account selling

TAS can really level up your sales game if you're currently practicing a more indiscriminate approach. It can improve customer relationships, help build more avid brand advocates, increase CLTV, create a higher-value brand and customer experience for everyone you get in contact with, and ultimately help your team generate more revenue.

#1. Target accounts + your company = fit like a glove

When you close a deal with a good-fit customer, it’s a win-win for them and you.

A target account ticks all of your boxes—they need your product, have the budget for it and their sales cycle suits yours. These accounts are worth a ton to your business, and the time you spent closing the deal will be nothing if they stick with you and become a high-revenue customer. These are often the best customers your company acquires, they'll see more success with your solution, and stay with your company for longer periods of time.

#2. You spend less time on crappy leads

A poor account list is a sales reps’ worst nightmare—hours wasted on cold calls and outreach emails that get thrown straight in the trash, no matter what sales techniques you deploy.

A solid target-account process means spending time on prospects that are actually a good fit for your product. These businesses have the budget and need for what you’re selling. This means less time spent on unqualified leads and more revenue added to your sales funnel.

#3. You become a trusted product in a particular industry

Targeting accounts in specific industries is one of the best ways to make a mark.

Ever wonder why sales professionals favour Close? 🤔

We've put in hours (and hours) specifically targeting sales teams, earning trust, and showing reps that our tool helps close more deals. Everything we do is to prove we know what we're doing and that our tool brings money into a company's sales funnel.

As soon as that trust starts building, so does brand recognition. Bringing new accounts on board and building relationships is even easier when people know your name. The work to prove that our product is worth the money is already done.

That’s the power of selecting the right target accounts and building up brand recognition in your customer base.

Challenges & disadvantages of target account selling

Now, the Target Account Selling methodology is not for everyone, and there are good reasons not to implement it into your sales process. Let's look at the top 3 reasons why it might not be the right sales methodology for you.

#1. It takes time to fine-tune your account selection process

Finding and researching target accounts can take a lot of time—especially when you first start using TAS.

Don’t underestimate how long it’ll take you to find companies and CEOs that have the time, budget, and need for your product—it’s a totally different ball game to sending out hundreds of cold emails to random leads. And it requires that sales, marketing, customer success, and other departments are aligned in their initiatives, and your sales team needs to be on top of their metrics.

#2. You need to be cutthroat

It’s tempting to add accounts to your list even when they don’t tick all of your boxes.

Rationalising why an account may be good to target is a trap. If you aren't ruthless when selecting accounts and put prospects on the list that don't meet your criteria, you'll end up with a bunch of poorly fitted accounts—and a lot of wasted time.

#3. It’s still sales—some accounts will still say no

Even with all of the research, time and effort put into targeting accounts and adapting to their buying process... some will still say no.

That’s the reality of selling.

Mentally prepare yourself that not every account on your list will become a paying customer—staying positive and believing that the strategy works will be a lot harder once a couple of accounts turn you down (believe me, it's definitely going to happen.) Investing a lot of effort into nurturing a high-potential prospect that ultimately doesn't buy means lost revenue: You could have spent that time closing a series of smaller accounts.