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In sales, understanding your customers and their organizational structure is key to crafting effective strategies and closing deals. One strategy that sales teams can leverage is account mapping. But what exactly is account mapping, and why is it essential for successful sales operations? In this blog post we will explore the concept of account mapping, the important role it plays in sales, and provide a step-by-step guide to building an effective account map.
What are the 3 types of account mapping
There are three types of account mapping you need to be aware of.
- Sales account mapping: A sales account map is an effective way to enrich your CRM data with a better overview of important stakeholders involved in your prospect account.
- Partner account mapping: Useful for if you want to do research to get insight into partner organizations to look for opportunities for more collaboration.
- Marketing account mapping: Useful if you use account-based marketing strategy to create targeted content.
In this blog, we'll be focusing on sales account mapping techniques.
A closer look at sales account mapping
Sales account mapping is a strategic process used by sales teams to gather, organize, and visualize critical information about their target accounts. In other words, a prospect company. It involves identifying key stakeholders, understanding their roles and influence within the organization, and mapping out the internal structure and relationships that can impact the sales process. By creating a comprehensive account map, sales professionals can gain deeper insights into their prospects, tailor their approach, and build stronger relationships with key decision-makers.
Why is mapping accounts important in sales?
Sales account mapping is a useful technique that can help you identify key decision makers and have an idea of how your prospect's organization works.
1. Key insight into your client's organization
Account mapping helps sales teams gain a clear and detailed understanding of the client's organizational structure, decision-making process, and key influencers. This knowledge is crucial for tailoring sales pitches and strategies to align with the client's needs and priorities.
2. Improved relationship management
By identifying and mapping out the key stakeholders within an account, sales teams can prioritize relationship-building efforts. This ensures that they engage with the right people at the right time, helping to build stronger connections and trust.
3. Strategic planning and execution
With a detailed account map, sales teams can develop more targeted and effective sales strategies. They can identify potential obstacles, anticipate objections, and devise plans to address specific needs and pain points of different stakeholders.
4. Increased efficiency and better collaboration
Account mapping promotes collaboration among sales team members by providing a shared understanding of the account. This facilitates better coordination, communication, and resource allocation, ultimately leading to a more efficient sales process.
5. Personalize your pitch accordingly
The insight you get from an account mapping process can help you tailor your pitch and identify the best path you should take to have a competitive edge.
7 steps to include in your account mapping activities
To make the most of your individual account mapping efforts, make sure you include the following steps for it to benefit your sales cycle and sales processes.
1. Identify your key accounts
Start by selecting the accounts that are most critical to your sales goals. These could be high-value prospects or existing customers with significant growth potential.
2. Information gathering
Collect as much information as possible about the account. This includes details about the account needs, company's organizational structure, key decision-makers, their roles, and their level of influence.
3. Use a customer relationship management platform
Leverage CRM systems, LinkedIn, and other sales intelligence tools to gather and organize the information. Many CRM platforms offer account mapping features that can help visualize the data effectively. folk has a Chrome extension tech stack that helps you import contact information without the copying and pasting directly from LinkedIn.
4. Map key stakeholders
Create a visual representation of the key stakeholders within the account. Highlight their roles, relationships, and influence levels. This can be done using mind mapping software or CRMs such as folk with highly customizable dashboards.
5. Analyze relationships and influence
Assess the relationships between stakeholders. Identify who holds the most influence and who can act as champions or blockers in the sales process. Use your CRM to keep tabs of this.
6. Develop personalized engagement strategies
Based on your insights gained from the account map, create tailored engagement strategies for each key stakeholder. Focus on building relationships with influencers and decision-makers, addressing their specific needs and concerns.
7. Review and update regularly
Your account mapping strategy should be reviewed regularly. Ensure you keep track of an important key decision maker's activities such as job moves and promotions. Regularly update the account map to reflect changes in the organization's structure, personnel, and priorities. This ensures that your strategies remain relevant and effective.
A closer look at stakeholder mapping in sales
When you're mapping key stakeholders, it's important to identify who is involved, and what role they play in the prospect's decision-making process. This is often referred to as a key stakeholder's category.
Understanding key stakeholder categories
There are several kinds of stakeholder categories including:
- Decision-makers: Those with the authority to approve or reject the purchase.
- Influencers: Individuals who can influence the decision-makers through their expertise or position.
- Direct users: End-users who will be using your product or service and can provide valuable feedback.
- Gatekeepers: People who control access to decision-makers and can facilitate or hinder your engagement efforts.
- Champions: Internal advocates who support your product and can help drive the purchasing process.
- Blockers: People who can hinder your deal such as finance and compliance officers.
- Signers: People who have the authority to sign contracts and finalize the deal. Usually involves VPs or C-suite.
You can use your dialogue with the prospect during the discovery call to probe for information, and do your own research by using account mapping software.
How to use frameworks to identify the right stakeholder
There are several frameworks you can use to map stakeholder interest, based on your goal. Some popular examples include the power/interest grid, the RACI Matrix and a stakeholder onion diagram.
1. The Power/Interest Grid
This framework categorizes stakeholders based on their level of power and interest. In this case, power refers to their influence over the decision and interest refers to their level of concern regarding the decision.
What does it involve?
This mapping process involves placing stakeholders in one of four quadrants:
- High Power/High Interest
- High Power/Low Interest
- Low Power/High Interest
- Low Power/Low Interest.
So that your focus will be on stakeholders in the High Power/High Interest quadrant as they are crucial to the decision-making process.
2. The RACI Matrix
RACI stands for Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed. This framework helps clarify the roles of different stakeholders in a project or decision-making process.
What does it involve?
The RACI Matrix involves identifying who is responsible for carrying out tasks, who is accountable for decision-making, who needs to be consulted for input, and who should be kept informed about progress. This helps in understanding the involvement and influence of various stakeholders.
3. The Stakeholder Onion Diagram
The Stakeholder Onion Diagram represents stakeholders in concentric circles around a central core (the project or decision).
What does it involve?
The Stakeholder Onion Diagram involves placing key decision-makers and influencers in the innermost circle, with less influential stakeholders in the outer circles. This visual tool helps in prioritizing engagement efforts based on proximity to the decision core.
Account mapping software examples
Below are a few account mapping tool examples usually involved in the account mapping process.
1. CRM
To gather customer data based on your multiple prospect account lists, you'll need a CRM to help you create a contact database and keep track of the key customer relationships you need to manage in multiple accounts. An all-in-one CRM platform such as folk can come in handy for this.
2. Prospecting software
If you're planning to do some deep research into your key stakeholders, LinkedIn Sales Navigator will come in handy. folk happens to have a handy Chrome extension that can let you import search lists from your LinkedIn Sales Navigator account directly into folk. Saving you time as you map out your prospect's buying process and different people across multiple target account.
3. Account mapping software
If you want something that can help you create visual diagrams of the key stakeholders you need to be aware, of, LucidChart is a cloud-based diagramming application that has an account map template. You can use this template to create line legends and a nomenclature to show relationship types. And add notes to describe who they are in the organization to differentiate between blockers, key influencers and people to avoid contacting.
Conclusion
Which makes account mapping is a vital for sales teams looking to deepen their understanding of target accounts, improve relationship management, and execute more effective sales strategies. By following the steps outlined in this blog post, sales and marketing teams can build comprehensive account maps that provide valuable insights and drive better sales outcomes. The key to successful account mapping lies in continuous learning, adaptation, and collaboration. So, start mapping your accounts today and unlock the full potential of your sales efforts.
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