Knock-Outs and Scoring

Two passes, in this order

Lesson 1 left you with a long list of candidates. It is too long to score properly, and scoring is slow. So the work is done in two passes:

1. Knock-outs remove accounts with one disqualifying fact. This pass is fast: a minute or two per account.
2. Scoring ranks what survives. This pass is slower: 10 to 15 minutes per account once you know the criteria.

Reversing the order wastes hours scoring companies you would never have worked.

The knock-out pass

A knock-out is a yes-or-no question where "yes" removes the account for this quarter. Write three to five. Good knock-outs are facts you can check from outside:

• Outside the countries where you can deliver.
• Below your minimum size or deal value.
• Runs a system you cannot work beside.
• Signed with a competitor in the last 12 months.
• An existing customer, an open opportunity or a partner (these belong on other lists).

Go down the long list and mark each account "out" with the reason, or "through". Keep the "out" rows. A knocked-out account is not deleted; it is parked with a date, because contracts end and companies grow.

Expect to lose a large share of the list here. That is the pass working.

Three groups of criteria

Score the survivors on three groups of questions.

Fit: should they buy from us at all? Sector, size, geography, whether the problem is present, whether their set-up is compatible with yours, and likely deal size.

Timing: is there a reason now? A recent trigger event, a named programme or budget, and where they are with their current supplier.

Access: can we get in? Whether you have warm paths into the account, and whether you can see who the buying committee is.

Most teams score fit and stop. That produces a list of ideal companies with no reason to talk to you this year and nobody you can reach. Timing and access are what turn a good-looking account into a workable one.

Score from 0 to 3

Give each criterion a score from 0 to 3, and write down what each number means before you start. For a trigger event, for example:

Written definitions matter more than the scale. Without them, one person's 2 is another person's 3 and the totals mean nothing.

Three rules keep the scoring honest:

• Score from evidence. If you cannot point to a source, the score is 0 or 1, not a hopeful 2.
• "Unknown" is a low score. It can rise later, when you know more.
• Weight what predicts a win. If compatibility has decided most of your past deals, it should count for more than geography.

The Target Account Selection Scorecard has the full set of 11 criteria with definitions, and the Account Scoring Tool does the arithmetic and gives a total out of 100.

Settle disagreements with two scorers

For your first 20 accounts, have two people score each one separately, then compare. Where the totals differ by more than ten points, look at which criterion caused it. There are only three possible reasons:

1. One person had information the other lacked. Share it.
2. The definition of a score was unclear. Rewrite it.
3. They disagree about what matters. Take that to whoever owns the list.

After 20 accounts the definitions are usually stable and one scorer is enough.

Reading the result

Sort by total. Then look at the shape of each high scorer, not only its number:

• High fit, low timing: a good account with no reason to act. Watch it for a trigger.
• High fit and timing, low access: worth the effort, and the first job is finding a path in.
• High timing, low fit: tempting, because something is happening there. Usually a distraction.

A total tells you where an account ranks. The three group scores tell you what to do about it. The last lesson in this course covers capping the list to what your team can carry.