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Playbook

Account-Based Selling Examples: Three Worked Accounts from First Research to Pipeline

For founders and sales heads who understand account-based selling in theory and want to see it on real-looking accounts.

You leave with three worked accounts, a one-page account worksheet and a 12-week touch plan you can copy.

By Intandemly team · Updated 22 Oct 2026 · 7 min read · Free, no sign-up

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On this page
  1. What you'll get
  2. How to use it
  3. Part 1: Three worked accounts (illustrative, not real companies)
  4. Part 2: The worked-account worksheet
  5. Part 3: The 12-week touch plan
  6. Part 4: What to measure on each account
  7. Five mistakes to avoid
  8. Common questions

What you'll get

  • 3 copy-ready blocks
  • Spreadsheet-ready
  • 7 min read
  • One page per Tier 1 account
  • One row per person (tab-separated)
  • The five measures, reviewed every Friday

How to use it

  1. Step 1: Read the three accounts in Part 1 and pick the one closest to your own sale.
  2. Step 2: Copy the worksheet in Part 2 into a doc for one of your Tier 1 accounts.
  3. Step 3: Fill in the committee and the reason to write before any message is drafted.
  4. Step 4: Plan the 12 weeks with the touch plan in Part 3, one row per person.
  5. Step 5: Review the account every Friday against the five measures in Part 4.

More guides sit under Account-based selling.

Most account-based selling examples stop at the framework. These three follow one account each from the reason it was chosen to the point where several people were talking, with the touches written out by role. All three companies and people are invented; the steps are the ones we use.

Part 1: Three worked accounts (illustrative, not real companies)

Account 1: a mid-size logistics group, sold an ERP upgrade

The seller: a 60-person Microsoft Dynamics partner. The account: Halvern Logistics, 1,200 staff, warehouses in three countries.

  • Why this account: it looks like two past clients, and in August it announced a new regional warehouse. Tier 1.
  • The committee: the CFO (budget), the head of finance operations (feels the problem), the ERP systems lead (technical fit), group procurement (supplier checks).
  • First contact: the ERP systems lead, by LinkedIn and email, on the warehouse news. No reply in two weeks.
  • The second door: the head of finance operations, with a note on closing the books across three warehouse systems. She replied and asked for an example.
  • What moved: a short call, then a forwardable one-page note she sent to the CFO. The CFO asked the ERP lead to join a second call. Three of the four committee roles were now talking.

Lesson: the first person contacted was the right role but the wrong first door. The person who felt the problem opened the account.

Account 2: a regional bank, sold a data quality service

The seller: a 40-person data engineering firm. The account: Corrin Bank, a regional bank with a new regulatory reporting deadline.

  • Why this account: a dated trigger (the reporting deadline) and one past bank client with a similar setup. Tier 1.
  • The committee: the chief data officer (budget), the head of regulatory reporting (problem owner), the data platform lead (technical fit), information security and procurement (checks).
  • First contact: two people at once, each with a different message. The head of regulatory reporting got a note about the deadline; the data platform lead got a note about the pipeline checks the past client needed.
  • What happened: the data platform lead replied first and asked about security. The seller answered with the security pack before anyone asked for a call.
  • What moved: information security cleared the pack early, which turned a three-month review into a short one. The chief data officer joined at the proposal stage.

Lesson: answering the check that would come later anyway, early and unasked, shortened the account's longest step.

Account 3: a retail chain, a cold account that stayed cold, then opened

The seller: a 90-person e-commerce development company. The account: Pellow and Rook, a 300-store retail chain.

  • Why this account: a strong fit, but no trigger. Tier 2.
  • First 12 weeks: five people contacted, one polite "not this year" from the head of e-commerce. The account was moved to a quarterly watch, not removed.
  • The trigger: in the next quarter, the chain hired a new chief digital officer. The seller wrote to her in her second month, quoting her own interview about the online share of sales.
  • What moved: she asked for a meeting and invited the head of e-commerce, who now had a reason to say yes.

Lesson: a "not now" from one person is a date, not a verdict on the account. The watch list kept the research ready for the day it mattered.

Part 2: The worked-account worksheet

One page per Tier 1 account

One page per Tier 1 account
ACCOUNT: [name]   TIER: [1/2/3]   OWNER: [name]   LAST REVIEWED: [date]

Why this account
  Looks like: [past client and the problem solved there]
  Reason to write now: [trigger, date, source]

Buying committee
  Budget owner:         [name, title]   status: [not contacted / contacted / replied / engaged]
  Problem owner:        [name, title]   status:
  Technical evaluator:  [name, title]   status:
  Procurement or checks:[name, title]   status:
  Likely champion:      [name] because [reason]

What each person cares about
  [role]: [their concern in one line, in their words if you have them]

Checks that will come later anyway
  [security, procurement, legal, data]: [what to send early]

Next step this week: [one action, one person, one date]

Part 3: The 12-week touch plan

One row per person (tab-separated)

One row per person (tab-separated)
Person	Role	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 6	Week 8	Week 10	Week 12	Status
[name]	Problem owner	LinkedIn note	Email on trigger	Follow-up with example	Call	Forwardable note			Review	
[name]	Technical evaluator		LinkedIn note	Email on fit	Follow-up	Security pack	Call		Review	
[name]	Budget owner				Short email via champion's topic		Email with one result	Meeting request	Review

Start with the person who feels the problem, not always the most senior. Reach the budget owner once someone inside has a reason to mention you.

Part 4: What to measure on each account

The five measures, reviewed every Friday

The five measures, reviewed every Friday
1. Account in outreach:          yes / no
2. Coverage:                     people contacted ÷ committee roles mapped
3. Active buying committee:      two or more people engaged (yes / no)
4. Active conversations:         two-way conversations about a real need
5. Pipeline value:               value of opportunities open in this account

All three worked accounts above moved on measures 2 and 3 before any proposal. A report that shows only emails sent would have shown none of that.

Five mistakes to avoid

  1. Stopping at the first silence. Two of the three accounts opened through the second or third person.
  2. One message for every role. Each person gets a note about their own concern.
  3. Writing without a reason. "Checking in" is not a reason. A trigger with a date is.
  4. Leaving the checks to the end. Security and procurement are slowest when they come last.
  5. Deleting a "not now" account. Move it to a watch list with a review date.

Why this works on named accounts

A lead list example would show a sequence and a reply rate: 1,000 contacts, a few per cent answered, some meetings booked. None of the three accounts here would appear in that kind of example, because each started with one contact who said no or said nothing. What moved them was the second and third person, a reason to write that was true about that company and a message written for each role. That is the difference worth copying: the unit of work is the company, and a quiet first contact is the start of the work, not the end of it.
How account-based selling works →

Common questions

What is an example of account-based selling?

A seller picks a named company that looks like past clients, maps the people who decide, finds a dated reason to write and contacts several of them with messages written for their roles. The three accounts above show it step by step.

How many people should you contact in one account?

Usually three to five for a Tier 1 account: someone who owns the budget, someone who feels the problem, someone who checks technical fit and the people who run supplier checks. Fewer for Tier 2 and 3.

How long does account-based selling take to show results?

Plan in quarters. Look first for coverage and a second engaged person in each account, which can happen within weeks, then for conversations and pipeline.

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Related articleWhat Goes into an Account-Based Sales PlaybookRead →
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