Account Penetration Tracker: Free Sheets Template

What you'll get

5 copy-ready blocks
Spreadsheet-ready
5 min read

Header row (tab-separated, paste into row 1)
Three example rows (tab-separated, invented)
Three example rows (tab-separated, invented)
Three example rows (tab-separated, invented)
Three example rows (tab-separated, invented)

How to use it

Step 1: Paste the header row in Part 1 into row 1 of a new sheet, then one row per account.
Step 2: Keep Status to the six words in Part 2, exactly.
Step 3: Read the five KPIs in Part 3 off the sheet every week, same day, same hour.
Step 4: Work the stalled list in Part 4 before anything else.

An account penetration strategy stands or falls on one boring thing: a tracker someone actually updates. This is that tracker, as a Google Sheets template you can paste in and run weekly. One row per account, six statuses, the five KPIs computed from the rows and a flag for any account quietly going stale.

If you want the numbers computed for you from a snapshot, use the Account Penetration Tracker tool in the browser. This sheet is the running version your team keeps between Mondays.

Part 1: The tracker

Header row (tab-separated, paste into row 1)

Account	Tier	Owner	Status	Roles mapped	People in conversation (30d)	Last touch	Next step	Next step date	Pipeline value

Three example rows (tab-separated, invented)

Northfield Logistics	1	Dana	In talks	4	2	18 Nov	Proposal review call	25 Nov	
Calder Cold Chain	1	Dana	Reached	3	1	9 Oct			
Pellow and Rook	2	Sam	Mapped	3	0	12 Nov	First email to ops lead	17 Nov

Calder Cold Chain is the row to notice: no next step and no touch for weeks. Part 4 catches it.

Part 2: What do the six statuses mean?

Chosen     On the approved list. Nobody has researched it yet.
Mapped     The buying committee is named: three or more roles, with names.
Reached    At least one mapped person has been contacted.
Replied    At least one two-way exchange exists.
In talks   Two or more people engaged in the last 30 days.
Parked     Deliberately paused, with a written reason and a revisit date.

A status can only move when the facts move. The statuses come from the ABM Starter Kit for a Small Team, which sets up the ten-account version of this whole routine.

Part 3: Which five KPIs show penetration?

All five count accounts and people, never emails sent.

1. Outreach accounts      Rows at Reached or beyond
2. Coverage rate          Share of worked accounts where every mapped role
                          has been reached
3. Active committees      Rows with 2+ people in conversation, last 30 days
4. Active conversations   Sum of people in conversation, last 30 days
5. Pipeline value         Total of the pipeline column, your currency

Why these five and what to do when one stalls is the subject of the lesson Reporting on Accounts: the Five KPIs. The metric itself is defined in the glossary under account penetration.

Part 4: The stalled flag

Flag a row when either is true:

No dated next step, or
No touch in the last 30 days (and the status is not Parked)

A stalled account is not a dead account. The choice is always one of three: give it a dated next step, try another person on the committee, or park it honestly with a revisit date. What never works is leaving the row to age.

Worked example (illustrative, not a real company)

Illustrative example

Quaywise runs 40 named accounts in this sheet. At Monday's review Dana Whitfield reads the five numbers: 28 outreach accounts, 43 per cent coverage, 6 active committees, 19 active conversations and the pipeline total. Two rows are flagged, including Calder Cold Chain at 34 days since the last touch. Dana does not send Calder a chaser. The committee map shows an unworked operations director, so that becomes the dated next step. All names and numbers are invented.

Five mistakes to avoid

Tracking activity instead of accounts. Sends and opens go up when nothing is moving. Count accounts and people in conversation.
Inventing a seventh status. Almost there and warm are feelings. Six words, defined by facts.
Letting Parked mean forgotten. Parked needs a reason and a revisit date, or it is a flag you painted over.
Reviewing only the exciting rows. The stalled list is the review. In-talks accounts look after themselves.
Counting one conversation as penetration. One person is a thread. The account is penetrated when the committee is engaged, which is what coverage and active committees measure.

Why this works on named accounts

Most pipelines track deals, so an account with no open deal is invisible, which is precisely when it needs working. This tracker makes the account the row and movement the measure: from chosen to mapped to reached to in talks, with the five counts that show whether the list is being penetrated or just emailed. That is the reporting half of account-based selling. The motion half is choosing few enough accounts that every row gets real hours.

How account-based selling works →

Common questions

What is account penetration and how do you measure it?

Account penetration is how deep into a target account your conversations go: how many of the people who will decide are mapped, reached and talking. Measure it per account with roles mapped against people in conversation, and across the list with coverage rate and active committees.

How is this different from a sales pipeline tracker?

A pipeline tracker counts deals and stages, so an account with no open deal disappears. This tracker counts accounts and people, so the work before the deal exists is visible, which on long enterprise cycles is most of the work.

How often should you update an account penetration tracker?

Touch by touch if you can, and at minimum before a fixed weekly review. The five KPIs only mean something when the rows under them are current, and the stalled flag only saves accounts if someone reads it every week.

More from the Academy

Selection card (answer for each candidate)

Account: [company]
Fit: does it match your best customers on sector, size and need?  [yes / no]
Reason now: is there a dated change we can point to?  [what, when, source]
Way in: do we know someone, or can we name two roles to approach?  [names]
Knock-out: signed with a rival this year / too small to buy / outside our delivery area  [none / which]
 
Keep only if: fit is yes, there is no knock-out and you have a reason now or a way in.

Template7 min read

ABM Starter Kit for a Small Team

For founders and sales leads with no ABM team and one or two people to spare.

You leave with a 10-account sheet, an hours budget, a six-week plan, a five-line scoreboard and a keep, swap or stop review.

8 copy blocks · Spreadsheet-readyGet it free →

Tier rules card

TIER 1  "Top logos"       Score 90 or more. A current reason to act. We can name three roles to reach.
                          Treatment: one-to-one. A plan per account. Researched per person.
TIER 2  "Look-alikes"     Score 75 to 89. Resembles a Tier 1 account or an existing customer.
                          Treatment: one-to-few. Researched per account, messages shared across similar accounts.
TIER 3  "Watch and warm"  Score 60 to 74, or a good fit with no reason to act yet.
                          Treatment: one-to-many. Light touch; promoted when a trigger lands.
BELOW 60                  Not on the list this quarter.

Template5 min read

Account Tiering Worksheet (Tier 1, 2, 3)

For teams with a scored account list and no agreement on who gets the most attention.

You leave with tier rules, a capacity sum, a worksheet, a treatment card and one list tiered.

6 copy blocks · Spreadsheet-readyGet it free →

Template8 min read

Buying Committee Map

For sellers working a large account through a single contact.

You leave with nine roles to look for, a map you can paste into a spreadsheet, a brief for each person and a coverage check that shows where the account is exposed.

5 copy blocks · Spreadsheet-readyGet it free →

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