What you'll get
- 2 copy-ready blocks
- 2 tables
- 10 min read
- Score sheet (copy this block)
- Log (copy this block)
How to use it
- Step 1: Read the table in Part 1 and the cards in Part 2. Take 15 minutes.
- Step 2: Score each play against your own situation using Part 3. Choose three.
- Step 3: Write your target accounts into the log in Part 4 and assign one play to each group of accounts.
- Step 4: Run the plays for four weeks. Fill in the log every Friday.
- Step 5: At the end of week four keep the play with the best count, change one with a middling count and drop the other.
Most lists of lead generation examples name channels: email, LinkedIn, events, ads, content. A channel is where you are, not what you do. This playbook lists ten plays instead. A play is a specific action with a reason to contact someone, a set of steps and a count. Each one can be run on a list of 20 accounts or fewer, with no tool beyond a spreadsheet and a mailbox.
You do not run all ten. Use the score sheet in Part 3 to choose three, then test them for four weeks.
Part 1: The ten plays
| # | Play | The reason to contact | Best when | Effort |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Trigger note | A dated event at the account: a hire, a launch, a filing | You can name the accounts and watch them | Low |
| 2 | Customer referral ask | A client who knows the account | You have happy clients in the same sector | Low |
| 3 | Past customer revival | They bought before and stopped | You have a list of old clients | Low |
| 4 | Lost deal revisit | A deal that did not close, with a reason | Your CRM has lost deals with notes | Low |
| 5 | Warm introduction | A named person who knows the buyer | You or your team have a network in the sector | Medium |
| 6 | Event follow up | You were in the same room, or they were | You attend one or two events a year | Medium |
| 7 | Comment then message | A post by the buyer that you can answer with substance | Buyers post in public and you can add something | Medium |
| 8 | Partner introduction | A supplier or adviser who works with the account | You have partners who serve the same buyers | Medium |
| 9 | Account teardown | A one page note on a problem you found at the account | The product is easy to examine from outside | High |
| 10 | Small roundtable | An invitation to a closed discussion of five companies | You have a topic that senior buyers want to compare notes on | High |
Part 2: A card for each play
Each card has the steps, one count and one mistake.
1. Trigger note
- Choose 10 accounts and one kind of trigger to watch for, for example a new leader or a new site.
- Check each account once a week for 10 minutes.
- When a trigger appears, write two sentences: what happened and why it made you write. End with one question.
- Send within three working days. After that the event is old news.
Count: replies per notes sent. Mistake: writing about a trigger from six months ago.
2. Customer referral ask
- List the clients you work with and the accounts on your target list in the same sector.
- Ask the client one question: "Do you know anyone at [Account]?"
- If they do, ask for a short introduction, and send the client a draft they can forward.
- Thank them and tell them what happened.
Count: introductions made per client asked. Mistake: asking a client who is not happy.
3. Past customer revival
- List companies that bought from you and stopped. Note why they stopped, if you know.
- Check what has changed at each: new leaders, new plans, news.
- Write one message to the person you worked with, or their successor, that names what is different now.
- Do not offer a discount. Ask whether the problem is still there.
Count: conversations opened per message. Mistake: writing as if nothing happened.
4. Lost deal revisit
- Take lost deals from the last 18 months where the reason was timing or budget, not a bad fit.
- Check each for changes since the loss.
- Write to the person who engaged. Refer to what they told you and ask whether it has moved.
Count: deals reopened. Mistake: revisiting a deal where the buyer said no for a good reason.
5. Warm introduction
- For each account, find a person you know who knows someone there. Use your own network and your team's.
- Ask for the introduction in two lines, with a forwardable note the person can send as it is.
- Follow up once after a week.
Count: introductions made per ask. Mistake: a long ask that the helper has to rewrite.
6. Event follow up
- Before the event, list which target accounts will attend, from the public list or the organiser.
- Meet two or three of them in person if you can.
- Within two working days write to everyone you met, and to the target accounts you did not, with one line about the event.
Count: conversations after the event. Mistake: a mass message to the full attendee list.
7. Comment then message
- Pick 10 buyers who post in public.
- Over two weeks, add a comment that carries information, not praise. One comment a week per buyer is enough.
- After the second comment, send a short message that refers to the thread.
Count: replies to the message. Mistake: comments that say "great post".
8. Partner introduction
- List the advisers and suppliers that serve the accounts you want.
- Pick three you respect and share what you do, with an example of a problem you solve.
- Offer the same in return: an introduction to your own clients.
Count: introductions received. Mistake: asking before you have given anything.
9. Account teardown
- Choose three accounts where you can see their product or process from outside.
- Write one page: what you looked at, one thing you found, how you found it and what you would check next.
- Send it to the person who owns that area, with no ask except a reaction.
Count: reactions per teardown sent. Mistake: a page that is a pitch.
10. Small roundtable
- Choose a topic that five senior people at target accounts would want to discuss.
- Invite them by personal message, with date, length (45 minutes) and who else is invited, by role.
- Run it with a short agenda. Send a one page summary after.
Count: attendees per invitation, and conversations in the month after. Mistake: an event that is really a product demo.
Part 3: Choose three
Score each play from 1 to 3 on four questions. Add the scores. Pick the three highest.
Score sheet (copy this block)
PLAY | Fit with our accounts (1 to 3) | Fit with what we have, such as clients, network, time (1 to 3) | Speed to a first result (1 to 3) | Can we count it (1 to 3) | TOTAL
1. Trigger note | | | | |
2. Customer referral ask | | | | |
3. Past customer revival | | | | |
4. Lost deal revisit | | | | |
5. Warm introduction | | | | |
6. Event follow up | | | | |
7. Comment then message | | | | |
8. Partner introduction | | | | |
9. Account teardown | | | | |
10. Small roundtable | | | | |If two plays tie, take the one with the lower effort in Part 1. A play you will actually run beats a better play you will not.
Part 4: The four week test log
Fill in one row for each play each Friday. Keep it in a single sheet.
Log (copy this block)
WEEK | PLAY | ACCOUNTS WORKED | MESSAGES OR ASKS SENT | REPLIES | CONVERSATIONS OPENED | NOTE
1 | | | | | |
2 | | | | | |
3 | | | | | |
4 | | | | | |Count a conversation only when someone at the account says something back about the problem. A reply that says "not now" is a reply. It is not a conversation.
Worked example (illustrative, not a real company)
Kestrel Works, an invented firm, sells compliance software to regional banks. The team of three has a list of 18 named accounts and four clients in the same sector.
They score the ten plays. Referral ask scores 11, trigger note 10, lost deal revisit 10 and event follow up 7. They choose the first three.
| Play | Accounts | Sent | Replies | Conversations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Customer referral ask | 6 | 4 asks | 3 | 2 |
| Trigger note | 6 | 5 notes | 1 | 1 |
| Lost deal revisit | 6 | 4 messages | 2 | 1 |
At the end of week four they keep the referral ask, change the trigger note so it is sent within three days and not within two weeks, and drop the lost deal revisit for the accounts where the buyer had named a competitor. These numbers are invented. They show the shape of the log, not a result to expect.
Five mistakes to avoid
- Running all ten at once. You cannot tell which one worked.
- Counting sent messages as the result. Count replies and conversations.
- Using the same text for every account. Each play needs a reason that is true for that company.
- Skipping the log. Without it, week four is a guess.
- Dropping a play after one week. Give each play four weeks on at least six accounts.
Why this works on named accounts
Read next
Related articleB2B Sales Strategy Examples: Five Plans and a One Page TemplateRead →More from the Academy
Target Account List Template
For founders and sales heads who have chosen their accounts and need one place to work them.
You leave with a 25-row sheet, a rule for how many accounts to keep and a weekly review in five questions.
The Trigger-Event List: When to Approach an Account
For sellers with a good account list and no idea which account to work this week.
You leave with 12 trigger events, where to spot them and who to approach when one lands.
The Forwardable Note: Get Introduced Inside an Account
For sellers with one friendly contact in an account and nobody else.
You leave with the ask, a note your contact can forward in ten seconds and the thank-you that keeps them involved.
Account Scoring Tool
Score target accounts on fit, timing and access, and sort them into Tier 1, 2 and 3. Runs in your browser.
Want this in your inbox?
Optional. We use your email only to send you this, nothing else.