B2B Lead Generation Checklist: Lead List vs Account List, a 10-Point Check

A lead list is a set of contacts. An account list is a set of companies you have decided to win, with the people inside each one mapped. Both have a place. The trouble starts when a team sells enterprise deals from a lead list and wonders why replies never turn into revenue.

Run your current list through these ten questions.

How to use it

1. Open the list you plan to work this quarter.
2. Answer each question yes or no. "Sort of" counts as no.
3. Count the yes answers and read your result below.
4. Apply the fix for each no. Start with points 1, 4 and 9.

The 10-point check

• 1. Could you name the companies before you had any contacts? Lead list: you filtered a database by title and exported whoever matched. Account list: you chose the companies first. Fix: write the company names in a column on their own, then find people.

• 2. Is there a written reason each company is on the list? Lead list: "matches the filter". Account list: a fit score or a one-line reason per account. Fix: score every account. If you cannot say why it is there, remove it.

• 3. Is the list small enough to research every account? Lead list: sized to a sending tool's daily limit. Account list: sized to research hours. Fix: work out how many accounts one person can research and work well each month. That is your list size.

• 4. Do you have more than one person per account? Lead list: one contact per company, usually the most senior title. Account list: the roles that take part in the decision. Fix: add at least a decision maker, a day-to-day owner of the problem and a technical or financial evaluator.

• 5. Do you know each person's role in the decision, not just their title? Lead list: "VP Operations". Account list: "owns the budget", "runs the evaluation", "can block on security". Fix: add a column for role in the decision and fill it in for your top tier.

• 6. Is the list tiered? Lead list: every row gets the same sequence. Account list: the top tier gets the most research and the most channels. Fix: split into three tiers and write down what each tier gets.

• 7. Does every top-tier account have a reason to talk now? Lead list: timing is whenever the sequence reaches them. Account list: a trigger such as a new executive, an expansion, a published initiative or a contract coming up. Fix: add a "why now" column. Top-tier accounts with nothing in it drop a tier until something changes.

• 8. Would a reply from one person change what you send to their colleagues? Lead list: contacts are worked in isolation, and two reps sometimes email the same company. Account list: one owner per account, one shared view of every touch. Fix: group activity by account in your CRM and give each account a single owner.

• 9. Do you report by account? Lead list: emails sent, open rate, replies. Account list: accounts reached, buying committees active, conversations open, pipeline per account. Fix: add an account-level view to your weekly report and read it first.

• 10. Do you know what happens after the first meeting? Lead list: the meeting is the finish line. Account list: the meeting is the first of several conversations inside the same account. Fix: before each first meeting, write down the next two people you want to meet there.

Read your result

Results sheet (copy and fill in)

LEAD LIST VS ACCOUNT LIST: [team], [date]

 1. Companies chosen before contacts        Y / N
 2. Written reason per account              Y / N
 3. Small enough to research every account  Y / N
 4. More than one person per account        Y / N
 5. Role in the decision known              Y / N
 6. Tiered                                  Y / N
 7. "Why now" for every top-tier account    Y / N
 8. One owner and one view per account      Y / N
 9. Reporting by account                    Y / N
10. Plan for after the first meeting        Y / N

Yes answers: [ ] / 10
First three fixes, with owner and date:
1. [ ]
2. [ ]
3. [ ]

When a lead list is the right tool

Be honest about your deal. A lead list is the better choice when one person can say yes, the price is low enough to buy without a committee, the market has thousands of near-identical buyers and the sales cycle is days or weeks. Account-based work costs more per company and only pays back when one won account is worth a lot and several people have to agree.

What an account scoreboard looks like

In our published BEST SAP case study the funnel reads: 1,500 connections, 800 accounts reached, 30 positive responses, 22 accounts penetrated. Every line after the first is counted in accounts or conversations. There is no line for emails sent. Read the BEST SAP case study.