SIMPLE ACCOUNT SEGMENTATION AND PROFILING A Framework for Simplified Account Segmentation and Profiling Joseph Schwartz 914-414-9935 | joe@jschwartzny.com www.linkedin.com/in/josephschwartz

Simple Account Segmentation And Profiling 1

Why Segment and Profile Accounts?

1.  Understand your sales coverage of your target addressable market through the lens of opportunity •  Align your selling resources to where the biggest opportunities are

2.  Not all businesses perceive or can adopt your solution in the same way •  Maturity drives customer perceptions and need

3.  Sales teams need a simple way to avoid starting sales cycles that are doomed from the start •  Aligning your solutions to their appropriate customer segments and

profiles does the trick

Simple Account Segmentation And Profiling 2

A Segmented Go-to-Market Approach Will Create Greater Focus on Customers with Biggest Spend

Simple Account Segmentation And Profiling 3

Coverage Model Account Type (Size)

Solu%ons  (e.g.  ?)  

Modules  (e.g.  ?)  

Transforma%onal  (e.g.  ?)  

Transi%onal  (e.g.  ?)  

Transac%onal  (e.g.  ?)  

Solutions (Breadth)

Account Type (Maturity)

• Focus  direct  resources  (Sales  and  Services)  on  Strategic  and  Enterprise  accounts.      • Hiring  profiles,  number  of  accounts  and  quotas  based  on  account  type  and  opportunity  • Dedicated  resource  focus  on  top  strategic  accounts,  leveraging  transformaAonal  services  for  upsell,    &  targeAng  plaCorm  sales  

• Eliminate  or  reduce  AM  focus  in  Segments  4&5  –  leverage  VARS  and/or    low  touch  inside  sales  

Leve

l of T

ouch

High

Low

Strategic  (#)  

   

Enterprise  (#)  

Emerging  (#)  

Products  Low  Touch  Inside  Sales  

Segment 1 > ~$?M per year

Segment 2 ~$?M to $?M per

year

Segment 3 ~$?M to $?M per

year

Segment 5 < ~$?k per year

Segment 4 ~$?k to $?M per

year

Size-Based Segmentation Simple Account Segmentation And Profiling 4

Mid Market

Enterprise ?+ ?

?+ ?

?+ ?

•  Specialty skills •  Higher maturity •  Process drives

customization •  Tools align to

need

Definitions Type 1 Type 2 Type 3 Maturity

?+ ?

?+ ?

?+ ?

•  Broad and general skills

•  General lower maturity

•  Tools define process

•  Buyer persona •  Budget

Emerging

Maturity-Based Segmentation Simple Account Segmentation And Profiling 5

Group Type 1 (Low Maturity) Type 1 (Med. Maturity) Type 3 (High Maturity) View Tool focused

Ops is a commodity I use-You manage

Process focused management & improvement Understand need for IM

Service alignment Benchmark service costs Vendor consolidation play

Positioning TCO-TTV 1st, then function Whole>sum of parts Manage vs. track Breadth-Depth

Tie in to excellence within multi-unit enterprise “Get out of tools/infrastructure business”

Customer Challenges

No single view of Ops Manual steps & human error Failures rate & performance

Inconsistent performance Inefficient-many processes Silo activity / poor coordination

Poor business alignment Multi-vendor integration Cross discipline reporting

Qualifying questions

TCO of current tools? Next upgrade? Project Scope What other tools are you using for Traffic / AS (etc.)

Processes written & used? satisfied with effectiveness? Compliance? Scope of process deployment

High Integration costs? Deploy new biz service? Tech / DC consolidation?

Selection criteria Cost Performance Ease to use/manage/upgrade Easy to customize TTV-Up & running in weeks

Process focused Complete OTB functionality Reporting Integration robustness Process guidelines

Depth AND breadth of offerings Analytics Product costing

Objections OTB in not flexible, My process vs. yours Approach (OTB vs. custom)

Too big-overkill

Simple Segment Aligned Solution Map

Simple Account Segmentation And Profiling 6

Enterprise

Strategic

Emerging

Showcase Accounts

Enterprise 2 Accounts

Services

Lead with services Let the customer take you to your

solution

Lead w/ your solution

Type 1 Type 2 Type 3

Size

Maturity

Customer Segmentation AND Customer Engagement Must Go Together

Simple Account Segmentation And Profiling 7

•  Maturity Segments •  My Way •  Savvy •  Vision Aligned

•  Size-based Segments •  Enterprise •  Mid-Market •  Emerging

•  Installed Solution Segments •  Our solution •  Competitive Replace*

* Assumes no true green field without an incumbent

•  Customer  Engagement   First principle: Where is the customer in THEIR buying cycle process?

Discover Explore Buy Value Realization

Second principle: Understand which combination of segments we are dealing with before proposing a solution

+

Solution Mapping (Function-Based) Simple Account Segmentation And Profiling 8

Mid Market

Enterprise

Emerging

Function 1 Function 2 Function 3 Function 4 Function 5 Type 1 Type 2 Type 3

Solution Functions

Buyer Landscape (Example) Simple Account Segmentation And Profiling 9

Messaging Model Simple Account Segmentation And Profiling 10

Platform / Vision

Buyer Initiative

Enterprise Mid-Market

Role Level

Emerging

Value Paths Value Paths

Value Paths Value Paths

Value Paths Value Paths

Value Paths Value Paths

Value Paths

Role Level

Role Level

Role Level

Business Use Case

Level

Business Use Case

Level

Business Use Case

Level

Business Use Case

Level

Business Use Case

Level

Business Use Case

Level

Business Use Case

Level

Business Use Case

Level

Business Use Case

Level

Product

Brand

Messaging Principles

• Build from the bottom up leveraging business use case-driven differentiators, metrics and proof points

• Next level up are value paths – customer projects, i.e., “order management,” translated into differentiated product-level messaging / value props

• Map to top level Brand attributes – brand attributes should be a consolidation of portfolio value props

Simple Account Segmentation And Profiling 11

Audiences •  (Go-to-Market Team) produces messaging for internal

audiences •  Programs

•  Campaigns •  Nurture streams •  webinars •  Online advertising •  SEM

•  Web team, Social •  AR/PR – media, analyst presentations •  Corp. – Executive briefings, presentations •  Training & Enablement, Sales Kick Off, Prospect Generation kits •  Field Marketing / event promotion, trade shows, etc. •  …

•  Each team creates its own executions, often with GTM team involvement

Simple Account Segmentation And Profiling 12

Sources & Validation •  The following should be sources and validation points for

all messaging work •  Brand

•  Sourced: Solution marketing, GTM Initiative Core Team •  Validated by: Leadership Team, Analysts, SMEs

•  GTM Initiative: e.g., solution go-to-markwt •  Sourced: Initiative Core Team

•  Product Themes (Value paths) •  Sourced: Business Use Cases, Value Framework •  Validated by: Field (Ses/SAs), Analysts, SMEs, PM, Customer proof

points Note: A value path must at minimum contain: value driver (s), referenced business use cases and metrics, customer proof points

•  Role level: maps to buyer landscape •  Sourced: Solution Marketing buyer landscape, Value Cards, Personas

Simple Account Segmentation And Profiling 13