For companies worth a lot to you, sending more emails is not the answer. Marketing and sales work one shared list of accounts together: ads warm them up, signals say when to move, and a planned play from several people opens the door.
In one paragraph
Account-based marketing (ABM) and account-based selling (ABS) mean treating each important company as a market of one. Marketing keeps a shared list of target accounts warm with ads and content. When buying signals appear, sales runs a short, planned play across email, phone and LinkedIn from several people, with one owner for every reply.
Blueprint 1
The engine at a glance
One workbook holds every target account, the people in them and every signal. Scores and stages are calculated there and written to your CRM, and the stage decides which play runs.
1Target accountsOnly companies that pass every checkClay
2People by personaRevenue, marketing, operations, financeClay
3SignalsAccount, contact and websiteClay, Snitcher
4Score and stageFit, timing, where they areClay → CRM
1Tier 1: one-to-onePlanned play, several senders, one ownerTop 50
2Tier 2: one-to-fewPlay per industry or problemNext 250
3Tier 3: one-to-manyAds and content until a signal firesThe rest
Blueprint 2
The account workbook
This is how the tables connect. Target accounts feed two account signals and four persona tables (revenue, marketing, operations and finance leaders). Each persona table has its own job-change signal. The website tracker maps every visit from a target account to a funnel stage. Everything flows into one account score, which sets the lifecycle stage and the play.
Clay · Account engine workbook · overview
Source
Company table
People table
Signal
Website tracker
Score and stage
Example numbers. On a phone, scroll the workbook sideways.
Blueprint 3
Signals on accounts, people and your website
Set signals at three levels. Account signals say the company is changing. Contact signals say a person who could buy has arrived or moved up. Website signals say they are looking at you right now. Every signal adds points and fades on a timer.
Clay · Signal setup · 9 signals
Level
Signal
Where it comes from
Checked
Points
Fades after
Account
Research surge on your topic
Intent data provider, via Clay
Weekly
+15
30 days
Account
Job ads that mention your problem
Job boards, via Clay
Monthly
+10
60 days
Account
Funding round or new leader
News and filings, via Clay
Daily
+15
90 days
Contact
New hire in one of your personas
LinkedIn data, via Clay
Weekly
+20
90 days
Contact
Promotion in one of your personas
LinkedIn data, via Clay
Weekly
+10
60 days
Contact
Past champion joins the account
Your CRM and LinkedIn
Weekly
+25
120 days
Website
Pricing or demo page, no booking
Website tracker (Snitcher)
Live
+25
14 days
Website
Three or more people in one week
Website tracker (Snitcher)
Live
+20
14 days
Website
Learning content only
Website tracker (Snitcher)
Live
+5
30 days
Blueprint 4
Scoring one account
Two numbers, never mixed. Fit says how much effort the account deserves and changes slowly. Timing adds up live signals, each worth less as it ages. Together they set the tier and how fast the owner moves.
Account · Harbor Foods · score
Fit 78/100
Company size in range25
Industry you win in20
Personas found (3 of 4)18
Tools that fit yours15
Timing 60/100
+25Pricing page, no booking3 days ago
+20New revenue leader5 weeks ago
+15Research surge on topic2 weeks ago
+10Job ad mentions problem7 weeks ago
The bar shows how much of each signal is left before it fades.
Tier
1 · one-to-one
Stage
Considering
Next step
Owner starts the play within 24 hours
Blueprint 5
Lifecycle stages for accounts
The stage belongs to the account, not to one person. It moves up when several people engage and moves back down after 90 quiet days. Write it to a company field in your CRM so marketing and sales read the same thing.
CRM · Companies · account stage
Identified2,400
Passes the account checks and sits in your list
MarketingAds to the account list
SalesNothing yet
Aware610
One person visits, follows or reacts
MarketingAds and useful posts
SalesWatch
Interested180
Two or more people engage, or learning content read
MarketingGuides for their problem
SalesMap the buying group
Considering64
Comparison, case or integration pages, or replies
MarketingProof from similar companies
SalesPlanned play from several senders
Deciding22
Pricing or security pages, procurement joins
MarketingStay visible, no hard sell
SalesOwner leads, senior colleague joins
Opportunity9
A deal is open in the CRM
MarketingSupport the deal team
SalesRun the deal
Example counts from a list of 2,400 target accounts. A pile-up at one stage shows where the engine is stuck.
01
Run marketing and sales from one account list
Also called ABM and ABS operating model
One list of target accounts sits in the middle. Marketing warms it with ads and content, signals decide when sales moves, sales runs the play, and every outcome updates the account’s stage and score, which shapes next week’s list.
Why it matters. When marketing and sales work different lists, the ads warm companies sales never calls and sales calls companies that have never heard of you.
How to do it
Build the list with hard checks and a fit score.
Marketing: keep the list warm with ads and content, always on.
Signals: detect changes daily and score each account.
Sales: when a warm account shows a strong signal, run the play.
Every outcome, meeting or silence, updates the account’s stage and score.
What goes wrong
Two versions of the list. Keep one list in the CRM and sync everything else from it.
Give every account a stage: identified, aware, interested, considering, deciding. Stages move up when several people engage and move back down after 90 quiet days. One curious analyst never moves an account alone.
Why it matters. Buying is a group decision. Counting individual clicks overstates interest, while account stages show real momentum.
How to do it
Identified: on the list, sees brand content, no ask.
Aware: two or more people engage with content or ads in 30 days.
Interested: someone in the buying group takes a deliberate step, such as a webinar or a reply.
Considering: pricing or comparison visits, or a reply weighing options.
Deciding: meeting booked. Remove the account from prospecting ads.
What goes wrong
Moving an account up on one person’s activity.
03
Match effort to the size of the prize
Also called ABM tiers: one-to-one, one-to-few, one-to-many
Not every account deserves the same effort. Your top tier gets one-to-one attention with custom research and senior senders, the middle tier gets plays for small groups of similar companies, and the rest get one-to-many programmes.
Why it matters. Custom work for every account does not scale, and generic work for your biggest opportunities wastes them.
How to do it
Top tier (highest fit): custom brief, senior sender, five to eight contacts.
Middle tier: shared plays per segment, three to four contacts.
Lower tier: standard sequences and ads, one contact thread.
Review tiers every quarter.
What goes wrong
Putting too many accounts in the top tier. If everything is top priority, nothing is.
04
Know what to do today for each account
Also called Play matrix: account tier × signal strength
Cross each account’s tier with how strong its current signals are. The grid says the move and the response time: a top-tier account with strong signals gets a senior-led play within 24 hours, a lower-tier account with no signals just gets watched.
Why it matters. Reps should not spend an hour deciding what to do. If preparing takes more than 30 minutes, the system is broken, not the rep.
How to do it
Top tier + strong signal: full play, senior opener, within 24 hours.
Top tier + some signal: owner opens, within 48 hours, senior sender held back.
Top tier + no signal: warm it with ads and senior social activity, no pitch.
Middle tier + strong signal: owner opens, within 48 hours, three to four contacts.
Lower tier + no signal: watch only, no spend.
What goes wrong
Pitching top accounts that show no signal. Warm them instead.
05
Open doors with several senders, one owner
Also called Multi-threaded account-based selling play
For a top account, senior colleagues open doors with senior buyers while one account owner handles every reply, record and meeting. The play is a short, dated burst across email, phone and LinkedIn, and cools off calmly if there is no answer.
Why it matters. Senior buyers answer senior senders. But if replies go to five people, nobody owns the account.
How to do it
Day 0: the owner reads the brief, confirms who is involved and picks the angle (30 minutes at most).
Days 1 to 2: a short email from a senior colleague to the senior buyer. The owner connects with evaluators and calls.
Days 4 to 6: the owner sends a second email with a different angle and follows up on LinkedIn.
Days 8 to 10: a last note from the senior colleague. The owner calls at a different time.
Day 13: close the loop with an easy "no" question.
Day 15, no reply: move the account down a stage, keep ads on, pause for 60 days, restart on the next signal.
What goes wrong
Replies going to several people.
Mismatched seniority: match the sender’s level to the buyer’s level.
Ads never open a deal. They make the first sales touch feel familiar. Your account list becomes the ad audience, refreshed weekly, the message follows each account’s stage and accounts drop out of prospecting ads once a meeting is booked.
Why it matters. A buyer who has seen your name a few times answers a first email more readily than one who has never heard of you.
How to do it
Sync the account list to your ad platforms weekly.
Match the message to the account’s stage: problem-led early, proof and comparison later.
Remove accounts from prospecting ads once a meeting is booked.
To test the effect, split the list in half, run ads to one half and compare how far each half moves.
What goes wrong
Judging account-based ads by clicks. Judge them by how accounts move through stages.
07
Roll it out in 12 weeks
Also called ABM and ABS implementation plan
Weeks 1 to 4: build and agree the list. Weeks 5 to 8: connect signals, scores, CRM fields and ad audiences. Weeks 9 to 12: run plays on the top tier and prove the results before you scale.
Why it matters. Trying to launch everything at once usually means launching nothing properly.
How to do it
Weeks 1 to 4: customer profile, hard checks, fit score, tiers, sign-off from sales and marketing.
Weeks 5 to 8: signal detection, scoring, CRM fields, owner routing, ad audience sync.
Weeks 9 to 12: run the play on the top tier, review weekly, log results by signal.
What goes wrong
Skipping the sign-off. If sales does not believe in the list, they will not work it.
Questions people ask
What is the difference between ABM and ABS?
Account-based marketing (ABM) is marketing’s part: ads and content aimed at a list of target companies to make them aware and warm. Account-based selling (ABS) is sales’ part: planned, personal outreach to the people at those companies. They work best on one shared list.
Is ABM only for large companies?
No. A founder can run a simple version: a list of 30 to 50 companies, a few ads to warm them, and a planned outreach play when a signal appears. The discipline matters more than the budget.
How many accounts should be in an ABM programme?
It depends on team size. A common pattern is a small top tier for one-to-one work, a larger middle tier in small groups, and a broad lower tier covered by one-to-many programmes.
How do I measure ABM?
By how accounts move through stages and how much pipeline comes from the target list, not by clicks. A simple test is to run ads to half the list and compare how far each half moves.