• Own a Franchise
  • Alumni Center
  • Careers
Login
Shop
Locations
Sandler
Login
Shop
Locations
  • Solutions
      Professional Development and Growth Programs
      Experiential and transformational sales and leadership training for continuous improvement and lifelong learning
      Office setting
    • Sales Training
    • Sales Leadership
    • Prospecting
    • Expanding Accounts
    • Personal and Professional Growth
    • Customer Success
  • Who We Serve
      Sales Tools and Solutions that Scale
      From Enterprise to SMB sized organizations looking to scale, Sandler is the only training provider with the breadth and depth to help you take the next step
    • EnterpriseBy Type:
    • Scaling Companies
    • Individuals
    • TechnologyBy Industry:
    • Medical Devices & Pharma
    • Manufacturing and Logistics
    • Professional and Financial Services
    • Construction & Building Materials
    • Call Centers
    • Selling to Homeowners
    • All Industries
  • Sandler+
      Technology and Delivery Methods that Accelerate Sales Training
      Flexible learning approaches for tackling your organization's unique challenges and technological ecosystem
      Smiling man shaking hands
    • Sandler Online
    • Technology
    • Delivery Methods
    • Online Sales Courses
    • Assessments & Benchmarking
  • About
      Sales Training and Performance Improvement Leader
      Sandler empowers over 50,000 sales professionals and leaders to master the craft of selling
      Smiling woman shaking hands
    • Company
    • News & Press
    • Awards
    • Summit
    • Franchising
    • Sandler Sales Methodology
    • Sandler Selling System
  • Insights
      Elevate, Evolve, and Excel Your Sales Organization
      Tactics, strategies, articles, tools compiled from over 50 years of experience for sales professionals and leaders
      People near board
    • Sandler Advisor
    • Articles
    • Books
    • Case Studies
    • Events
    • Podcasts
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Sandler Research Center
Let's connect
  • Open a location
  • Alumni Center
  • Careers
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • DMCA
Share
Home » Insights » The 4 Account Types Every Sales Team Needs to Identify
Articles

The 4 Account Types Every Sales Team Needs to Identify

Sandler

The 4 Account Types Every Sales Team Needs to Identify

Most selling organizations have many accounts they track in one form or another. All of those clients and prospects typically have designations of some type applied to them in territory and account planning. They are differentiated by size, vertical market, geographic location, commercial vs. public sector, etc.

But what do those labels really tell you about the traits and tendencies of the accounts? What does knowing those designations really do to help you understand the relative importance of the accounts to your strategy and mission?

Table of Contents

  • The Duck Test
  • The 4 KARE Account Profiles

The Duck Test

We all know the duck test. If it quacks like a duck, swims like a duck and waddles like a duck, it’s likely a duck. But before we can make that determination, we need to know that a duck quacks, waddles and swims. Once we know that, we’ve gained the ability to differentiate a duck from a giraffe. Understanding the attributes of those species earns you the right to identify them and, as a result, to treat them differently.

Based on your input in building the attributes that are customized to your business model, Sandler Enterprise Selling’s KARE tool provides four meaningful profiles into which you slot all of your accounts: Keep, Attain, Recapture and Expand.

The 4 KARE Account Profiles

Keep: Accounts we definitely want to retain. These aren’t necessarily the largest or most prestigious “rain-makers,” but they are core accounts that are consistent and relatively easy to manage.

Attain: Our ideal accounts that match our target profile, those that we aspire to win. They fit the description of, “We do not work with them now but we would like to.”

Recapture: Previously active accounts that are worthy of the time and resources needed to woo them back. There are many reasons accounts go cold, which are not always tied to performance, but we would like to work with them again.

Expand: Accounts in which we see great potential for expansion and those in which we are willing, and often eager, to invest in.

That difference between Keep and Expand accounts is critical and having such meaningful designations earns you the right to take targeted actions, based on the specific needs of accounts in the profiles.

Additionally, the four profiles create a common language within your organization, a language that provides clarity about these treasured assets – your clients and prospects!

Tags: Account management enterprise sales sales process

Related Insights

Artificial Intelligence hand touching a human hand
Articles

The 2023 Sales Dilemma: Will AI and Machine Learning “Empower” Buyers to the Point That They No Longer Need Salespeople?

Read Full Article
Sales leader managing team member
Articles

Sales Leaders: Success = Managing Up, Managing Down, and Managing Side-To-Side

Read Full Article
Sandler announces partnership with CoachEm.
News & Press

New Partnership Between Sandler and CoachEm Combines World-Renowned Sales Training Content with a Novel AI Coaching Execution Platform To Increase Quota Attainment

Read Full Article

Sales Training and Performance Improvement Organization

Get Social With Us
Stay Inspired
Tactics, strategies, articles, tools and more information about our events and solutions for sales professionals and leaders.
Name(Required)
Privacy(Required)
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Smiling man holding a laptop
  • Alumni Center
  • Careers
  • Shop
  • Locations
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • DMCA
  • Your California Privacy Rights
  • Corporate Training
  • Do Not Sell My Information
©2023 Sandler Systems, LLC. All rights reserved. Sandler, SANDLER (stylized) and E (stylized) are registered service marks of Sandler Systems, LLC.