ABS Does Not Have to Be Enterprise Only
Account based selling is traditionally associated with large enterprise deals. But the core principles work beautifully in the SMB space when you adapt them appropriately. The key difference is speed. SMB account based selling moves faster because there are fewer stakeholders and shorter decision cycles.
Selecting Your Target SMB Accounts
Instead of researching accounts for weeks, spend 15 minutes per SMB target. Check their website, LinkedIn presence, Google reviews, and any recent news. Look for signals that suggest they are ready to buy. Recent hiring indicates growth. A new office suggests expansion. Complaints in their Google reviews might reveal operational problems your product solves.
Build a list of 20 to 30 target SMBs. This is manageable enough to personalise your outreach while large enough to generate consistent deal flow.
Personalised Outreach at Scale
For each target account, write a brief personalised note. Reference something specific about their business. "I saw you just opened a second location in Geelong. Congratulations. Most businesses at that stage run into challenges with X. We help with exactly that."
This takes two minutes per prospect but dramatically increases response rates compared to generic templates.
The One Call Close Possibility
With SMBs, account based selling can sometimes compress into a single meeting. The owner is the decision maker. If your discovery and pitch happen in the same conversation, and the owner sees clear value, they might say yes on the spot. Be prepared for this by having pricing and onboarding information ready.
Using Zepys for SMB Account Management
Zepys lets you track your target accounts through every stage of the pipeline. You can see which accounts you have contacted, which are in discovery, and which are ready for a proposal. When you sell multiple products, you can also identify cross sell opportunities within your existing SMB accounts.
Measuring What Works
Track your conversion rate from personalised outreach to first meeting, and from first meeting to closed deal. Compare these rates to your non personalised outreach. The difference will convince you that account based selling is worth the extra effort, even in the SMB space.