Account plays by company size and trigger
A play is a plan for working an account from first touch to a decision. Pick one by the company's size and what just changed there.
Updated
Champion first at larger companies
Where several people must agree, start with someone who feels the problem and can build agreement, not the top executive. Executives also reply less often, as Be brief with executives in Messaging shows. In CEB's research, sellers who aimed at Mobilizers, the people who move their companies toward a decision, were 31% more likely to be high performers. Learn what matters to your champion, then reach the budget owner. Use their name or their view only with their clear OK, ideally as an introduction they make; a referral to a colleague counts as that OK unless they ask otherwise. Without it, write to the budget owner with your own reason.
Example: After a positive reply: "Who else would weigh in on this? I'm happy to write to them myself, and I'd mention you only if you're comfortable with that."
Go straight to the founder at small companies
At a small company the owner usually decides what to buy. In SMB Group's study of technology purchases at firms with 1 to 99 employees, the owner was involved in identifying the need in more than 75% of cases, and the owner or CEO made the final purchase decision in almost all small businesses. Founders and owners also replied more often than other leaders in Belkins' data, 0.57% against 0.42% for C-level and 0.32% for VPs, and companies with 10 or fewer employees replied at 0.72% against 0.22% at 10,000 or more. Write to the founder, keep it short and ask about interest.
Example: ICP: "Founders and CEOs of accounting firms with 2 to 20 employees."
Sources: SMB Group, technology purchases at firms with 1 to 99 employees, 2010; Belkins, 7.5M cold emails, 2026
Reach out when something changes
Time a play to an event you can check, such as a new leader, a funding round or a posted role. A change of people can loosen existing ties: in one study of advertisers and their agencies, a manager leaving the client firm made the tie more likely to end, though how much depended on the client's size. State the event as fact, such as "posted the role" or "announced the round", and leave out guesses about what it means for them. Target market lists the signals worth watching.
Example: Weak: "I'm sure you're scaling fast after the funding and could use help." Better: "I saw that Orbit announced its Series B. Congrats! Shiftly forecasts labor by location. Would you be open to hearing a little more about how we can help?"
Bring in more people after the first reply
After a reply, add the other roles that must agree, such as the budget owner and anyone who can block the purchase, as Accounts describes. Until then, keep to one or two people per account.
Come back to lost deals and moved champions
Come back to lost deals when something changes there, such as a new leader or a new round; for Not now replies, see Replies. Deals that involved someone who had already used, bought or evaluated your product had a 114% higher win rate in UserGems' data. Watch for these people, including when they move to a new company.
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