[B2B sales & account operations]() / [Use cases]() / [Account research]() [How it works]() [What you get]() [Scope]() [Start a review]() [B2B sales & account operations]()[New accounts]() # Research the business accounts worth opening. A sourced brief on each account worth opening, and an opening offer your reps can stand behind. [Start with an order desk review]() [How it works]() Prospects · this month 24 researched · 9 worth a call - TE Tidewater EventsCaterer · events in your delivery area · lids and clamshells Call this week - JO Juniper & Oak CaféFour cafés · opened a new site in spring Review fit - NK Northgate KitchensTakeout-only kitchen · heavy container use Review fit - LB Lantern BakeryOne shop · below your minimum order Skip Researched from public listings and your order history The prospect list, refreshed monthly. Your sales lead works from it. ## Sound familiar? - Every new prospect starts with an hour of reading websites and old spreadsheets. - Outreach goes to places outside your territory, under your minimum or already covered by another rep. - The accounts that fit best are the ones nobody found time to look at. The hours go to research instead of calls, and the best-fit accounts wait. ## What changes. ShowTodayWith the engine Finding accounts Trade shows, referrals and a spreadsheet A ranked list from public listings and your own order history Research An hour of reading per prospect A sourced brief: what’s verified, what’s a guess, what to ask First offer A line sheet and a hope An opening order sized to their menu, at terms finance has approved Judging it Calls made and leads logged First profitable orders per account worked ## How it works. 7 steps, 5 stages. - AI**2** - Rules and automation**3** - Your team**2** - Approval 1. 1 Find 1. AI ### Find accounts that look like your best ones Public listings and your order history point to cafés, caterers and kitchens that buy what you sell. - HubSpot 2. 2 Check 1. Rules and automation ### Remove what doesn’t fit Existing customers, other reps’ territories, do-not-contact lists and your minimum order are checked first. - HubSpot - Prophet 21 3. 3 Brief 1. AI ### Write a sourced brief Verified facts with their sources, a fit hypothesis and the questions still open. 2. Your team Approval ### Approve who to approach A rep checks fit and ownership, and decides who gets a call. 4. 4 Reach out 1. Rules and automation ### Keep outreach compliant Emails carry a real sender, an address and a working opt-out, and opt-outs are honored within ten business days. - Outlook 2. Your team ### Make the first contact The rep calls or sends the first note, and logs the answer. 5. 5 Learn 1. Rules and automation ### Log what happened Replies, opt-outs and first orders return to the account record, so the next list learns from them. - HubSpot Each result sharpens the next list ## What you get. Real work, every week. Tidewater Events Account brief · 3 sources A caterer worth a first order, if the minimum fits. Verified Caterer working three event venues in your delivery area (public listing) Our guess Buys lids and clamshells in volume during event season Still open Who orders, and from whom today? Opening offer 3 cases of LID-16F and 2 of the matching cups, at list price, prepaid The brief behind each call: what’s verified, what’s a guess and what the first order could be. Left off the list This month Reason Accounts Already a customer 7 In another rep’s territory 4 Under the minimum order 2 On a do-not-contact list 2 15 of 24 researched, left off automatically What was left off the list, and why, before anyone read a brief. ## How you’ll know it’s working. 1. First profitable orders per account worked The result that counts, after freight, returns and the hours spent. 2. Research time per account Rep hours before the first call, against today’s baseline. 3. Prospects that were never a fit Territory, minimum and existing-customer misses, caught before anyone dials. Baselines agreed before we build. ## Works with what you have. ERP, CRM & inbox - HubSpot - Prophet 21 - Outlook Wholesale commerce - JOOR - Faire We configure first HubSpot’s prospecting agent, or the research tools in your CRM, may cover this. We test them on a sample of your accounts first. We build when Fit depends on your own order history and rules, such as territories, minimums and who can approve terms. ## What a first build includes. Built in your accounts, around your team. Scope, fee and baseline agreed before we start. 1. 1 Design 2. 2 Build 3. 3 Run it, or hand it over [Start with a review]() [Scope this build]() ### We build - A ranked prospect list from your order history and public sources - Territory, existing-customer and suppression checks - A sourced brief and opening offer for each account - Compliant outreach and a result log in your CRM ### We start from - Your account and order history - Territory and do-not-contact lists - Minimum orders and standard terms ### From your team Owner Sales lead or head of account operations Involves - Account sales - Finance - Marketing ## Questions teams ask. Is this lead generation? No. It finds accounts that fit what you sell and prepares the reasons to call. A rep decides who to approach, and we judge it on first profitable orders, not on leads logged. Can it email prospects for us? It can draft the note, and your rep sends it. Business email falls under CAN-SPAM too, so every message carries a real sender, an address and a working opt-out. We use only contacts you’re allowed to use. Where does the account information come from? Public listings and your own order history, with the source kept beside each fact. Anything we couldn’t verify is marked as a guess. Who owns it once it’s running? You do. It’s built in your accounts, documented, with training for the people who run it. Ownership usually sits with your sales lead or head of account operations. We can keep running it with you, or step back. How do we start? Usually with an order desk review: two to four weeks, a fixed fee credited to the build, and a plan that’s yours. If the job is already clear, we can scope the build directly. ## Part of your order engine. One of 14 use cases, in 5 parts. [See the whole order engine]() 1. [New accounts **2**]() 2. [Quotes & pricing **3**]() 3. [Orders **3**]() 4. [Self-service & status **3**]() 5. [Account growth **3**]() In new accounts - **Account research**You’re here - [**Account opening**Open new accounts with the right terms, and land the first order]() Works with - [**Account assortments**Give every account its own catalog and offer]() See it at work - [**Also in**Growth & acquisition]() ## Open the accounts worth opening. Start with an order desk review. [Start with an order desk review]() [**Talk it through first**15 minutes]() We reply within one business day. --- Source: [https://www.thekeating.co/use-cases/account-research/]() [Contact Keating & Co](mailto:nelson@thekeating.co) · [Agent guidance](https://www.thekeating.co/llms.txt)