# Account tiers: one-to-one, one-to-few, one-to-many > Split limited selling time by tier: a personal plan for a few big accounts, shared work for clusters of similar companies, and programs for everyone who fits. - Course: [B2B Marketing and Sales: Win Your First Company Customers](https://productovi.com/courses/b2b-marketing-and-sales.md) - Module: Whom to sell to - Lesson 7/32, ~23 min - Source: https://productovi.com/courses/b2b-marketing-and-sales/account-tiers ## Our best for everyone? **Alex Tutor:** You're still building Klasna for Teams' pipeline, now with a profile and a score. The next question is time: how much of it does each company get? **Marta:** Your ranked list has forty companies worth contacting. Do we write each of them a personal proposal? **Sofia:** That feels like the respectful thing. Everyone gets our best. **Alex Tutor:** With forty accounts and one of you, «our best» for everyone ends up thin for everyone. **Account tiers** split effort by what an account could be worth and how well it fits. **Alex Tutor:** Three tiers. **One-to-one**: a handful of accounts, each with its own plan. **One-to-few**: clusters of similar companies that share one message. **One-to-many**: programs for everyone who fits the profile. > **Exercise:** Match each tier with what Klasna for Teams would do there. ## Who gets one-to-one **Marta:** So who gets one-to-one? The biggest names? **Alex Tutor:** The accounts where a win would change the year and the fit is real. Veloria, Cobalt and Orchid could each buy hundreds of lessons a month. **Sofia:** Orchid is a retail chain, though. Didn't we just see retail lose us money? **Marta:** Our old retail clients bought a perk for store staff. Orchid's request comes from its head office: buyers and import staff who deal with foreign suppliers every day. That's a work need. **Alex Tutor:** So score the account, not just its segment label. If the need turns out to be a perk for the stores, Orchid drops a tier. **Alex Tutor:** One-to-one is **account-based marketing (ABM)** at its most personal: research, a committee map, content written for their situation, a plan agreed with the buyer. It's expensive, so keep it to a few. > **Exercise:** Which account belongs in Teams' one-to-one tier? **Alex Tutor:** Back to the Orchid question: check this conclusion. > **Exercise:** **True or false:** Orchid is a retail chain, and Teams' retail clients lost money, so Orchid belongs in the lowest tier. ## Clusters and programs **Sofia:** And the IT firms? There are dozens of them. **Alex Tutor:** Cluster them. IT services firms in Kyiv and Lviv whose staff talk to foreign clients: one case study from a current client, one webinar on English for client calls, follow-ups adapted to each firm. **Marta:** Our six current clients are the clusters already: IT firms, design studios, a law and accounting practice. We know what worked for them. **Alex Tutor:** And one-to-many covers every other company that fits: a newsletter, a clear pricing page, a sample lesson anyone can book. Cheap per account, and it shows you who is ready to talk. **Alex Tutor:** Why bother with the cheapest tier at all? Think about what it reveals. > **Exercise:** What does the one-to-many tier (newsletter, pricing page, a sample lesson anyone can book) do for Teams besides staying visible? **Sofia:** Can an account change tiers? **Alex Tutor:** Yes, by a rule written in advance, not by mood. A one-to-many company moves up when it books a call and passes the disqualifiers. A one-to-one account drops when its budget owner says «not this year». > **Exercise:** Which of these are sound practice for account tiers? Select all that apply. ## Effort per tier **Marta:** Make it concrete. How would you split your month? **Alex Tutor:** Assume about 100 hours a month for account work: our planning number, not a benchmark. One-to-one gets 45 hours across three accounts, one-to-few 30 across three clusters, one-to-many 25. **Sofia:** So 15 hours a month for each one-to-one account. And a cluster of ten companies at 10 hours is one hour each. **Alex Tutor:** Right. The gap is the point: effort follows what an account could be worth, and the hours are fixed, so every addition is a trade. **Alex Tutor:** Check the per-account number yourself. > **Exercise:** Teams plans about 100 hours a month for account work: one-to-one gets 45 hours across three accounts, one-to-few 30 across three clusters, one-to-many 25. How many hours a month does **each one-to-one account** get? > **Exercise:** Leo wants a fourth one-to-one account at the same 15 hours each. The month stays at 100 hours and one-to-many keeps its 25. How many hours are left for one-to-few? ## Tiers on one page **Marta:** Leo will want every big name in one-to-one. **Alex Tutor:** Then show him the hours and ask which one-to-one account he'd drop. A fixed budget of time turns a wish into a choice. **Sofia:** And on paper? **Alex Tutor:** A short table: account or cluster, tier, why, what we'll do this quarter, hours a month, and the rule that moves it. > **Exercise:** **True or false:** putting more accounts into the one-to-one tier always improves results, because personal attention wins deals. **Sofia:** What goes in «why»? Just «big company»? **Alex Tutor:** Potential and fit: «Forty people need English for carriers and customs; a paid pilot is on the table; the budget path is being mapped.» **Marta:** And «what we'll do» should be things the buyer would notice, not internal busywork. **Alex Tutor:** Good rule. «Send Pavlo a sample lesson built on a customs form» beats «research Veloria». > **Exercise:** Write two rows of Teams' tier table: one for Veloria (a logistics company where 40 staff need English for carriers and customs; a paid pilot is on the table; Pavlo from HR is the champion) and one for a cluster of IT services firms whose staff talk to foreign clients. For each give the tier, why, one thing the buyer would notice this quarter, and the rule that would move it up or down. > **Key ideas** > > - Account tiers split limited time by what an account could be worth and how well it fits. > - One-to-one: a handful of accounts with their own plan, the most personal form of account-based marketing (ABM). > - One-to-few: clusters of similar companies sharing a case study, a message and adapted follow-ups. > - One-to-many: programs for everyone who fits the profile; disqualified accounts get no selling time. > - Tier the account, not its segment label, and write down the rule that moves it up or down. > - Hours are fixed, so every extra one-to-one account is paid for by another tier. **Alex Tutor:** Next is the case: forty companies, two years of deals, and one question. Who is our ideal customer? - Previous lesson: [Scoring segments and accounts: profit, not revenue](https://productovi.com/courses/b2b-marketing-and-sales/scoring-segments-and-accounts.md) - Next lesson: [Case: forty companies, who is our ideal customer?](https://productovi.com/courses/b2b-marketing-and-sales/forty-companies-case.md) --- Productovi Learning. Free, no sign-up needed to read.