The Ultimate Guide on Working Your Territory in Sales

What’s going on folks! It’s Charlotte Johnson, Club Member and multiple-time guest from 30 Minutes to President’s Club.

Effectively working your territory isn’t just about hitting the phones or sending emails - it’s about having a smart, intentional approach to each account and contact. 

Spray & pray may have been an approach that worked way back but not in today’s market. 

By strategically tiering accounts, segmenting your messaging, and knowing when to break your cadence, you’ll maximise your impact and generate better results. 

Let’s break that down in 3 big chunks:

1. How to Tier Your Accounts
2. How to Write Messaging Based on Account Tier
3. How Often to Revisit Your Accounts

And by the way, we’re here with our good friends at HockeyStack who can help :)

HockeyStack makes this easier by uncovering buying signals and delivering data insights directly to your workflow, ensuring you focus on the accounts that matter most.

Let’s get into it.

1: How to Tier Your Accounts

Not all accounts should be worked equally, and your time isn’t infinite. Tiering your accounts ensures you’re focusing your effort where it matters most.

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In today’s market, where buyers are 70% of the way through their journey before contacting a seller, focusing on signals ensures you capitalize on accounts that are actively in-market.

Now, the key to good tiering is inverting the ICP: What does a customer look like exactly when they’re ready to buy my product?

Come up with 3-4 criteria to tier your accounts and run thru every account in your territory.

Let’s take an example. If I was selling sponsorships for 30MPC, my tiering might look like this:

• Tier 1: Growth stage sales tech companies with 100+ employees, growing over xx%
• Tier 2: Any other growth stage sales tech companies with 100+ employees <or> fast-growing SMB sales tech companies.
• Tier 3: Very tiny companies or ones that focus on general revenue (CS/Mkt-focused)
• Signal-Driven Accounts: Accounts where the contact has looked at our 30MPC content, sponsored page, or was previously a sponsor at another company.

Where HockeyStack can help: The Golden Path For Your Tier 1 Accounts

HockeyStack can literally show you the most common paths to an enterprise deal over the last 18 months (aka, your tier 1 accounts). 

HockeyStack will automatically create a golden path report to show you the most common journeys, conversion rates, and velocity so you can identify which accounts are ready to buy. You’ll also be able to easily find high-intent accounts and double-click into their exact intent score makeup.

2: How to Write Messaging Based on Account Tier

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Now that your accounts are organised, tailor your messaging accordingly. 

Tiers will influence the time you spend researching, personalising & working an account & the persona will influence the type of messaging/focus related to their seniority. 

Naturally a Tier 1 will require more effort & attention vs a Tier 3. Additionally the type of personalisation will vary. 

Here’s a cheat sheet for how much time you should spend on each tier and how much you should personalize:

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Let’s run through example messages for each at different levels of personalization:

Tier 1: Deeply Customized

For my A-tier accounts, I’ll read their annual reports, listen to their talks, then literally build out what I think their strategic priorities are. Here’s the template that I use:

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Tier 2 - Moderate Customization

For accounts that require a bit less personalization, I use this framework:

Hi [Name], 

With the [recent milestone], are you seeing [industry trend/challenge]? 

[Peer company] used [solution] to [specific outcome]. 

Worth exploring if this applies to your team?

If I was selling HockeyStack, that might look like this:

Hi Jane,

With your recent job posting for an Enterprise SDR, are you seeing that it’s harder and harder to break into your key accounts?

If you’re anything like Intel, they used HockeyStack’s AI analyst to show them every time someone mentioned “semiconductors” on a podcast and reached out with the perfect cold email to win their next 6-figure deal.

Worth exploring if this applies to your team?

Tier 3 - No Customization

For accounts that you don’t want to personalize at all… here’s a way to make it feel personalized:

As a [role] in [industry], you might be focused on [broad challenge]. 

[Solution] helps teams like yours achieve [general benefit]. 

Want me to share a 30-second video to learn more?

Here’s what that might look like if I was selling HockeyStack (again!):

Pushing AEs to generate more self-sourced pipeline is a challenge many Sales Leaders are navigating.

HockeyStack helps reps prioritize the highest-value accounts by showing you exactly when your prospects are popping on relevant podcast interviews in your industry, looking at a competitor, or poking around your website.

Want me to send a 30-second video showing how it works?

Charly

Signal Example

Lastly, for those key signal accounts, here’s the template I use:

Hi [Name], 

I noticed someone from your team exploring [signal-specific content/website page]. 

Is [specific challenge/goal] a priority right now? 

Would a quick chat to discuss be helpful?

Here’s one final example using HockeyStack:

Hey Matt - I saw someone from your team checking out one of our case studies and I thought we could reconnect.

Last we spoke, you mentioned the NA sales team was expected to generate 50% of their own pipeline (with only 1 hitting this goal) –- are you still thinking about ways to get AE's breaking into those top accounts?

Open to reconnecting and sharing the latest on your end?

Charly

Where HockeyStack Can Help: Identifying Personalization Triggers 

For those critical tier 1 and signal-driven accounts, HockeyStack can show you the hidden activity behind your key accounts so you know exactly who’s checking out your site, seeing an ad, or peeking at one of your competitors so you can craft the perfect message. It’ll even surface recommended next steps:

3: How often to revisit your accounts

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So you’ve finished someone in your cadence/sequence or they’ve replied with an objection.

Now what?

Don’t keep hammering them with emails 365 days in a row.

First, build your rhythm or frequency for revisiting accounts based on tier & situation:

• Revisit Tier 1 Accounts Every 3 Months: After no response, add into nurture with value-driven content (persona & industry specific if possible). Include external resources (e.g. industry podcasts, reports, webinars). Schedule check in touchpoint every 2-3 months to reassess whether they should re-enter active cadences.
• Revisit Tier 2/3 Accounts Every 5 Months: After no response, add to nurture (can be more generic vs Tier 1). Schedule check in every 5 months to reassess the account’s situation and identify if re-engagement is warranted.
• Check in on Competitor Accounts Every 3 Months: Treat these like Tier 1 nurtures, we know they’re a good fit so always be nurture & focus on sharing helpful resources. If you know their renewal date re-prospect 5-6 months before their renewal 

Next, send deposits and nurture emails when you’re not actively trying to break into an account. 

Here’s an example I’ve used in my time selling Salesloft:

Hey [First_Name] - With some of the changes in Google & Yahoo requirements, your team might see a drop in open rates due to deliverability challenges.

Check out this article from Billbo @ different company to yours that highlights some recommendations to help protect your domain.

Hope it helps,
Charly

P.S. we also created a tick list on this topic, let me know if it makes sense to share.

The key is to be relevant, but not salesy. No ask, no CTA. A pure deposit.

But here’s the thing: you can break that refresh rhythm with intent signals.

Most cadences are ~15 steps over a month (like the 30MPC template below). But often a good cadence vs a bad one doesn't come from when steps are but the quality of the messaging. 

Most start with good personalisation & then switch to generic automated messaging to “tick” the box of being consistent, but doesn’t really count.

So whether you’re actively working an account or nurturing it, break the cadence if you see an intent signal. 

My favorite way to do this is with Trigger Templates. Build templates for common scenarios (e.g. hiring SDRs, market expansion, funding rounds). 

These can save time while still maintaining good personalisation.

Where HockeyStack can help: Alerting you when to break your cadence.

You don’t have to pick up every single account to know which one looked at your pricing page. HockeyStack will alert you in Slack with notifications so you never miss a hot lead. You can even set it up to alert on specific lead score thresholds.

Let’s Recap

That’s a wrap! To recap, we talked about 3 keys to working your territory:

• Tier Your Accounts: Focus your efforts where they’ll make the biggest impact by prioritising Tier 1 and signal-driven accounts. Use scalable approaches for Tier 2 and Tier 3 to maintain momentum without over-investing time.
• Tailor Your Messaging: Align your outreach with both account tier and persona goals. Personalisation isn’t optional - it’s the key to standing out and driving meaningful engagement.
• Revisit and Refresh: Adjust your approach based on response, tier, and timing. Don’t be afraid to break cadences and use trigger templates to keep messaging relevant.

And lastly, working your territory effectively means focusing on the right accounts at the right time with the right message. 

With tools like HockeyStack, you can uncover the signals that matter most and stay ahead of your competition.

You can check it out for free right here (no email required)