Book Building
Book building in business refers to a specific sales GTM strategy for all levels, BDR vs AE vs AM
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Book Building
Book building is the concept of creating and managing a book of accounts for a sales rep. These could be prospect accounts for a BDR/SDR or AE, or customer accounts for a CSM or AM. A rep’s book is the set of accounts they own. In the case of an AE or BDR, it’s the set of prospect accounts they’re working to qualify or close. In the case of an AM or CSM, it’s the set of customer accounts they’re responsible for managing.
Book building, then, is the process of keeping that set of accounts balanced and up to date, for every rep in a revenue organization. As accounts move in and out of a rep’s book, that book can become unbalanced over time. Book building and book balancing involves thinking about issues like:
- Capacity capping. Ensuring no rep has more accounts than they can handle.
- Employee turnover. Easily redistributing accounts when a rep leaves.
- Fair and balanced books. Keeping rep books balanced, even as new accounts come in and old accounts move out.
Building a rep’s books often involves assigning them a territory - geographic or based on other criteria. Keeping those territories fairly and evenly distributed is a complex process for sales leaders. Building books may also take a more flexible approach, using a dynamic book management model.