Why Ignoring ‘Grade A’ Accounts Led to Major Wins, According to Leslie Venetz

In a recent LinkedIn post, Leslie Venetz shares a compelling personal anecdote about how deviating from a prescribed sales strategy led to significant success, including closing major financial institutions like Visa, Vanguard, Goldman Sachs, Blackstone, and American Express. Venetz, who was Head of Sales in North America for a company with an established account grading system (A through F), describes being directed by her CRO to focus exclusively on Grade A accounts within the CPG and pharmaceutical manufacturing sectors.

While this initial strategy yielded some wins, such as landing Kraft Heinz and Mars Wrigley, Venetz found these accounts to be challenging. She noted that they were slow to move, involved tough negotiations, and often closed at lower price points than anticipated based on the grading system.

“But those accounts were slow-moving, tough negotiators, and closed at lower price points than the grading system implied they would be.”

A Strategic Pivot to Financial Services

Venetz details a pivotal observation: large financial services organizations, specifically those with over $6 billion in revenue, operated under a different set of dynamics. She found that these companies exhibited a more direct communication style that aligned better with her sales approach, and crucially, they were less prone to protracted negotiations and games.

According to Venetz, these accounts moved faster, commanded higher price points, and involved less time spent on red lines and contract disputes. The value and outcomes her team could deliver mapped more directly to the priorities of these financial institutions.

Building a New Go-To-Market Strategy

Based on these insights, Venetz proposed and implemented a North American Go-To-Market (GTM) strategy centered on the financial services sector. She credits her CRO for trusting her instinct and supporting this significant pivot, even though it meant diverging from the company’s global playbook.

“What I noticed was that large financial services organizations over $6 billion in revenue behaved completely differently.”

Venetz clarifies that the original grading system was not inherently flawed but rather hadn’t been adequately tested or stress-tested against the realities of the North American market. This experience underscores a broader principle for sales leaders.

Revisiting Territory Strategy in Today’s Market

The core message from Venetz’s post is a call to action for businesses to continuously evaluate their territory strategies. She argues that these strategies must reflect current market realities, not just historical assumptions.

As Leslie Venetz poses the question to her network:

“Even if you aren’t entering a new market, I think a question worth asking right now is – does your territory strategy reflect today’s reality. Not whether it made sense when you built it, but whether it still reflects where your buyers are, what they care about, and where your team can deliver the most relevant value today.”

This highlights the importance of dynamic strategy adaptation. Venetz concludes by prompting reflection on the frequency of revisiting account grading systems, suggesting that proactive and regular reassessment is key to sustained sales success and relevance in a constantly evolving business landscape.