Key takeaways
- Start from a few recent wins you would gladly repeat, not your whole customer base.
- Companies are alike for selling when their situation matches, not only their sector.
- Remove existing customers before anyone looks for people at the results.
- A fresh win is the best moment to look for its lookalikes, while the reason is clear.
Which customers should a lookalike search start from
A lookalike search should start from three to five recent customers you would happily sign again, not from your biggest logo or your full list. A recent win reflects your current product and pricing; an old one may not.
Write a sentence about each: what they do, why they bought and who signed. The overlap between those sentences is the description you will search on.
What makes lookalike accounts alike in B2B
Lookalike accounts in B2B are alike when they share the circumstances that made your customers buy, not just an industry code. Two software firms of the same size can differ completely in who buys and why.
- The business model, such as selling to other businesses through a sales team.
- The stage, such as a first sales hire or a move into a new region.
- The buyer: the same role holds the budget and feels the problem.
- The pressure: the same deadline, regulation or growth target behind the purchase.
How do you describe your customers to a company search
Describe your customers to a company search in their words, not yours: a keyword for what they sell, the regions where they are headquartered, their industry and a headcount range. Your own product category rarely appears on their websites, so it makes a poor keyword.
If your recent wins split into two groups, run two searches. A description stretched to cover both returns companies that fit neither well.
How do you keep current customers out of lookalike results
Keep current customers out by checking every result against your customer list before you look for people at those companies. A search built from your customers will naturally find some of them again.
In Pebbles Ai you can paste the customer list into the chat and ask the assistant to leave those companies out of its shortlist. Find fresh leads also searches only the named companies you choose and accepts exclude keywords, so customers stay out as long as you do not name them.
How do you get new leads from closed won deals
You get new leads from closed won deals by searching for the same role that signed at companies that look like the new customer, while the reason they bought is fresh. That reason becomes the angle of your outreach.
Do not name the new customer in your emails unless they have agreed to it. Describe the situation instead, which is usually more persuasive to a stranger than a logo they may not know.
How to find companies like your best customers, step by step
Run this soon after a good win, while the reasons are clear.
- Pick a handful of recent closed-won customers you would gladly win again and note what they share.
- Turn what they share into a keyword phrase, a headquarters region, an industry and a headcount range.
- Ask the Marketing or Strategy assistant for matching companies, pasting in your customer list so it can leave those out.
- Read each result for the situation that made your customers buy, and drop the ones that only match on paper.
- Run Find fresh leads at up to ten of the remaining companies for the role that signed your recent deals.
Where Pebbles Ai fits
- CapabilityProspecting & customer recordsDescribe your ideal customer; your assistant finds matching companies, then the right people at up to ten of them. A company search returns 25 companies by default, up to 50, and Find fresh leads accepts exclude keywords.
- CapabilityResearch & analysisGive an assistant a customer's website and it can read the public pages and describe what the company does, with citations, as the starting point for your search.
Common questions
Is there a one-click lookalike search in Pebbles Ai?
No. An assistant can read a customer's website to describe it, then run a company search from that description. You choose and check the filters.
How many lookalike companies should I target at once?
As many as you can research and contact well. A short list worked properly teaches you more than a long one skimmed.
Can I mention my existing customer in the email?
Only with their permission. Without it, describe the situation you helped with rather than the company.
About this page. Written by the Pebbles Ai team for people who run sales, marketing and growth. Last updated .
