Lauren Dillon

Relying on 6sense’s 6QAs is a Prime Example of How GTM Teams Are Allowing Systems to Replace Human Judgment. A 6QA is an account lead that supposedly has been thoroughly vetted and deemed highly qualified by the 6sense platform. Unlike traditional marketing-qualified leads (MQLs) or sales-qualified leads (SQLs), 6QAs supposedly take a more holistic approach to account qualification. They supposedly go beyond basic demographic and behavior data to consider additional factors, using AI and machine learning to: Identify buying intent signals  Understand account and profile fit  Measure engagement levels    With these insights, 6sense can supposedly more accurately predict which accounts are most likely to convert into customers. But… Intent is not predictive in any way. It’s speculative. Intent data only reflects the current state of mind or interest of potential buyers, indicating what they might be looking for or considering. But it does not necessarily guarantee future actions or buying behavior (which is what “predictive” implies). And, most importantly, intent data is not predictive of whether an account will grow with you vs. churn.   When 6sense automates qualification, it does not look into: What shifts are the target accounts making so they can be successful with the vendor’s solution? Do the target accounts align operationally, executionally, and culturally with the vendor and its solutions? Are the accounts strategically ready for the vendor’s solution? Are there current and future growth opportunities so GTM teams can land and expand the account? Are target accounts facing a situation where the competitors are irrelevant? Can the vendor embed their solutions across the enterprise? Do the target accounts match the business problem profile? Is there a differentiated, relevant story to tell the target accounts? Is there a strategic priority where the vendor can play a strong, differentiated role?   Answers to the questions above are predictive of accounts landing and expanding with you – everything else is speculative. Because teams are relying on 6QAs, even though 6sense proxies only show you the accounts that are supposedly in-market, that you can target, they don’t focus on the accounts they should target, and the ones they should target now, because they match your ICP and they are predictably winnable and expandable.    It’s the same thing with Demandbase, as they talk about how their machine learning and AI solutions automate account selection, and they extract predictive insights without the need for human intervention. We need human intervention and human judgment to make sure accounts are GTM qualified and that the accounts we’re targeting are strategically ready, and they are a long-term fit for our companies and solutions. We discuss this further in the article below: https://lnkd.in/ewVjTkKs

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