How to spot the highest priority accounts exhibiting intent

You have a deal. One person at the account keeps saying "we're interested." They're engaged. They're responsive. You think it's moving forward.

Three months later: Nothing's closed. They ghost you. Or they say "timing isn't right." Or they went with a competitor.

What happened? It was just one person. One person browsing. Not a buying committee. Not real organizational intent.

Here's the reality: Enterprise deals require multiple stakeholders. One person can't buy. They need their team, their manager, their peers, maybe their legal or finance team.

If you're only talking to one person, you don't have a deal. You have a curious individual.

The question: How do you know when it's real?

The answer: Multiple people from the same account researching your team.

When three people from Tesla are all viewing different members of your team—your CEO, your Head of Sales, your Head of Product—that's not browsing. That's a buying committee doing their homework.

This playbook shows you how to spot these accounts in Mavin, prioritize them, coordinate multi-threaded outreach, and focus your time on deals that are actually moving.

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The Problem: One Person Can't Buy (But They'll Waste Your Time)

The Single-Contact Trap

You're talking to one person at an account. They're interested. They respond to your emails. They say "this looks good."

You think the deal is real.

Warning signs it's not:

• You keep asking to meet other stakeholders. They say "not yet."
• They ask a lot of questions but nothing advances.
• Months go by. No progress. Just "still working on it internally."
• They eventually ghost or say "we went another direction."

What happened: They were researching. Maybe they were genuinely interested. But they couldn't get buy-in from their team. They couldn't move it forward. They were one person, not an organization.

Why This Happens

Enterprise deals—especially complex ones—require multiple people:

• The person with the problem (your contact)
• Their manager (who approves budget)
• Their peers (who will use the product)
• Finance or legal (who need to sign off)
• Sometimes executives (for strategic or large deals)

If you're only talking to one person, you're missing the buying committee. And without the buying committee, nothing closes.

You Can't Tell From Your CRM

Your CRM shows one contact at the account. Maybe you've asked them to introduce you to others. They say "I'll let you know when the time is right."

You're stuck. You don't know if this is real or if you're wasting time on a single person who can't actually buy.

What you need: A signal that other people at the account are engaged. That the conversation is happening beyond your one contact.

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The Solution: Multiple People Researching = Real Intent

What Real Buying Intent Looks Like

Here's a real example from one of our customers:

They were focused on winning Tesla. In Mavin, they saw this:

Three different people from Tesla viewed profiles on their team:

• Person A viewed the CEO
• Person B viewed the Head of Sales
• Person C viewed the Head of Product

Three distinct people. Different roles. All researching the team. All within the same week.

That's not browsing. That's a buying committee.

Someone at Tesla shared the company with their team. They're doing their homework. They're evaluating. Multiple people are involved.

That's real intent.

What Mavin Shows You

Mavin tracks when multiple people from the same account research your team.

You'll see:

• Account name (e.g., "Tesla")
• How many people from that account engaged (e.g., "3 people")
• Who they are (names, titles, LinkedIn profiles)
• What they viewed (your CEO, Head of Sales, Head of Product)
• When they viewed (dates/timestamps)

And Mavin alerts you when it happens: "Multiple people from Tesla are researching your team."

Now you know. This isn't just one person. This is organizational interest. This is a real opportunity.

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The Workflow: Identify, Prioritize, Multi-Thread

Step 1: Identify Accounts with Multiple People Researching

In Mavin:

• Filter for accounts with 2+ engaged contacts in the last 7-14 days
• See the list: "Acme Corp (5 people), Beta Inc (3 people), Gamma Co (2 people)"
• Get alerts in Slack when this happens in real-time

Click into an account to see details:

• Who specifically (names, titles)
• What they viewed (which profiles on your team)
• When (timestamps, patterns)
• Context (target account? ICP match?)

Step 2: Prioritize These Accounts

Accounts with 2+ people researching should jump to the top of your list.

Why? Because they're showing real organizational interest. They're not single-contact deals. They're multi-threaded opportunities.

Prioritization:

1. 3+ people from strategic account → Drop everything, this is hot
2. 2+ people from target account → High priority
3. 2+ people from ICP match → Add to target list, prioritize

Use this as qualification criteria: Some companies require multiple stakeholders engaged before advancing a deal to later pipeline stages. If you can't multi-thread, it doesn't advance. This forces discipline.

Step 3: Coordinate Multi-Threaded Outreach

Here's where most reps fail: They see multiple people researching and still only reach out to one.

Don't do that.

The strategy: Surround Sound Outreach

Multiple people from your team reach out to multiple people on their team. You're orchestrating coordinated engagement.

Example:

Tesla has 3 people researching:

• Person A (VP of Sales) viewed your CEO
• Person B (Director of Ops) viewed your Head of Sales
• Person C (Manager) viewed your Head of Product

Your response:

• Your CEO reaches out to Person A (the VP)
• Your Head of Sales reaches out to Person B (the Director)
• You (the AE) reach out to Person C (the Manager)

All on the same day. All with the same context: "Noticed your team has been researching us."

Why this works:

• You're multi-threading immediately (not waiting weeks to "get introduced")
• You're matching seniority (CEO to VP, Head of Sales to Director)
• You're creating momentum across the account (everyone gets a message)
• You're demonstrating that you understand this is an organizational decision

Step 4: Reference the Organizational Interest

Your messaging should acknowledge that multiple people are engaged.

Example (if you're the AE reaching out):

"Hey [Name], noticed a few people from Tesla have been checking out our team this week—seems like there might be some interest. We help companies like Tesla with [problem]. Worth a quick call to see if it's relevant?"

Example (if your CEO is reaching out):

"Hey [Name], saw you and your team were researching us—figured I'd reach out directly. [One sentence about what you do]. Happy to jump on a call if it makes sense."

Don't pretend you don't know. Multiple people researching is a strong signal. Acknowledge it. It's contextually relevant, not creepy.

Step 5: Move Fast

When you see multiple people from an account researching, respond the same day.

Why? Because this is a hot signal. They're actively evaluating. They're doing research right now. If you wait three days, they might have already moved on or talked to your competitor.

Same-day coordinated outreach gives you the best shot at starting conversations while the interest is live.

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Why This Works

You're Engaging the Buying Committee Early

Most reps wait weeks or months to multi-thread. They rely on their one contact to make introductions.

By the time they finally get to other stakeholders, the deal has stalled or the evaluation is over.

When you spot multiple people researching and reach out immediately, you're engaging the buying committee from the start. You're not waiting. You're not relying on introductions.

You're Showing Strategic Awareness

When you acknowledge that multiple people from their team are researching, you signal that you understand this is an organizational decision.

You're not treating it like a single-person transaction. You're recognizing the complexity. That builds credibility.

Higher Win Rates

Deals with multiple stakeholders engaged early have significantly higher win rates than single-contact deals.

Why? Because you're not stuck in single-threading. You're building relationships across the account. You're de-risking the deal by not depending on one person.

Some companies require multiple stakeholders as qualification criteria. If a deal doesn't have 2+ engaged contacts, it doesn't advance to later pipeline stages. This forces discipline and improves forecast accuracy.

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Common Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake #1: Seeing the Signal, Not Acting on It

You see that 3 people from an account researched you. You think "that's interesting." You reach out to your one existing contact.

Fix: Coordinate multi-threaded outreach. Reach out to all of them. Use surround sound.

Mistake #2: Only the AE Reaches Out

You see multiple people researching. You (the AE) reach out to all of them yourself.

Fix: Coordinate with your team. Match seniority. CEO to VP. Head of Sales to Director. You to Manager. Leverage your execs.

Mistake #3: Waiting for an Introduction

You see multiple people researching. You ask your contact to introduce you to the others. They say "not yet."

You wait. Weeks go by.

Fix: Don't wait. Reach out directly. You have context (they researched you). Use it.

Mistake #4: Reaching Out Days Later

You see the signal on Monday. You reach out on Thursday.

By then, they've moved on. They've talked to competitors. The moment passed.

Fix: Same-day coordinated outreach. When you see multiple people researching, act that day.

Mistake #5: Ignoring Single-Contact Accounts Completely

You focus only on accounts with 2+ people researching. You ignore everyone else.

Fix: Multi-person research is a strong signal, but it's not the only signal. Don't ignore single contacts—just prioritize multi-threaded accounts higher.

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The Result: Focus on Real Deals

What changes when you focus on accounts with multiple people researching:

• Higher win rates: Multi-threaded deals close at 2-3x the rate of single-contact deals
• Faster cycles: You're not waiting weeks to get introduced to stakeholders
• Better forecast accuracy: Deals with multiple contacts engaged are more predictable
• Less wasted time: You're not chasing single-person "deals" that can't close

The realistic outcome:

If you prioritize accounts where 2+ people are researching and coordinate multi-threaded outreach immediately, you'll close more deals and waste less time on opportunities that were never real.

Depending on deal size: Multi-threading should be standard practice. For enterprise deals, it's non-negotiable. For mid-market, aim for 2-3 contacts minimum. For SMB, even 2 stakeholders significantly improves close rates.

Use it as qualification criteria: Some of the best sales teams require multiple stakeholders engaged before advancing deals to later pipeline stages. If you can't multi-thread, the deal doesn't advance. This forces discipline and keeps your pipeline real.

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Quick Reference: The Multi-Threading Workflow

Step 1: Mavin alerts you: "3 people from Tesla are researching your team"

Step 2: Review who they are, what they viewed, when

Step 3: Coordinate with your team—decide who reaches out to whom (match seniority)

Step 4: Send coordinated outreach same day—acknowledge the organizational interest

Step 5: Follow up, build relationships across the account, advance the deal

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When to Multi-Thread

Always multi-thread for:

• Enterprise deals ($100K+ ARR)
• Strategic accounts (top 20-50 targets)
• Complex products (require multiple stakeholders to implement)
• Long sales cycles (6+ months)

Aim to multi-thread for:

• Mid-market deals ($25K-$100K ARR)
• Accounts where 2+ people have researched you
• Deals in later pipeline stages (qualified and beyond)

Less critical for:

• SMB/transactional deals (<$25K)
• Product-led growth (individual buyers)
• Short sales cycles (30 days or less)

The larger and more complex the deal, the more essential multi-threading becomes.