Definition
Firmographics are the basic facts that describe a company: its industry, headcount, revenue, location, age and ownership. They are to businesses what demographics are to people. B2B sellers use them to decide which companies fit, before looking for any reason those companies might want to buy right now.
Why it matters when you sell B2B
Every B2B list starts with firmographics. If you sell to manufacturers with 100 to 1,000 staff in Germany, those three facts remove most of the world in one filter. They are cheap to buy and easy to check.
They are also where most lists stop, and that is the problem. Firmographics say a company fits. They say nothing about whether it needs you this quarter. Two companies with identical firmographics can be a year apart in their buying.
A worked example
Here is one invented company, described by firmographics alone.
One company, firmographics onlyExample
- 01Industry. Wholesale food distribution.Fits
- 02Headcount. About 240 employees.Fits
- 03Revenue. About $60 million a year.Fits
- 04Location. Headquarters in Ohio, two warehouses.Fits
- 05Ownership. Family owned.Neutral
- 06Why now. Nothing here tells you.Unknown
Every row says this company could be a customer. None says it will talk to you this month. For that you need something that happened at the company, like a new warehouse opening or a new head of operations: a trigger event.
Firmographics pair well with technographic data, which shows what tools a company runs, to narrow the list further. Our approach to research shows what comes after the filter.
Common mistakes
- 1Using firmographics as the reason to reach out. "I see you are a 200-person distributor" is not a reason for anyone to reply.
- 2Trusting headcount and revenue as exact. Both are estimates, and data providers often disagree. Treat them as bands, not facts.
- 3Filtering too tight. A strict band cuts good accounts that sit just outside it. Use ranges, and review the edges by hand.
- 4Taking the industry code at its word. Industry codes are often self-reported and years old. Read the company's own site to see what it actually does.
- 5Never refreshing. Companies grow, shrink, merge and move. Firmographics from last year can be wrong this year.
Test your firmographic filter
- Pick ten of your best customers.
- Check that each one would pass your filter. If any fail, widen it.
- Pick ten companies that pass but you would never sell to.
- Find what separates them from your customers.
- Add that as a rule, and check the first list still passes.