If you’re in B2B sales or marketing, you know that a “good” account list is pretty much the difference between hitting your numbers and wasting months chasing ghosts. This guide’s for folks who’d rather spend an hour up front getting it right, not weeks cleaning up junk data after the fact. I’ll walk you through building a real, usable account list with firmographic filters in Hginsights—not a fluffy “total addressable market” that looks great in a board deck but is useless in the real world.
Let’s get into it.
Why Firmographics Matter (and What to Ignore)
Firmographics are just the basics about a company: things like industry, employee count, revenue, location, and so on. They’re the easiest way to start narrowing down a giant universe of companies to the ones that actually might buy from you.
A few things to be clear on:
- Firmographics won’t tell you who’s ready to buy. But they will help you avoid chasing companies that are clearly a bad fit.
- Don’t overthink it. The perfect list doesn’t exist. You’re just trying to cut out obvious duds.
- Ignore “vanity metrics.” Just because a company is “in your ICP” on paper doesn’t mean they’re a good prospect. Focus on filters that actually matter for your sales cycle.
Step 1: Get Clear on What You Need (Before You Touch Hginsights)
Before you log in and start clicking, get brutally honest about what actually works for your business.
Ask yourself:
- Who really buys from us? (Not who you wish did.)
- What size companies are actually closing deals—not just taking demos?
- Which industries or sub-industries do you win in?
- Are there geographic markets you never close in, no matter how hard you try?
- Do you care about things like public vs. private, or company age?
Pro tip: If you’re not sure, pull your last 20 closed-won deals and jot down the basics. Don’t trust your gut—check the data.
Step 2: Log in and Get Oriented
Assuming you’ve got access to Hginsights, log in and find the “Company Search” or equivalent feature. The interface changes now and then, but you’re looking for the spot where you can build a list using filters.
You’ll see a big list of filters—don’t get overwhelmed. Most of them fall into these buckets:
- Industry (NAICS, SIC, or custom categories)
- Company Size (employee count, revenue)
- Location (country, state, region)
- Ownership (public, private, subsidiary, etc.)
- Other tags (like tech install, but that’s not firmographics—skip for now)
Ignore the rest unless you have a very good reason.
Step 3: Set Your Industry Filters
This is where most people screw up. They either go way too broad (“all manufacturing companies”), or way too narrow (“semiconductor test equipment manufacturers with 12-18 employees in Iowa”).
Here’s how to get it right:
- Start broad, then cut. Pick the main industry or industries you know you close in. Don’t guess—use your closed-won list.
- Skip “catch-all” categories. Avoid “Other,” “Miscellaneous,” or weird buckets. These are usually junk.
- If you need sub-industries, add them one at a time. Don’t overfilter—sometimes the data’s fuzzy, so stay flexible.
Reality check: Industry codes (NAICS/SIC) are often wrong or out of date. If in doubt, check a handful of actual companies in your CRM and see how they’re coded in Hginsights.
Step 4: Filter by Company Size (Employee Count or Revenue)
Here’s where you can actually narrow things down to accounts that look like your best customers.
- Employee count is usually more reliable than revenue. Revenue numbers are often estimated and can be wildly off, especially for private companies.
- Set upper and lower bounds. For example: 200–2,000 employees. Don’t get greedy—casting a wider net isn’t always better.
- Don’t obsess over exact numbers. A 250-person company isn’t that different from a 300-person company. Set a range and move on.
What not to do: Don’t use “minimum revenue” and “minimum employee count” unless you have to. You might accidentally filter out good accounts due to bad data.
Step 5: Add Geographic Filters (If They Matter)
If you’re only selling in North America, don’t bother with EMEA or APAC. If certain states or countries are off-limits, filter them out now.
- Be realistic. Just because you could sell in every country doesn’t mean you should.
- Check your past deals. Where are your actual customers located?
- Don’t get too granular. Unless you’re running field sales or have territory restrictions, keep it broad—by country or region.
Step 6: Ownership and Other Basic Filters
Sometimes you care about whether a company is public, private, or a subsidiary. Or maybe you want to filter out government entities or nonprofits.
- Only use these if it matters for your business. Don’t add complexity just because the filter exists.
- Avoid the “company age” filter unless you have a real reason (e.g., you only sell to established firms).
Pro tip: Most people skip these unless they’re in financial services or other regulated industries.
Step 7: Review Your List—and Gut-Check It
Before you export or send your shiny new list to the sales team, do a quick sanity check.
- Spot-check 10–20 companies. Do they look like real prospects? Are there obvious junk entries?
- Look for weird outliers. If you see a bunch of small shops or holding companies, you probably need to tighten your filters.
- Check for duplicates and subsidiaries. Hginsights is decent at deduping, but nothing’s perfect.
What to ignore: Don’t get bogged down trying to make it “perfect.” There will always be some noise—your goal is to get a solid starting point.
Step 8: Export and Put the List to Use
Now that you’ve got a workable list:
- Export in the format you need: CSV, Excel, or import directly into your CRM if that’s an option.
- Document your filters. Save your criteria somewhere—future you (or your teammates) will thank you.
- Don’t treat the list as gospel. This is a starting point, not a prophecy. Expect to tweak and update as you get feedback from sales outreach.
Pro Tips and Honest Warnings
- Firmographics are a blunt tool. They’re great for cutting out obvious bad fits, but they won’t tell you who’s in-market or who actually cares about your product.
- Hginsights data is good—not perfect. No data vendor has flawless records. Always spot-check and be ready to clean up occasional garbage entries.
- Don’t get sucked into endless filtering. More filters = more mistakes. Focus on the 2–3 that actually matter.
- Be wary of overpromised features. Ignore “AI-powered” filters or “intent signals” unless you’ve actually seen them work for your specific use case. Most of it is marketing fluff.
Keep It Simple—And Iterate
Building a targeted account list with firmographic filters in Hginsights isn’t rocket science, but it does take some discipline. Don’t try to make the “perfect” list on your first go. Start with the basics, check your work, and refine as you see what’s actually working. The best lists are the ones that get used—and updated—not the ones that look fancy in a meeting.
Now, get out there and build something useful. And remember: less is usually more.