Strategic Account Planning

Account planning is essential to growing the organization’s strategic accounts, which typically comprise most of the organization’s revenue and growth potential. While most sales organizations engage in account planning, most don’t do it consistently or effectively and have become jaded by the perfunctory processes of the past.

Account planning can become an exercise in management and administration that ends up in a file until next year when the account team realizes they didn’t accomplish what they set out to do. But effective account planning can make the difference between a sales team having sporadic performance and a sales team getting consistently great performance.

Over years of working with strategic account teams, SalesGlobe developed the Aspirational Account Planning method to help teams understand the customer story, define aspirations, become better customer problem-solvers, and dramatically increase sales results.

1. Uncovering Unknown Opportunities. Understanding the account’s story and creating a solution vision for the account to uncover previously unknown opportunities.
2. Thinking Bigger and Changing the Paradigm. Setting aspirational goals for the account over the next three to five years to change and expand the way the team thinks and how the customer thinks about your organization.
3. Creating a Goal Build and Pursuit Pipeline. Building the potential opportunity pipeline for the account that far exceeds the goals for the account by creating an opportunity pipeline of 2x to 3x the goal. This provides the team with a head-start on proactive pursuits rather than "figuring it out" during the year.
4. Building Accountability. Creating transparency and accountability for the account team to follow the plan and get results.
5. Getting to the C-Level. Working at the appropriate executive levels to engage in vision and co-creating a long-term, aspirational plan to generate value for the customer.

Aspirational Account Planning is about changing the way your team thinks and solves problems with the customer and differentiating your team from competitors.

SalesGlobe can work with your sales organization to understand your customers, segments, and goals. We can help you design and implement an effective Aspirational Account Planning process in your organization that engages the team and customer and gets results.

Check out our book, Essential Account Planning, that explores five imperatives for successful strategic account planning, including Thinking Big.