In the world of sales, account planning is recognized as a cornerstone of success. It’s the foundation for landing or expanding an account within any sales organization. Account plan elements aim to encompass every detail, and sales professionals understand the significance of thorough research to uncover as much information as possible.
Doing that research has proven to be one of the critical components to exceeding quota. That’s why sellers flip through 10Ks and quarterly reports, public announcements and news sources. They use contact databases like ZoomInfo, SalesIntel or Lusha to get contact information and use LinkedIn to browse through contact details and organizational structures. Yet there remain account plan elements that fall outside these established channels. In these instances, these components create uncertainty, leaving even seasoned sellers scratching their heads and blind to factors that may significantly impact their ability to close a deal.
In this blog post, we’ll dive into five account plan elements frequently guessed at and why it’s essential to get them right.
Don’t Guess: Five Account Plan Elements Critical to Get Correct
1. Culture
Understanding the cultural nuances of a prospective client goes beyond mere demographics. It encompasses their risk tolerance, views on customer value, focus on employees, and communication preferences. Sellers may guess at a company’s culture based on surface-level observations or assumptions, neglecting its profound impact on decision-making processes and long-term partnerships.
2. Understanding the Role Procurement, Legal & Security Play
The exact roles that procurement, legal and security play when it comes to making a tech buying decision is often unclear, as every organization handles these decisions differently. If sellers don’t know exactly what their roles are, however, they risk misalignment and roadblocks down the line. Understanding the interplay between these stakeholders is crucial for navigating complex sales processes effectively.
3. Approval Limits and Centralized vs. Decentralized Buying
One of the most crucial account plan elements is understanding that the dynamics of purchasing authority vary widely across organizations. Some operate with centralized buying processes, while others empower individual departments with decentralized decision-making capabilities. Sellers may speculate on approval limits and buying structures, but without clarity, they may misjudge the appropriate channels and stakeholders to engage with.
4. Messaging/Penetration Strategy
Crafting the right message and penetration strategy is pivotal for engaging prospective clients effectively. However, without a deep understanding of their pain points, priorities, and communication preferences, sellers may resort to guesswork that can result in generic outreach efforts that fail to resonate with the target audience or address their specific needs.
5. Determining the Best Business Unit to Target
Navigating the organizational landscape often involves identifying the most promising entry points. Sellers may have a broad idea of the business units within a company but lack insights into the strength of existing relationships or internal dynamics. Without these account plan elements, they may struggle to pinpoint the optimal business units to target, potentially overlooking opportunities, misallocating resources, or worst of all—wasting their time on an opportunity when there is none.
Inform Every Account Plan Element with Emissary
True account planning demands information that’s beyond what’s readily available. It requires a nuanced understanding of organizational culture, decision-making processes and stakeholder dynamics. While sellers may resort to educated guesses in the absence of complete information, doing so risks leaving crucial elements of the account plan unaddressed and thus, leaves their deal susceptible to shifting. By acknowledging and prioritizing these often-guessed elements, sellers can enhance their strategic approach and increase their chances of success in today’s competitive landscape.
Emissary Knowledge removes the guesswork and empowers your team with unique, primary-sourced sales intelligence. Our proprietary advisor network—composed of former tech-buying executives from the world’s largest and most complex companies—uncovers this crucial information that ensures your team is always on firm ground.
