Sales account planning has been in practice for 30+ years. So most technology organizations have an account planner floating around somewhere. But whether these plans yield results varies broadly. Today, there is renewed interest in account planning in the more serious sense—doing a thorough analysis of an account, building (and re-building) strategies, and determining actions to take and investments to make.
Technology providers find themselves in a challenging position. The core of their businesses—existing customers—is becoming more complex and less predictable. There are more decision-makers involved than ever before, longer sales cycles, and more demanding buyers.
Sales account planning is key to getting a handle on that complexity and helping overburdened sellers to more efficiently, and effectively, evolve existing accounts into deeper, more fruitful relationships.
This guide is for sales and enablement leaders who are standing up, or refining, an account planning discipline. (key account managers and account executives, there’s insight in here for you too).
In this guide you will find a comprehensive overview and step-by-step instructions on how to approach your sales account planning, including:
- Define ‘Account Planning’ for your Organization
- Formally Launch (Relaunch) Your Program
- Determine Which Accounts Merit Planning
- Standardize ‘The Plan’
- Drive a Cadenced Discipline
- Determine Roles and Responsibilities
- Counter the Time Objection
- PLUS: An Appendix filled with valuable additional account planning resources.
No matter if you are just starting out or if you are trying to polish a process that has been in place for several years, this guide offers you both the bigger picture, in addition to steps you can take to start small and grow your program over time.
About Emissary
Emissary is a human intelligence network. We connect enterprise sales and marketing professionals directly to our community of over 12,000 talented executives with recent experience in your most important accounts. We help sellers and marketers shorten sales cycles, close more deals, and build positive long-lasting relationships with clients and prospects.
Emissary Advisors provide an invaluable resource to sales account planning: helping you strategize the most effective account plans, help you fill in account plan gaps, develop potential actions and act as a sounding board for strategies in your key accounts.
To learn more, follow us on LinkedIn and visit us at Emissary.io.
