What is account planning?
Account planning in B2B sales is mapping important details about your potential customers, noting their priorities and challenges, and creating a strategy for positioning your solution to key stakeholders to increase your chances of closing the deal.
Why is account planning important?
A well-crafted account plan enables sellers to partner with their champion, offering solutions that not only address the buyer's immediate needs but also support their long-term business goals.
Account planning helps in aligning sales efforts with the customer's priorities, ensuring that the sales team is adding value at every stage of the customer journey.
How do you create an account plan?
Creating an account plan involves several key steps.
- Research: Gather as much information as possible about the customer's business, industry, competition, and market trends. This includes understanding their business model, financial performance, and strategic objectives.
- Map Stakeholders: Identify all the key stakeholders involved in the decision-making process. Understand their roles, influence, and priorities, as well as any internal dynamics that could impact the sale.
- Identify Challenges and Opportunities: Determine the specific challenges the customer is facing that your product or service can address. Consider what trade-offs they would have to make to adopt your solution.
- Tailor Your Value Proposition: Based on your research, customize your value proposition to resonate with the customer's specific needs and the interests of the stakeholders.
- Strategy Development: Outline the steps and tactics you will use to engage with the customer, present your solution, handle objections, and close the deal. This includes creating a mutual action plan.
- Review and Adapt: Be prepared to adapt your strategy based on new information or changes within the customer's organization. Take into account any risks that can be a blocker.
Get a free account planning template
We put together a proven template to help you get started with account planning. Feel free to customize the document based on the information you need to create a 10/10 Account plan. Fill out the form below to grab a copy for you and your team!
