Account Planning - Course Description

Duration: 2 days

Participants: Sales, Sales Support and Sales Management (advisable)

Time: 2 days (theory + practice) or 1 day (theory only)

Course preparation: List all accounts with 12 month revenue history; gain as much business information as possible for each account.

Preferred prior training: Preferred prior training: Solution Sales.

Course Overview

The pressure upon salespeople to gain incremental revenue in highly competitive markets is constant. A ‘scattergun’ approach to selling frequently ensues in the hope that a deal is occasionally won. To overcome this, the course ensures a strategic, highly focused approach to managing accounts and sales opportunities by implementing a best practice Account Planning process.

This Account Planning course helps participants to ensure a focus upon the most rewarding accounts with the most efficient utilization of available resources.

Performance Objectives

• Account Managers better understand how to use Account Planning to achieve sales and relationship objectives
• Assist Account Managers to improve the quality of account plans - best practice account planning becomes common practice
• Account action-plans defined during clinics (2 day course) 

Course Objectives

• Assist Account and Sales Managers to review account plans to:
• Improve the quality and practical value of account plans
• Use the account plan to uplift sales and further customer relationships
• Develop action plans
• Help drive up profitable revenues
• Review a best practice model account plan to turn best practice into common practice
• Initiate a quarterly review process by incorporating account planning into common business practice
• Provide a consistent approach to account planning and account reviews

Course Content

Understanding your business

• Gap analysis to determine fiscal year target requirement

Growth strategy

• Alignment of sales cycle with the customer’s buying cycle
• Understanding latent and active customer pain
• Identifying addressable revenue
• Customer business initiatives
• Net new revenue opportunities

Account segmentation

• Segment either account within a territory or business units within an account
• Invest resources proportionately to potential
• Determine your resource allocation decisions based upon a clear business oriented strategy

Strategic initiatives

• Develop a snap shot of performance against key customer drivers
• Identify areas of need for focus
• Analysis shows connections between drivers

Opportunity prioritisation

• Current Importance
• Near term revenue contribution
• Impact on Customer Satisfaction
• Impact on targeted product/service/solution areas
• Addresses active pain
• Future Importance
• Long term revenue contribution
• Long term strategic value (new market, key unit inside a customer, etc.)
• Addresses latent pain

Gap closure plan

• Demand Generation (net new opportunities)
• Customer Assessment– One-to-one discovery
• Marketing Campaigns– One-to-many lead generation
• Opportunity Acceleration (existing opportunities)
• Close sooner through focus on compelling need to buy
• Enlargement through understanding compelling need to buy