7 Guiding Principles for Effective Account Planning in B2B Sales

This blog is a summary of the Account Planning Course from the RevOps Masterclass program. Enroll today for free!

As a sales leader, you know that achieving quota is the lifeblood of any successful sales organization. But do you have a clear plan for how each rep will hit their number? That's where strategic account planning comes in.

Account planning is the process of strategically targeting key accounts, identifying stakeholders, and developing a clear path to engage them. It's about creating a written game plan to turn your accounts into revenue. Without it, reps are left simply reacting to opportunities rather than proactively shaping them.

Effective sales account planning can make the difference between a rep who consistently delivers and one who falls short. By defining your approach account by account, you gain a deeper understanding of each target's needs, motivations, and decision-making process. This empowers your team to build genuine relationships, tailor their messaging, and ultimately close more deals.

In this article, we'll dive into the core principles of what account planning is and share seven proven strategies to uplevel your process. You'll walk away with a blueprint for more accurate forecasting, greater rep productivity, and most importantly, the confidence to call your number each quarter.

The Fundamentals of Effective Account Planning

Account planning is the strategy and process that sales reps follow to thoroughly understand their assigned accounts, identify key stakeholders, and develop a clear path to engage them in a winning sales cycle. It's about creating a tangible account strategy - not just a mental one - to guide your actions and decisions.

So why is having a written account plan so important? As the saying goes, "A goal without a plan is just a wish." Your account plan is your roadmap to quota attainment. Without documenting your strategy, you're leaving your success up to chance.

But the benefits of account planning extend far beyond just hitting your number. By putting pen to paper, you gain greater clarity on how to allocate your time and resources. You can more effectively prioritize which accounts to pursue and how aggressively to pursue them. This is especially critical given that most reps manage a large portfolio of accounts with competing needs.

A written account plan provides an essential emotional and mental safety net during inevitable challenging times. Every sales rep faces rejection, obstacles, and dry spells. In these moments, it's all too easy to get discouraged and lose focus. But with a clear plan in place, you have a north star to guide you - a reminder of your strategy and the sound reasoning behind it. This can provide a powerful source of resilience and confidence to keep you moving forward.

Account planning also serves as a forcing function for deeper discovery. It pushes you to think through the unique needs, challenges, and objectives of each target account. By understanding what makes each one tick, you can craft hyper-relevant messaging, tailor your outreach and ultimately build stronger relationships.

This relationship-building aspect cannot be overstated. Your account plan is ultimately a relationship plan. It's your opportunity to demonstrate genuine curiosity, establish trust, and lay the groundwork for long-term partnerships. When done well, strategic account planning creates a flywheel effect where each engagement builds upon the last.

Perhaps most importantly, a written account plan creates alignment. It gets everyone on the same page - from account executives to SDRs to leadership - on how to collectively penetrate key accounts. This alignment accelerates deal cycles, improves forecasting accuracy, and creates greater accountability across the revenue team.

Seven Guiding Principles for Account Planning Success

By following these seven proven principles, you'll be well on your way to developing a winning account management plan that drives consistent results.

Step 1 - Get the 30,000-foot View of Your Accounts

The first step in any successful account strategy is to gain a high-level understanding of your target accounts. This means analyzing key attributes such as industry, vertical, size, location, and whether the account is a current customer or prospect.

By categorizing your accounts based on these factors, patterns and opportunities will emerge. For example, you may uncover that a particular industry is ripe for your solution, or that certain geographies are investing more heavily in the problem you solve. Use this information to tailor your messaging and prioritize your outreach.
It's also important to look at each target account through the lens of your own business. Consider factors like account tier (strategic vs. transactional), product fit, and growth potential. The most effective account plans are customized to both the client and your unique selling environment.

Step 2 - Research Your Clients Before Engaging

Once you have a high-level view of your accounts, it's time to dive deeper into each one. Before you even think about picking up the phone or drafting an email, research your clients thoroughly.

Start with the company's website and social media presence. Look for recent news, press releases, and any major announcements. Gain an understanding of their products, services, target markets, and competitive landscape. If you're targeting a public company, read through their annual report and earnings calls.

Industry publications, blogs, and forums can also provide valuable insights. What are the key trends and challenges facing this client's industry? How are they positioned compared to their competitors? The more context you have, the more relevant and impactful your outreach will be.

Step 3 - Identify Key Contacts Using Your Ideal Customer Profile

Armed with a solid understanding of each account, you can now map out the key stakeholders to engage. This is where your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) comes into play.

Your ICP is the blueprint for the types of contacts most likely to buy and benefit from your solution. Use this to identify the critical decision-makers, influencers, and potential champions within each account. Depending on what you sell, this could include roles like the CEO, CFO, VP of Sales, or Director of IT.

Don't just settle for one point of contact. The best account plans identify multiple stakeholders across different functions and levels of seniority. By understanding the organizational chart and reporting structure, you can develop a multi-threaded relationship strategy.

Step 4 - Research Each Individual Before Outreach

With your key contacts identified, it's time to learn about them as individuals. This step is critical for building genuine, authentic relationships.

Start by reviewing each person's LinkedIn profile. Look at their job history, education, interests, and any content they've shared. Do you have any common connections or experiences you could reference in your outreach?

Next, look for any interviews, articles, or presentations they've given. These can provide valuable insights into their priorities, challenges, and communication styles. The goal is to demonstrate that you've done your homework and tailor your message accordingly.

By weaving in these personal details, you'll immediately differentiate yourself from the countless generic sales pitches flooding their inbox. You'll build trust and credibility from the very first interaction.

Step 5 - Prioritize a Diversified Account Portfolio

As you build out your account plan, it's important to prioritize a diversified portfolio. This means pursuing a mix of large, medium, and small accounts to balance your risk and maximize your potential revenue.

While landing a massive enterprise client may seem like the ultimate prize, putting all your eggs in one basket can be a recipe for disaster. Enterprise sales cycles are often long and complex, with many potential roadblocks along the way. By also targeting a healthy mix of mid-market and SMB accounts, you can create a more predictable pipeline and increase your chances of consistent quota attainment.

For example, a salesperson who has to close 10 deals in a year, can diversify their portfolio to consist of:

• 2 Big deals: need long-term strategy and commitment, having a sales cycle of 12-18 months.
• 3 Medium deals: deals that take an average of 3-4 quarters to close.
• 5 Small deals: deals that take an average of 1-2 quarters to close.
  
  

When prioritizing your account portfolio, don't forget about opportunities for account expansion and renewal. Often, your best path to growth lies with your existing customers. Include a plan for identifying and pursuing upsell and cross-sell opportunities within your current install base.

Step 6 - Divide and Conquer Accounts as a Team

Account planning isn't a solo sport. The most successful account plans leverage the full strength of the revenue team, with clear roles and responsibilities for each player.

One common point of friction is between account executives (AEs) and sales development reps (SDRs) or business development reps (BDRs). Without clear alignment, these teams can easily duplicate efforts or worse, give a disjointed experience to the client.

To avoid this, establish clear rules of engagement for each account. For example, the AE may take the lead on executive-level conversations while the SDR focuses on more tactical contacts. Or the teams might alternate outreach attempts to ensure consistent coverage without overwhelming the client.

Tailor your approach based on the seniority and influence level of each stakeholder. A personalized, multi-touch approach is often necessary for busy C-suite executives, while a more efficient, automated play might work for lower-level influencers.

Step 7 - Leverage Strategic Introductions When Needed

Sometimes, despite your best account planning efforts, you hit a wall. The client goes silent, the deal stalls, or you just can't seem to get in front of the right decision-maker. This is where strategic introductions can be a game-changer.
Start by identifying potential connectors within your network. Connectors are people in your network who can introduce you to relevant people in a prospect account. They could include your company's investors, advisors, or executive team members. Don't be afraid to tap into your personal network as well, such as former colleagues or classmates who may have valuable connections.

Once you have a list of potential connectors, be strategic in your requests. Rather than asking for blanket introductions to all your target accounts, curate a shortlist of your highest-priority, highest-potential opportunities.

When making the ask, be specific about why you think the introduction would be valuable and how it fits into your overall account strategy. The more context you provide, the more likely you are to get a quality introduction that can truly move the needle.

Remember, introductions are a precious resource to be used judiciously. Be sure to circle back with your connector to thank them and let them know the outcome of the connection. By keeping them in the loop, you'll strengthen the relationship and increase the chances of future introductions.

Putting Account Planning into Practice

Now that we've covered the guiding principles of account planning, let's explore how to put them into action. Implementing these strategies requires a combination of process, technology, and coaching.

Start by auditing your CRM to identify gaps in account data.

• Are your account records complete and up-to-date?
• Do you have accurate information on each account's industry, size, location, and tier?

Incomplete or inaccurate data can derail even the best account planning efforts, so take the time to clean up your database.

When auditing your CRM, also consider the layout and design. Are the key fields that reps need for account planning easily accessible? Ensure that critical information like industry, size, location, and account tier are prominently displayed and not buried under multiple clicks.

Next, create a reusable account planning template. This template should include sections for key account attributes, stakeholder mapping, relationship history, competitive landscape, and your overall engagement strategy. By standardizing the format, you ensure that every account plan is comprehensive and aligned with best practices.

There are many account planning software and tools available to streamline this process. Look for solutions that integrate with your CRM, provide stakeholder mapping visualizations, and offer collaboration features for your team. The right technology can greatly reduce the manual effort required for account planning while providing valuable insights. However, if technology enhancements are not available in your circumstances, no problem: keep it simple. Tools like Word or Google Slides will do just fine.

Collaboration and Team Effort

Once you have your template and account planning tools in place, it's time to train your team. Coach your account executives on how to effectively research accounts, identify key stakeholders, and develop customized engagement strategies. Provide examples of best-in-class account plans and conduct regular review sessions to offer feedback and guidance.

An important part of this coaching is to encourage collaboration between Account Executives and Sales Development Reps (SDRs) or Business Development Reps (BDRs). Encourage these teams to meet regularly to align on account prioritization, outreach strategies, and stakeholder coverage. Play out different scenarios, such as how to handle objections or navigate complex organizational hierarchies.

But don't stop there - account planning involves collaboration across multiple functions. Encourage your account executives to discuss their strategies with sales leaders, who can provide valuable guidance and ideas based on their broad view of the market.

Engage your RevOps team for data-driven insights and prescriptive analysis to inform your account plans. Work with marketing to identify upcoming events or campaigns that you can leverage in your outreach. And don't forget to involve customer success when planning for expansion or renewal opportunities within existing accounts.

By making cross-functional collaboration a regular part of your account planning process, you'll gain a more comprehensive view of your accounts and generate creative strategies to engage them. Encourage your team to tap into the collective knowledge and insights of their colleagues to drive the best possible results.

As your team executes their account plans, emphasize the importance of leveraging strategic introductions. Coach your reps on how to identify potential connectors, both within the company and their personal networks. Provide guidance on how to craft successful introduction requests that clearly articulate the value proposition and fit with the account strategy.

To support this process, consider creating a centralized database of introduction-worthy contacts. This could include your investors, advisors, board members, and other high-value connectors. By curating this list and making it easily accessible to your team, you'll increase the likelihood of successful introductions.

Finally, make account planning an ongoing discipline, not a one-time exercise. Encourage your team to regularly review and update their account plans based on new information, changing priorities, or shifts in the competitive landscape. Celebrate successes and learn from failures to continuously refine your approach.

Wrap Up

Account planning is an essential discipline for any revenue team looking to consistently hit their numbers and drive predictable growth. By implementing the seven principles we've outlined - from gaining a high-level view of your accounts to leveraging strategic introductions - you'll be well on your way to developing a winning account planning strategy.

Remember, effective account planning is an ongoing process that requires continuous refinement and collaboration across your entire revenue team.