![]() Pro tip: Schedule a roadmap discussion with the customer to discuss how their future goals align to your products and offerings.This will help you develop your overall strategy. Set both long- and short-term goals for the account that are attainable and measurable, and establish milestones to track key items. A customer journey map using a KanBan board can be great for this type of exercise. Pro tip: Map customer initiatives back to your products or services to help ensure a full pipeline.With a map, you will have the ability to better understand your customers, how they enter the sales cycle, and how they can find success with your products. A customer journey map can help you visualize the steps a customer goes through during the process from conception to sale. Hopefully, the products or services you are selling will push your customer’s ideals forward and help move them toward success. It’s important to understand customer priorities and determine how you can help them be more successful. How will you successfully sell your products or services? In some cases there may be multiple plans of attack. The second step of your living account plan is to develop strategic initiatives. Pro tip: Be sure to consider how the customer will buy what you’re selling.To create a winning strategy, also take this time to understand what your competitors are doing as well as what sets you apart. This means aligning their needs to your solutions, and aligning your team organization to the account’s. You can now determine what opportunities are available to offer your customer. Pro tip: Ask yourself: Independent of the solution you offer, what really matters to your customer? What metrics are important to them?.What are their wants and needs? What are their pain points? What solutions are they currently using and where might the gaps be? The next step is building out customer requirements. The relationship map can also help you understand connections your company may already have. Pro tip: Use the client’s website, recent press releases, and LinkedIn to put together an organizational relationship map of key players and subsidiaries, understand important news and updates, and get a sense of the client’s business model.Who are the decision-makers, champions, and potential blockers? Try to learn all you can initially, but in a living account plan, the account profile can develop over time as new information surfaces. To build the customer profile, gather specific account details such as team structure, key contacts, and opportunities. ![]() The customer profile serves as the foundation and starting point for account planning. Before you work with a client, you need to understand who they are, what their goals and needs are, and what opportunities would be a good match for their needs. Here’s a step-by-step guide to developing a living account plan. If the account plan doesn’t have the ability to hold dynamic data, information can become quickly outdated, which could lead to confusion, lack of organization, and additional time requirements. Ideally, it should have dynamically updated CRM data so that changes in the client’s account record are reflected in the plan. Living Account Plans: The BasicsĪ living account plan should be created and maintained in a shared, collaborative document that team members can reference and revise throughout the year. ![]() Armed with living account plans, sales teams are better able to deliver tangible benefits, eliminate surprises, and predict the ability to hit quarterly goals. Living account plans work because account information stays up to date, making it easier for sales teams to create actionable strategies to earn the win. The problem is that most account plans are static documents, rather than dynamic, “living” account plans that remain relevant all year long. Sadly, the typical reality of account plans involves working hard to create them in Q1 and then largely forgetting about them for the rest of the year. Account plans are key to building strong customer relationships so you can crush your goals. Proper account planning ensures that sales teams maximize revenue opportunities, create team alignment, clarify rep goals, and understand customer needs. ![]() If your idea of account planning involves hustling to create a document you ultimately end up ignoring, you could be missing out on one of the most powerful tools sales teams have. Create living account plans that drive pipe and revenue year-round. The Sales Rep’s Guide to Strategic Account Planningīy Lenore Lang Don’t create account plans in Q1 only to ignore them later. ![]()
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