What are the key things to focus on in an account planning session for existing customers? I've traditionally been new business only, so some help here would be great.
Cheers
Account planning sessions
3
1nbatopshotfan
Politicker
3
Sales
I assume this is for internal review? I would focus on any risks with the account, any upsell potential if viable, identifying champions and detractors, outlining reporting structures so you know who actually holds the budget, highlighting NPS score or any client feedback that’s been given.
If this is for a meeting with a client, make sure you also identify their goals, pain points with your product, what you do well and what you can improve on. This portion can also be modified for internal use.
If this is for a meeting with a client, make sure you also identify their goals, pain points with your product, what you do well and what you can improve on. This portion can also be modified for internal use.
JustGonnaSendIt
Politicker
1
Burn Towns, Get Money
I'm assuming you're asking this question to prepare for an internal review. If I'm off on that this may be less relevant, but still helpful.
Take with a grain of salt because I'm in my first-ever Farming role also:
- Understand current state of contracts (MSA's etc...). This will help you know the 'rules of engagement' so to speak.
- Understand current product or services usage and any ongoing revenue associated with this inbound to your company (PS spend, subscriptions, maintenance, etc...). Also any ongoing disputes or service / support issues that may be festering.
- Identify any competitive presence in the account in terms of products and services
- Given the two above, identify the white space in the account that you or your partners could cover if given the opportunity
- Understand the key leadership associated with this customer that is relevant to what you sell. Sort this into installed base, white space, and competitive install. See where you can get introductions from other members of your team that already work with said leaders.
- Understand where your account falls into Marketing's grubby mitts and what your partners / partner management organization is doing relative to the account to promote new business transactions.
- Based on your win-rate, average deal timeline, and the whitespace analysis above, you can build a rough-cut plan for what you plan to introduce to the account in terms of net-new sales, and what that could look like from a revenue perspective.
- Use the point above to back into a thought process about what resources you'll need to support expansion. Combine with the Second point to understand what resources you'll need to keep the customer happy / current, etc...
End of the day, your leadership will want to know what the customer has, how they feel about it, what revenue we can expect from them into the future, and what you'll need in terms of resources to support this account. The more data and insight you bring to this, the better you look and ultimately the better you'll perform. Imagine you're running your own little company focused on making this customer happy and getting more of their money.
EDIT: Left out something important.
- Identify any large initiatives that are relevant to what you sell. Especially if multiple products/services are involved.
Take with a grain of salt because I'm in my first-ever Farming role also:
- Understand current state of contracts (MSA's etc...). This will help you know the 'rules of engagement' so to speak.
- Understand current product or services usage and any ongoing revenue associated with this inbound to your company (PS spend, subscriptions, maintenance, etc...). Also any ongoing disputes or service / support issues that may be festering.
- Identify any competitive presence in the account in terms of products and services
- Given the two above, identify the white space in the account that you or your partners could cover if given the opportunity
- Understand the key leadership associated with this customer that is relevant to what you sell. Sort this into installed base, white space, and competitive install. See where you can get introductions from other members of your team that already work with said leaders.
- Understand where your account falls into Marketing's grubby mitts and what your partners / partner management organization is doing relative to the account to promote new business transactions.
- Based on your win-rate, average deal timeline, and the whitespace analysis above, you can build a rough-cut plan for what you plan to introduce to the account in terms of net-new sales, and what that could look like from a revenue perspective.
- Use the point above to back into a thought process about what resources you'll need to support expansion. Combine with the Second point to understand what resources you'll need to keep the customer happy / current, etc...
End of the day, your leadership will want to know what the customer has, how they feel about it, what revenue we can expect from them into the future, and what you'll need in terms of resources to support this account. The more data and insight you bring to this, the better you look and ultimately the better you'll perform. Imagine you're running your own little company focused on making this customer happy and getting more of their money.
EDIT: Left out something important.
- Identify any large initiatives that are relevant to what you sell. Especially if multiple products/services are involved.
Thripe
Fire Starter
0
Head of Sales
This is great, thank you
CuriousFox
WR Officer
0
🦊
Are you talking about a quarterly business review for the client or internal review for your manager?
Thripe
Fire Starter
0
Head of Sales
Internal with the account team, sorry I should have clarified
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