Account Planning
Welcome to KoruPlan™ - Account Planning for Professional Sales Teams
“I haven't got time to do an account plan I'm too busy selling”
“Why should I spend days and weeks preparing something that once part read will be forgotten?”
“Management have had consultants in and they recommended that we do account planning”
These are just some of the reactions from seasoned sales people when it comes to account planning. There is of course some truth in their assertions. An account plan should be a living document, a means for driving focused and thought through sales activity and a way of measuring progress against long term business objectives. Account plans do not need to be massive tomes, in fact two or three pages can be more than sufficient, and the benefits of account planning can be substantial. Here are just some of them.
• It is a good use of sales time and optimises the use of post planning sales time by focusing the account manager on those things that are important
• It is pro active – by understanding your client's business, identifying their needs and imperatives allows you to take proposals to them before they decide to hold a tender and as a result you can lockout the competition
• It allows you to understand the resources you need to apply to a given sales opportunity and to determine if you wish to proceed i.e. it contributes to the qualification process
• It focuses your valuable resource on those opportunities you can win improving revenue, margin and reputation
• Good account planning involves the customer in the process. This allows you to show thought leadership in solving their problems or meeting their requirements, and
• It helps you move up the value chain from being a commodity vendor to being a strategic business partner
The last point is particularly important; professional buyers want to bring everything down to a common denominator and that is price. Delivering true value recognized across the client's management structure enhances margins, reputation and opportunities. The table below shows the impact of value delivery:
It is quite simple; you cannot make the move to the right without firstly understanding your client's business and the identifying what is needed to improve your position. KoruPlan™ is our approach to helping our client's maximise the return from their customers by focusing on what is important to the buyer and providing solutions that deliver tangible benefits to the buyers needs.
What is KoruPlan™?
KoruPlan™ is a service package comprising:
• An introduction to account planning which is a facilitated half day workshop designed to ensure a common understanding of the methodology
• A structured approach to client information gathering for use in planning sessions
• A facilitated planning session to build a client focused account plan, and
• Software to record the outcomes and manage the progress of an account planning session.
In addition to the benefits from the approach described earlier there additional benefits:
• Team building – by involving everyone who is involved with a customer the team is strengthened by commitment to common purposes.
• Best Practice account planning involves senior management from your company – this facilitates senior management participation on an going basis and enhances client relationships, and
• It builds a common understanding across your company of your objectives for a particular client and the responsibilities for achieving them
If you would like to know more about KoruPlan™ click here (The guide to account planning)
If you would like to know how KoruPlan™ can be developed in your business please contact Steve Rowe