7 secrets to account planning

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S E C R E T S

A Data.com Overview for Account Planning

TOACCOUNTPLANNING

7 Secrets to Account Planning / 2

Do you ever wonder why some sales reps are closing big deals when your team isn’t? The pros at salesforce.com have successfully planned their way to over $2 billion in revenue using some simple best practices. Here’s how they did it.

Table of Contents

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Account planning is necessary for landing and maintaining big, complex deals with a lot of moving parts. Not only does it help you to prepare, but it also helps you to have a more comprehensive look into a company.

Introduction

With a great account plan, sales reps, executives, and supporting teams can quickly view the plan and get up to speed.

In this ebook, you’ll get a top-line view from the experts at salesforce.com and see how they have capitalized on their seven important secrets to successful account planning. Use this framework to set yourself on the right path to higher sales productivity and bigger deals.

In order to be successful in sales, it’s vital that your team masters these three kinds of sales planning:

Territory Planning Account Planning Opportunity Planning

• This ebook isn’t only for executives. It’s to inform and aid sales reps and anyone else interested in leading or deploying an account planning process.

• It’s the job of the sales rep to push the team to prioritize and enforce the account plan’s outline.

A sales rep’s ability to hit a quota and achieve higher sales productivity is contingent on the proper implementation of these three strategic activities - your sales funnel. This book (one in a series) will deal with Account Planning.

Tips to Remember





Envision

Before you start aligning the team to execute a plan, you’ll need to outline your goals for each account. Set priorities and come to an agreement on them. Consolidate and reconcile the information you already have prior to building a plan or conducting additional research.

Some basic data you’ll want to obtain is:

• The history of the account.• Any goals your customer hopes

to achieve.• Their attitude towards your business.• How much are they willing to spend

on you?

Answering these questions doesn’t just lead to a better understanding of the account. It also allows for a more comprehensive collaboration and encourages your team to invest in the account.

• Pick a few accounts in your territory; don’t build plans for every account.

• Ensure the involvement of your entire team when working on the account plan. Ask for feedback and encourage creative ideas.

• Form a comprehensive analysis centered around your research.

Tips to Remember

What are you trying to accomplish with the plan?

Intelligently target businesses with theintentionoffindingtheabsolutebest and most valuable customers. Planning a more in-depth plan for fewer accounts is often more impactful than creating a plan for every single account in your territory. Concentrate your efforts for the best results.





Schedule

While ironing out a plan in one meeting may sound great, it isn’t always practical. A full plan can take days. This takes away time that you could be using to close other deals.

Additionally, these long meetings often contain extremely dense amounts of information and attention spans can easily dwindle. When unexpected questions and issues arise, productivity could slow to a crawl.

To counter this problem, salesforce.com divides the planning process into several different sessions, each just an hour or two long.

• Don’t plan daylong meetings. Instead, schedule shorter meetingsatspecificintervals.

• Give your employees an internal social tool for collaboration.

Tips to Remember

When will you have the plan done and how long will it last?

Thesemeetingsarespecificallydesigned with a predetermined goal in mind, which allows team members to address only relevant and bite-sized issues needed to build the plan. In between these meetings, team members can examine topics of concern that arise during the process by utilizing social collaboration tools, such as Chatter.





Discover

There’s always something to learn. Compile everything you do know and admit the unknown. This can be anything from factual information to more strategic inquiries. What’s the target’s annual revenue? Are they focused on company expansion or on product quality? Are their sentiments negative or positive about your company?

• Don’t search harder, search smarter.Usingmoreefficientandreliable resources can allow you to spend more time analyzing valuable data.

• Go deeper and evaluate a prospect thoroughly, including their goals and overall potential.

An easy place to start is by getting key company information through integrated services such as Data.com within Salesforce. You’ll want to look for:

• Annual revenue• Industry category• Quality contacts

!Uncover the unknown. What key points do you need to know about the customer to be successful?

Tips to RememberWhy this data? You’re looking for a business that mirrors other places you’ve had success and that has the money to spend on a solution like yours.Also,findingtherightcontactsand being able to connect with them ensures you have a direct line of communication with key decision makers in the business.





Align

• ○Accountplanningshouldbeaconstant and continuous process.

• Split your plan into sections and keep it updated at every point in the process.

• Create a centralized location where all members of the team can easily track the progress and react quickly to modifications.

Do a strategy session.Identify the key stakeholders and illustrate how your solution folds into their strategic plans.

Tips to RememberAs you build the plan, you’ll need to discuss with your team how the plan will be executed. At salesforce.com, teams meet for half an hour every other week with essential team members to discuss key steps that need attention.

For accounts with a lot of complexity, this approach keeps your plan updated and ensures that your team is on the same page. Creating dashboards of activities and next steps is a creative and effective approach to easily tracking plan progression for managers and supervisors.

Within Salesforce, you can create a custom “Account Planning” object (i.e., tabs) that will help you to manage yourplan.Useittotrackinfluencers,decision makers, their goals, and their sentiment towards your business. Storing your plan in Salesforce also creates a document that everyone can browse and comment on.





Develop

• Review and consider all past orders and activities.

• Map out key actions needed to open up an opportunity.

The whole purpose of account planning is ultimately to develop opportunities. As the planning process progresses, shift your team’s focus from research to action. Start mapping out how you can create an opportunity.

Begin by assessing what transactions your target account has made. Consolidate all the details you may have in your CRM:

• Contracts• Quotes• Orders• Transactions• Opportunities in

various departments

Thebenefitofbuildingyourplanfromyour CRM is that you can merge your private sales data with public and socialdata.Thiswillgiveyouaunifiedview of your customers and what opportunity they represent.

Set a yearlong pace.More meetings but make them shorter. Touch points are important for keeping the plan on par with your team’s goals.

Don’t forget to look on LinkedIn to map out how you may be connected to the customer’s team.

Internally, communicate your team’s progress in executing the plan, resolve pain points, and adjust. This avoids confusion and keeps your team aligned with your projected goals. Salesforce.com’s Chatter allows you to interact with your team regarding the account plan. From here, it’s all about execution and sales skills to generate that big opportunity.

Tips to Remember





Adapt

Keeping the account plan current isn’t just about the initial development. You’ll need to adapt to new situations. Without an ongoing effort to keep it updated, the account plan becomes stale.

• Be mindful of the customer’s goals and don’t be afraid to recommend a change to the account plan if it would enhance it.

• Out with the old, in with the new. Neglecting to clean out outdated or irrelevant data will severely impact execution. This includes keeping contact information updated.

Keep the plan current.As the target customer changes, update the plan. As you discover better opportunities, change the plan.

Tips to RememberNews on your customers can change quickly. Leverage standard free systems like Google News Alerts to monitor breaking news. Social media listening tools, such as salesforce.com’s Radian6, allows you to listen to social channels your customers are active on.

With a programmatic approach to tracking news and social insights, you’ll be better positioned to react to and capitalize on developing news.





Inspire

Now that you’ve spent all this time strategizing and visualizing goals for your customer, share it with them. This shows them your level of commitment, includes them in your success plan, and demonstrates your level of dedication to making their businessflourish.Thiscanalsohelpyou earn trust and ultimately access more avenues to close the deal.

• Share your account plan with your customers and get them excited by your vision.

• Encourage your customer to contribute to your plan.

Proactively keep your customers in the loop and illustrate where you plan to take their company with your service. Your customers will immediately see you as a partner, rather than a vendor.

Share your vision with the customer.Sharing how your vision aligns with your customer’s shows that you know their business and have a vested interest in being their long-term partner.

Tips to RememberYou must show them that you can be relied upon to help them grow their business and meet their corporate goals. It’s important that they place trust in your team’s skills and expertise.





Step/Stage Salesforce Product

EnvisionWhat are you trying to accomplish with the plan?

Use a pen and paper—brainstorming is best done analog. Then scan your vision into Chatter Files and share it with your team.

ScheduleWhen will you have the plan done and how long will it last?

Use Sales Cloud activities to set and track milestones.

DiscoverUncover the unknown. – What key points do you need to know about the customer to be successful?

Data.com allows you to investigate and thoroughly research each account.

Spending more time planning means actively partaking in the process, which puts you in a better position to control your deal’s destiny. Account plans put you and your team in the right position to improve your chances of closing that monster deal. Additionally, a plan gives you the edge you need to get ahead of the competition and prove to your customers that you provide the best sales team in the market.

DevelopSet a yearlong pace.– More meetings but make them shorter. Touch points are important for keeping the plan on par with your team’s goals.

Use Chatter Groups to manage team communication and collaboration on an ongoing basis.

AdaptKeep the plan current.– As the target customer changes, update the plan. As you discover better opportunities, change the plan, etc.

Radian6 allows you to monitor for social activity and news.

InspireShare your vision with the customer.– Sharing how your vision aligns with your customer’s shows that you know their business and have a vested interest in being their long-term partner.

Use Force.com to build a custom experience for your customers.

AlignDo a strategy session.– Identify the key stakeholders and illustrate how your solution folds into their strategic plans.

Cloud based technology is great, but these meetings are best done in person. Once you set your plan, store it in Sales Cloud. Use dashboards to track progress.

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7 secrets to account planning

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