3 Common Sales Account Planning Mistakes

Strategic sales account plans take time, effort, and resources. Done right, they should significantly increase both the relationships and the revenue at your most important and complex accounts. Done wrong, they will frustrate your most valuable sales reps.

Unfortunately many account plans are too big, too confusing, and too complex to ever get implemented in a way that impacts revenue. In addition to keeping it simple, if you are embarking on creating strategic account plans for your largest customers, do not make these three common mistakes:

1. Taking an Opportunistic vs. Strategic Approach: Without a thorough understanding of your target market and ideal customer profile, your sales team is likely to pursue accounts that they like working with versus the accounts that align with your sales strategy and where you should win. An opportunistic approach creates inconsistent messaging, priorities and results. Ensure your team has clear criteria of the target prospect, their needs and your value proposition so that they invest their efforts wisely.
   
   
2. Misjudging Relationships: When you ask most sales reps, they will tell you that they have a great relationship with their clients. When you ask if their client can get you a meeting with their CEO, you often get a different answer. When it comes to navigating relationships to expand or protect an account, make sure that you identify the right level of current and desired relationships. Then you can identify leverage points to influence your success.
   
   
3. Not Making it Actionable: When co-created with the right group of people, most account plans seem realistic and achievable. While that is a great start, the next step is to ensure that they are converted into concrete action items. Make sure that you support each strategy with specific steps, success metrics, resources, and timing to accomplish your goals.