Plan Strategic Sales Accounts So You Maximize Your Chances to Win

Simply stated, strategic account planning training teaches how to best prioritize and assign customer accounts so that you can maximize your team win rate, revenues and profits. 

You want to line up the gears so they mesh in a way that brings in profitable revenue that builds customer loyalty and future organizational health.

So how do you go about being smart in the way you plan major sales accounts? Here is some advice from strategic sales account planning experts:

1. Put a clear structure in place.
Try as best you can to clearly delineate responsibility. Yes, sales should have control of the account planning process but recognize that they can’t work alone. Their success depends upon the quality of the offering (R&D, manufacturing and product development), the effectiveness of marketing, the reliability and availability of service, and the ease of drawing up contracts (legal). As you assemble sales implementation teams, make sure each person understands where they fit and what resources they can draw upon.

2. Identify your A, B, and C customers.
Rank your customers in a way that helps your sales people prioritize how they spend their time. “A” customers are the ones most likely to buy and who fit your ideal target customer profile. On the “B” list are customers who have bought in the past and are likely to continue but not in a major way. “C” list customers are less likely to buy but may, in the future, need your solution. They fit the buyer profile but you have not yet identified a strong contact. All three tiers need sales attention…but not the same degree of time and effort.

3. Evaluate your sales talent.
Do you have the right folks on your sales team? Are they well matched to the accounts they have been assigned? Make sure you don’t have major sales skill gaps that hamper the success of your sales reps.  Also make sure you have good and transparent reasons for the way you have parceled out current and future sales accounts.

4. Be realistic and patient.
If you have just done an overhaul of the way you plan sales accounts, you may need to wait a while before you see real sales results.  Remember that sales account planning done well reaps rewards more in the long- rather than the short-term.  Use leading and lagging success metrics to track progress and adjust as necessary.

Learn more at: http://www.lsaglobal.com/strategic-account-planning-training/