An account plan is a one-page record of where a customer stands, what they are trying to do this year, who matters and which conversations will grow the account next. The template below gives each section a test based on what the customer has said, so the plan describes the account as it is.
- Where the customer standsChecked against the contract
- What they are trying to doPriorities quoted, with a speaker and a date
- Who mattersStance and last-spoken date
- The next conversationsEach one serves an objective
- Where the customer standsChecked against the contract
- What they are trying to doPriorities quoted, with a speaker and a date
- Who mattersStance and last-spoken date
- The next conversationsEach one serves an objective
It is the working document behind our account expansion guide: the guide covers the strategy, and this page gives the account manager the sheet to fill in.
The template
Header: account · account manager · customer success manager · renewal date · last reviewed · next review
| # | Section | What goes in it | Evidence test |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Where the account stands | Contract value, seats or usage, renewal date, products owned | Renewal date and terms checked against the contract |
| 2 | Their priorities this year | Two or three goals, quoted, with who said them and when | Every priority has a speaker and a date; at least one came from the customer directly |
| 3 | Results so far | What the customer says they got from you, in their measures | The sponsor stated it, ideally with a number |
| 4 | People | Sponsor, champion, economic buyer, main users, likely blockers; each with their stance and the date you last spoke | Every name has a last-spoken date; three or more people are engaged |
| 5 | Whitespace | Buying centers against your offerings; mark what they own and what is open | Each open cell you plan to work has a named person who described a problem |
| 6 | Expansion deals in flight | One line per deal: stage, the missing evidence, the next conversation | Stage set by what the customer said or did |
| 7 | Risks | Threats to the renewal and to each expansion: a sponsor leaving, a downgrade request, a competitor | Each risk has a source and a date |
| 8 | Objectives for 90 days | Two or three, each with a measure and a date | Someone could say on the date whether it happened |
| 9 | Next conversations | Who, when, and what the account manager needs to leave with | Each one serves an objective in section 8 |
The customer's priorities come before anything about you, and a priority you paraphrased is weaker than one you can quote. Many templates source priorities from earnings calls and filings. For an existing account, what the sponsor told you in the QBR and on the renewal call is the stronger source, so section 2 asks for a speaker and a date.
How to use it
Use the template in six steps, from choosing which accounts get a full plan to updating it after each conversation.
- Pick the accounts. The test is simple: write a full plan where the renewal is large or an expansion is plausible this year, and monitor the rest lightly. If that test gives one seller more than about ten, Salesmotion's suggestion of five to ten top-tier accounts per seller is a sensible ceiling.
- Fill sections 1 to 4 from what you already know, and leave blanks where you have no evidence. A blank is useful, because it is the question for the next conversation.
- Draw the whitespace grid, then circle the one or two cells with a named person behind them. Those become section 6.
- Stage each expansion deal by customer evidence. The first stage without evidence is the real stage; our guide to spotting an account ready to expand gives the signals and what confirms them.
- Write sections 8 and 9 last. Every objective needs a conversation that moves it, and every conversation needs an outcome.
- Prepare the conversations, then update the plan after each one. The plan is current when section 9 matches the account manager's calendar.
A filled-in example
This example is illustrative. Arrowmere is a fictional 600-person logistics company with 80 seats of dispatch software. Sam is the account manager; Dana, VP of Operations, is the sponsor.
| # | Section | Arrowmere |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Where the account stands | 80 dispatch seats; renewal 30 June; one product |
| 2 | Priorities | "Cut order errors before peak season" (Dana, QBR, 12 Feb); regional depots opening in the fall (company announcement) |
| 3 | Results | "Dispatch rework is down by a third" (Dana, QBR, 12 Feb) |
| 4 | People | Dana, sponsor, positive, spoke 12 Feb · Lee, warehouse lead, stance unknown, no conversation yet · CFO, economic buyer, no conversation yet · two dispatch supervisors, positive, spoke last week |
| 5 | Whitespace | Warehouse team (dispatch): open, Dana said they re-key orders · Depots (dispatch, route planning): open, no contact yet |
| 6 | Expansion deals | Warehouse, 30 seats: stage "need named" (by Dana). Missing: Lee has never described the problem. Next: intro call with Lee |
| 7 | Risks | Renewal sits in the same quarter as the warehouse deal; the CFO has never met the vendor |
| 8 | Objectives | Lee describes the re-keying cost in his numbers by 15 March · renewal terms agreed by 1 May |
| 9 | Next conversations | Dana, this week: ask for the intro to Lee and what she thinks the re-keying costs · Lee, by 10 March: hear the problem in his words |
Read it top to bottom and the gap is plain. The plan has a sponsor and a result, and no one in the warehouse has said anything yet. The next conversation is Dana's introduction to Lee. A proposal can wait.
Three ways teams misuse an account plan
It is written once and filed. Salesmotion's line is blunt: "A plan built in January is fiction by March". If the plan only changes before the annual review, it records what the account manager believed in January. Update it after every customer conversation that changes a section.
The people section is a list of names. A stakeholder map without stance and last-spoken dates hides one of the usual risks in account management: one relationship holding the whole account. If the sponsor leaves, the plan should show who else knows you. See how to coach account managers for the review that catches it.
Whitespace stands in for pipeline. Every empty cell looks like an opportunity on a slide. Only cells with a named person and a described problem belong in section 6. The rest stay on the grid until someone in that team says something the account manager can work with.
Reviewing plans across a book of accounts
Who reviews a plan matters: across 1,246 pharmaceutical reps, managers' coaching skill predicted goal attainment, and frequent coaching from less skilled managers was linked to worse results (Dahling et al. 2016, summarized in our Game Winning Kickoffs field study). A manager with eight account managers and forty strategic accounts cannot give each plan a careful review every month. Our step-by-step account plan review covers the session itself, and account manager vs customer success covers who fills which section.
On Replicate Labs, the account manager talks the plan through with Caty on a call. Caty works the account with the account manager against what the customer has said, finds the first section built on a guess and prepares the conversation that would fill it, in the team's own sales method. Typing works when talking is not possible, and managers get Bryce's read across the team's deals and calls. See drive deal execution. If your strategic accounts have plans nobody has opened since they were written, talk to us.
FAQ
What should an account plan include?
An account plan should include where the account stands, the customer's priorities in their own words, the results they say they got, and the people involved with their stance. It also needs a whitespace map, expansion deals staged by evidence, risks, objectives for the next 90 days and the next conversations. Each section needs a source and a date.
How long should an account plan be?
One page for most accounts, two for the largest. A plan that runs to a slide deck tends to be written once and not read again. If a section needs more room, it usually means the account manager is recording activity where the plan needs evidence.
How often should you update an account plan?
Update it after any customer conversation that changes a section, and review it formally every quarter with the sales manager. A plan whose next conversations section does not match the account manager's calendar is out of date.
What is the difference between an account plan and a territory plan?
A territory plan decides which accounts a seller works and how to split time across them. An account plan goes deep on one customer: its people, priorities, whitespace and the next conversations. Most sellers need one territory plan and a handful of account plans.
Who should own the account plan?
The account manager owns it. The customer success manager contributes results and risks, and the sales manager reviews it with the account manager. The plan is most useful when the person who has the next conversation is the person who keeps it current.