Collaborative Account Planning

I asked one question in a Lisbon boardroom. A year later, the account was worth close to $100 million. The team had spent 10 years with this customer. The slides were polished and the roadmap looked ready to execute. But something felt off. So I asked: "How much of this plan has been co-created with the customer?" The room went quiet. That's when I said something that made a few people uncomfortable. Account planning without customer validation isn't a plan. It's a hallucination. The best account plans aren't built in the office. They're built with the customer. So we shifted the conversation entirely. Instead of "how do we present this plan?” The question became "how do we build this together?" That meant: → Getting the plan in front of the customer's senior executives. → Inviting their input and challenging every assumption. → Building a joint roadmap with shared projects, shared metrics, and shared accountability. The team took it back to the customer. The customer challenged it, pushed back, and reshaped it. And that was the best thing that could have happened. What emerged wasn't the team's plan or the customer's plan. It was a plan both sides had truly co-owned. Grounded, pragmatic, and built on real alignment. That deepened the relationship in ways no internal presentation ever could. Twelve months later… close to $100 million. The most valuable account plans aren't the ones that live in your CRM. They're the ones your customer helped build. How many of your current account plans have actually been validated by your customer's CxOs? #SalesSkillsAreLifeSkills

Over the last few months, I've been testing a new way to build success plans with my team. We ditched the scattered docs and rigid tools and moved to a collaborative platform. One where we build success plans WITH our customers, not AT them. To do that, we started with a simple mindset shift: 🧠 A success plan doesn't start when the customer signs. It starts when they're deciding to buy. The conversations happening in the sales cycle: → the goals → the challenges → the stakeholders → the requirements → the "here's what good looks like" moments That's where the real foundation is laid. Most teams let that context evaporate at handoff. We stopped doing that. Then we needed a tool that could support this vision. Here's what we looked for: → A seamless handoff from sales to success. The value case built during the sales process and the buying team we engaged with became the foundation of the success plan. No more dropped context. No more awkward "wait, what did we promise you?" moments. → A tool we could co-create with customers. When you work with large customers, cookie-cutter plans fail. Their stack is complex, their goals are specific, and no pre-built template accounts for that. So we let them co-create. Customers who actively engage with their plans see 200% higher usage than those who don't. That stat alone justified the investment. → Built to scale. It integrates with our existing stack, pulling in the right data automatically, and uses AI to do the heavy lifting across accounts (we're still working on this). The tool we ended up with? trumpet 🎺 The results have been strong enough that we're rolling it out across my entire org within the next few months. If you're in Customer Success and still managing plans in static docs, or struggling to get that sales-to-CS handover right... I'd take a look. P.S. Not a paid post. Just an honest appreciation for a tool that's actually changing how we work. Want to learn about the AI-powered systems helping CS teams deliver more value? Sign up to my newsletter → Unconventional Growth [linked in the comments] 💌 #customersuccess #GTM #CSM #CX

Here is what we did with CrossKnowledge team to increase ABM-sourced enterprise pipeline from 35% to 60%:  https://lnkd.in/dBKymbaT One of the success pillars – weekly ABM pipeline review meetings. These weren't just casual check-ins—they were structured working sessions that replaced finger-pointing with collaborative execution. 5 critical components we covered in EVERY meeting: 1.ACCOUNT INSIGHTS & ENGAGEMENT Sales and marketing shared real engagement data, not assumptions. As Magali (Enterprise Sales) put it: "We review the lists and say, 'Hey, we see new activity from these accounts—maybe add them to our ABM program. And by the way, I've tried six touchpoints with this other account with no response—let's replace it with a more active one.'" 2. ACCOUNT PLANNING: WHAT'S NEXT? Once we reviewed the data, we planned specific next steps: - Marketing preparing targeted content hubs with case studies - Sales following up with Champions to get feedback - Both teams engaging with buyers' LinkedIn content This ensured accounts were nurtured strategically, not randomly. 3. LEADING INDICATORS CHECK We reviewed KPIs to assess progress toward pipeline goals: - When engagement dropped for an industry report, we immediately improved messaging - Created briefs with FAQs for sellers to use in communications This rapid iteration cycle kept momentum building. 4. RETROSPECTIVE: WHAT'S WORKING/NOT WORKING Quick but crucial discussions on: ✅ What's moving us forward? (double down) ❌ What's holding us back? (fix immediately) Example: When content production dropped because a marketer was pulled into another project, we immediately adjusted workloads. 5. ABM LISTS UPDATES: ADDING/REMOVING ACCOUNTS - Added accounts showing new intent or engagement - Removed disengaged accounts after multiple failed touchpoints --- This weekly ritual might seem simple, but it fundamentally changed how teams worked together. Instead of marketing throwing leads over the wall, both departments collaborated on the same strategic priorities, with shared ownership of pipeline and revenue outcomes. --- Shoutout to Ken, Magali, Renand and Stapho who made it happen 👏

Unleashing the Power of Team Selling for Key Account Success After many frustrations managing our key accounts, I realized that success with key accounts demands a unified, committed team. It's more than individual brilliance; it's about harnessing collective wisdom and purpose. Our team's strength lies in our commitment to deeply understanding our customers. We immerse ourselves in their world, uncovering their challenges and aligning our solutions to their strategic goals. This isn't just about selling; it's about building enduring partnerships. To achieve this, we foster a culture of collaboration and continuous learning. Our team is equipped with the tools and training to excel at discovery, asking powerful questions, and uncovering hidden needs. We create comprehensive solutions that drive exceptional results by sharing insights and leveraging diverse perspectives. Key to our approach is mastering the art of sales discovery as a team. We've developed a structured process that allows us to pool our collective knowledge and insights: 1) Pre-discovery briefings: Before major customer meetings, we share what we know about the account, ensuring everyone is aligned and prepared. 2) Role-specific discovery: Each team member focuses on uncovering needs related to their area of expertise, whether technical, financial, or operational. 3) Cross-functional analysis: We regularly huddle to connect the dots between different areas of customer needs, identifying opportunities for integrated solutions. 4) Collaborative solution design: Our diverse team works together to craft tailored proposals that address the full spectrum of customers' challenges. 5) Ongoing knowledge sharing: We maintain a central repository of account insights, ensuring no one hoards vital information and resources. 6) Peer coaching: Team members observe and provide feedback on each other's discovery skills, fostering continuous improvement. Success with key accounts is a journey, not a destination. It requires unwavering dedication and alignment on a shared vision. By embracing these principles of collaborative discovery, we can uncover deeper insights, build stronger relationships, and deliver more impactful solutions for our key accounts. How is your team fostering a culture of collaboration for key account success? We'd love to hear your strategies and experiences in the comments below. #salesleadership #teamselling #keyaccounts #salesenablement My name is c.j., and I'm the co-creator of Sales-Map, a statistically highly reliable scenario-based assessment. Our customers use the Sales Map to hire their best-fit salespeople, improve their sales team's weaknesses, and reinforce their critical strengths. Please ping me to find out how we can help shape your sales team to win more sales at better prices!

January is when a lot of strategic account plans are created. End of Q1 is when most of them quietly gather dust ☹️ But...Strategic account planning isn’t a “start of year” task. It’s part of the day job, all year round. The initial task is the blue sky thinking with the whole account team. Where revenue will come from, where time should go, and where the gaps are to plan. A few reminders to keep plans alive beyond Q1: 🔸 Keep it simple. Use the same qualification to evaluate existing opps that you use every day. Identified pain. Metrics. Champion. That’s it. 🔸 Build a cadence. What you expect, you need to inspect. Accounts change, priorities shift, opportunities evolve. Your plan has to as well. 🔸 Collaborate. BDRs, marketing, consultants, leadership. Account plans work best when they’re shared, challenged and updated together. 🔸 Make them customer-ready. If 80% of the plan could be shared with the customer, it stays current and more honest. Good account plans aren’t static documents. They’re living tools that help you generate pipeline, close revenue, and plot a predictable journey. Whether it’s January or October. If you need help comment PLAN in the comments and we can reach out with some best practices. #StrategicAccountPlanning #MEDDIC #SalesLeadership #B2BSales #SalesExcellence #Salestips