The unscalable account planning challenge


The DN NOW transformation pro-


gram is a comprehensive, transforma- tional plan that builds and improves upon delivering quality products and services to DN’s customers. DN NOW combines four factors of which two - customer focus and operational excel- lence - fall under the realm of account planning. Primarily, account planning is


driven by “expensive” standard


methodologies. This is as good as the stakeholder’s ability to use them. On top of this, successful sales managers have their own style of management. Also, since all the planning is done manually using PowerPoints and many versions of Excel spreadsheets, it has an impact on scalability. Regular reviews are another major challenge, as annual and half-yearly reviews are found want- ing. All these shortcomings get com- pounded with large accounts, where just putting the numbers together is a time-consuming exercise that no one wants to repeat.


The solution Finding a solution, especially one that


is also simple, is never easy. Finding the solution involved a series of steps:


#1: Articulating account planning driv- ers clearly


#2: Finding a pragmatic account plan- ning approach


#3: Enabling continuous account plan- ning


#4: Implementing the right account planning tool


Step 1: Clear drivers. Revenue


growth, increased customer satisfaction and focus, and internal collaboration efficiency are the three clear drivers for successful account planning. Driving revenue growth includes wallet share expansion (new business,


cross-sell,


up-sell), increase in win rate and an increase in retention rate.


Step 2: Pragmatic account planning


approach. A new pragmatic account planning approach was adopted based on:


• Goal setting - Focus on Top 100


accounts


• Expected results - Clear targets Top 100 accounts were identified,


which can be scaled globally such that there is a repeatable process with poten- tial for actionable strategies. These 100 accounts were to enable sales strategy and growth plans. The corresponding account plans took into account goals, stakeholders’ agendas, growth strate- gies and initiatives, business needs and competitive environment.


The success of the top 100 accounts


hinged on specifying and monitoring expected results, including:


• Enabling easy reviewing and coach- ing, thereby reducing preparation efforts that consume considerable time before any account review


• Retaining account intelligence over any number of account manager (SAM) changes


• Creating real-time transparency • Increasing renewal rates


• Improving relationships and custom- er perceptions


• Implementing a total portfolio


1 4 VE L O C I T Y ®


VOL. 21 ISSUE 3 2019


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