environment. Companies consistently report that they labor over these massive, annual account planning initiatives. They bring in experts and consultants. They invest heavily in methodologies and the training materials to support these initiatives. According to the Association for Talent Development, companies spend an average of $2,326 per salesperson each year for training.


But invariably, these companies also


report that by spring, their teams slip back into old ways of doing business. Fill-in-the-box exercises that don’t offer actionable value become relegated to task work and postponed until the quar- terly business review (QBR). Infrequent touchpoints around the SAM strategy renders the program virtually useless. If you relate to these pain points, you are not alone!


Most companies don’t have a pur-


pose-built solution, so they constantly battle complications from ill-suited solutions. For example, Siemens Digital Industries Software describes how their annual account plans were spread across disparate Excel and PowerPoint docu- ments. Sales orchestrators –Siemens Digital Industries Software strategic account managers -- spent a lot of time making account plans but could not execute from these disparate docu- ments. They needed a better way to collaborate with their teams.


Even big and generally technologi-


cally sophisticated companies are turn- ing to their CRMs and an assortment of sales-enablement tools to optimize revenue in their strategic accounts. In practice, CRMs can only provide mountains of historical data. Because these platforms weren’t purpose-built to support the adoption and operation- alization of a customer-centric sales methodology, there’s limited actionable insight to drive future account planning activities. It’s challenging to make well- informed,


forward-thinking decisions VOL. 21 ISSUE 3 2019


when you only have backward-facing information.


When CRMs fall short, people look to


a myriad of other technology solutions (none of which are purpose-built for account planning either). Technology that is hodgepodged together or home- grown in an attempt to do something it wasn’t designed to support leads people further astray, adding layers of com- plexity and maintenance costs.


It’s challenging to


make well-informed, forward-thinking


decisions when you


only have backward- facing information.


Account planning has hit a tech-


nological barrier that prevents most companies from achieving the most fundamental


principles of account


planning: relationship building and strategy execution.


The nature of and inherent need for


strategic account planning is here to stay. We’re seeing longer sales cycles, an increasing number of stakeholders, and requirements for stronger business cases and higher customer service expecta- tions. It’s time for account management reform to address common problems like those MarkLogic has experienced – as described below.


MarkLogic has an extremely complex


sales cycle with multiple stakeholders. They had developed a sales process and best practices to help their sales teams navigate this complex cycle, but the process was difficult to use and adop- tion was low.


Companies will continue to see these


challenges unless and until they reeval- uate their approach to account plan- ning.


Instead of adding unnecessary


layers of complexity with the wrong solutions, let’s turn to something novel: technology specifically designed to optimize top-line revenue by building more strategic partnerships with key clients.


A customer-centric approach to revenue growth


Putting customers at the center of


your revenue growth strategy depends on the three key pillars of account planning: knowing who you’re talk- ing to, knowing what they’re trying to accomplish, and having a value-based conversation around how your offerings can specifically help him or her achieve success.


When you metaphorically clear


everything else off the table, this is what it’s all about. All the bells and whistles, data and automation can be added on around these principles in time, but you absolutely need to have a way to address these three things first. Moreover, you need to do it in a usable, adaptable and collaborative way.


The Revegy platform’s visualization


tools give account management teams actionable insight about what’s happen- ing in their key accounts.


Relationship mapping. Through the


power of visualization, managers can see which foundational relationships need to be maintained, identify new voices influencing renewal decisions, and map new individuals responsible for the future initiatives clients are most determined to achieve.


Focus first and foremost on the


people. Lay out the relationships that you need to develop a long-term, secure strategic


partnership. The f lexibil-


ity and the customization of the map allows users to add rich, meaningful


VE L O C I T Y ® 1 9


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35