Why Account Plan?
Overall, a sales account plan is valuable for driving revenue, improving efficiency, and aligning the sales team with the company’s overall strategy. Creating a sales account plan is vital for several reasons:
- It helps identify and prioritize target accounts: By creating a plan, you can place the key accounts that are most likely to generate revenue for the company and prioritize them accordingly.
- It provides a roadmap for success: A sales account plan lays out specific steps and objectives for reaching your sales goals, giving you a clear roadmap.
- It helps with resource allocation: By successfully outlining the resources required to sell to each account, you can ensure that you are using your resources effectively and efficiently.
- It helps track progress and make adjustments: A sales account plan allows you to track your progress and make adjustments as needed, helping you stay on track and achieve your goals.
- It helps align the sales team with the company’s overall strategy: Having a clear sales account plan can help ensure that the sales team is aligned with its overall strategy and working towards the same goals.
- It helps with forecasting and budgeting: By outlining the expected revenue from each account, a sales account plan can help you forecast future sales and budget accordingly.

A Typical Planning Cadence
The annual sales planning process is a method used by companies to set sales goals, allocate resources, and develop strategies for achieving those goals over a year. The process typically includes the following steps:
- Review of past performance: Review the previous year’s sales performance and identify any trends, strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for improvement.
- Setting sales goals: Set specific, measurable, and achievable sales goals for the upcoming year.
- Developing strategies: Develop strategies for achieving sales goals, considering market trends, competition, and internal capabilities.
- Allocating resources: Allocate resources such as budget, personnel, and marketing efforts to support the sales strategy.
- Creating an action plan: Create an action plan outlining the specific steps that will be taken to achieve the sales goals and allocate resources accordingly.
- Implementing the plan: Put the action plan into action, and begin implementing the sales strategy.
- Monitoring progress: Monitor progress throughout the year and make adjustments as needed to ensure that the sales goals are met.
- Reviewing the results: Review the results at the end of the year, and use that information to improve the sales planning process for the following year.
Keep in mind that this is a general process and may be adjusted to your company’s specific needs.
What Goes Into An Account Plan?
Account Planning helps you identify root cause challenges your buyers are facing and create more possibilities for your company. When you account plan, you become more proactive and more strategic.
An account plan for sales is a document that outlines a specific strategy for selling to a particular customer or group of customers. The critical components of an account plan typically include:
- Customer profile: A detailed description of the customer, including information on their industry, size, location, and key decision-makers.
- Sales objectives: Specific, measurable, and achievable goals for the account, such as revenue targets, market share, and customer satisfaction.
- Value proposition: A clear and compelling statement of the unique value that the company can offer to the customer.
- Competitive analysis: An evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the company’s competitors in the account and an assessment of the company’s competitive advantages.
- Sales strategy: A plan for how the company will sell to the customer, including lead generation, product positioning, and pricing strategy.
- Action plan: A detailed plan of action outlining the specific steps that will be taken to achieve the sales objectives, including timelines and milestones.
- Resource allocation: A plan for how resources such as budget, personnel, and marketing efforts will be allocated to support the sales strategy.
- Performance metrics: A set of metrics that will be used to measure the success of the account plan, such as revenue, market share, and customer satisfaction.
- Identify any potential roadblocks and plan for contingencies.
This list is not exhaustive and may vary depending on the company and the specific account, but these are the key components generally included in an account plan.

Commercial SMB Teams
Top X opportunities are those you should focus disproportionately on during the quarter. The “X” represents the number of options each level in the sales organization needs to select. “5” is recommended for the Seller, but it is up to the Sales Manager to determine the correct number for their team members.
Top X Criteria for SMB Teams
- Account ARR Potential ($10K+)
- Strategic Value to your company (brand, positioning, or market)
- Qualified project (i.e., approved project, budget, authority, need, and/or timing)
- Reasonable Terms and Conditions
- Competitive Positioning (including homegrown) – competitive deals that are Dev First
- *Selections do not need to meet all criteria but should meet several.
Top X Accounts Goal
- Goal (Target 5):
- Close/Win New Business Accounts by applying the time and focus required.
Commercial SMB Process
- Selection: Quarterly (month 3 of prior Quarter), selection by AE, reviewed and confirmed by Manager. Meet with the Manager End of the Quarter to ensure when we drop an opportunity or decide to hold over.
- Plan Development: QBR Focus; Quarterly, with updates monthly
Roles & Activities
- AE: Determine which deals have the most significant probability and strategic value (based on criteria). Confirm with the Manager. Check the “Top X” box in Salesforce.
- RVP: Review the rollup of all Top X deals within your team. Identify personal Top X. Prioritize resources and time for coaching, collaboration, and co-selling purposes.
- SVP: Review the roll-up of all Top X deals from your RVP teams. Identify personal Top X. Prioritize resources and time for collaboration and co-selling.
Enterprise Teams
Top X accounts are those opportunities that we plan to focus disproportionately on during the next quarter. The “X” represents the number of options each level in the sales organization needs to select. “5” is recommended for the Seller, but it is up to the Sales Manager to determine the correct number for their team members.
Top X Account Criteria for Enterprise Teams
- ROI on prep + time + effort
- Size of Account (>10,000 Employees)
- Access to Economic Buyer and/or strong Champion
- Must be an Early-Stage Opportunity
- *Selections do not need to meet all criteria but should meet several criteria.
Top X Opportunities
- Goal: (Target 5)
- Close/Win Top X New Business Opportunities by applying the time and focus required.
Enterprise Process:
- Selection: Quarterly (Month 3 of prior Quarter) selection by AE; reviewed and confirmed by Manager. Meet with the Manager End of the Quarter to ensure when we drop an opportunity or decide to hold over.
- Plan Development: Quarterly, updates monthly
Roles & Activities
- AE: Determine which deals have the most significant probability and strategic value (based on criteria). Confirm with the Sales Manager.
- Sales Manager: Review rollup of all Top X deals within your team. Identify personal Top X. Prioritize resources and time for coaching, collaboration, and co-selling.
- VP: Review the roll-up of all Top X deals from your Sales Manager’s team. Identify personal Top X. Prioritize resources and time for collaboration and co-selling.
Strategic Account Teams
Top X accounts are those opportunities that we plan to focus disproportionately on during the next quarter. The “X” represents the number of options each level in the sales organization needs to select. “5” is recommended for the Seller, but it is up to the Sales Manager to determine the correct number for their team members.
Top X Accounts Criteria – Strategic Account Teams
- Current contract Renewal Date
- Opportunity Size (ARR) relative to Sales Stage
- Internal timeline of Customer Project/Initiative
- Strategic Positioning within the account (C-Level, SVP, VP)
- Negative Indicator – competitive positioning – Incumbent, RFP
Top X Opportunities
- Goal: (Target 5)
- Close/Win Top X New Business Opportunities by applying the time and focus required.
Account Team Process:
- Selection: Quarterly (Month 3 of prior Quarter) selection by AE; reviewed and confirmed by Manager. Meet with the Manager End of the Quarter to ensure when to drop an opportunity or decide to hold over.
- Plan Development: Quarterly, updates Monthly
Roles & Activities
- AE: Determine which deals have the most significant probability and strategic value (based on criteria). Confirm with the Sales Manager.
- Sales Manager: Review rollup of all Top X deals within your team. Identify personal Top X. Prioritize resources and time for coaching, collaboration, and co-selling.
- VP: Review the roll-up of all Top X deals from your Sales Manager’s team. Identify personal Top X. Prioritize resources and time for collaboration and co-selling.