Account Management & Panning (AMP)

Introduction to Account Management and Planning (“AMP”)

Why do sales organizations invest so much time and money developing Account Plans that end up collecting dust on a shelf?  We have found that traditional account planning ends with just that: A plan.  Not well-defined, execution-ready opportunities.  The Adventace Account Management Program (AMP) takes account planning much further.  Account Executives and account teams learn how to:

    1. Conduct account planning and build an account profile (the traditional process),
    2. Identify a number of opportunities,
    3. Prioritize those opportunities so that they are pursued based on highest probability of winning, and
    4. Build customized tools to initiate the opportunities.

First In Usually Wins

At the conclusion of this program the Account Executive is literally ready to call on the right people with a fine-tuned message designed to get those opportunities rolling! 

Big Picture of AMP

Shown below is the “big Picture” of the AMP workshop.

The AMP Workshop

Here’s how an AMP workshop progresses:

Account Profile

AMP begins with the Account Executive (AE) building an overall profile of his/her customer (their products, services, mission, objectives, competition, etc.).

Buyer Analysis

AE’s next analyze individual buyers: their job function, their relationship to other buyers, high probability critical issues affecting them, and the capabilities needed to resolve those critical business issues. Next, the likely “cause and effect” relationship those critical business issues have on other buyers is examined.

Opportunity Identification & Prioritization

AE’s then pull together all of this information about their buyers into logically constructed high probability opportunities so they can then proactively and successfully execute the opportunities.

AE’s utilize a tool designed to help them prioritize the opportunities they have identified based on comparative analysis of the opportunities against 20 weighted factors.

Knowledge Tools

Once opportunities are prioritized, AE’s develop appropriate knowledge and planning tools (prospecting scripts, referral letters, potential action plan, etc.) to effectively initiate opportunities. Achievable success measurements are also identified based on the probable objectives the buyers have.

Relationship Management

Based on Buyer Analysis cited above, AE’s identify which buyers they should build and/or deepen relationships with.  AE’s then build Relationship Development Plans.  These plans include:

  • Identification of the Relationship Objective
  • Annual contact plan that – where appropriate – includes their management
  • Outcomes and metrics the AE seeks to achieve
  • A focus on identifying the Critical Business Issues likely affecting the buyer so that the AE can initiate an opportunity.

Note too that Managing opportunities in a “virtual” environment is also reviewed. Account managers often times are managing many opportunities with sales and support resources on a multi-regional / multi-national basis. Coordination of those resources so they are used at the right time along with managing and assessing and reporting on the opportunities is examined.

Program Objectives

The objectives of AMP are to help attendees effectively:

    • Develop a profile on the account designed to help the Account Executive achieve his/her account objectives.
    • Learn the skills and be able to repeat the processes of identifying opportunities and prioritizing them.
    • Learn the skills required to develop the knowledge and planning tools required for expert execution of opportunities.
    • Develop Account Plans whose output is “Execution Ready” opportunities.
    • Understand the critical relationship between Account Planning, Opportunity Identification, and Opportunity Execution.
    • Develop Account Plans that will be an integral, year-round planning and account development tool.
    • More effectively utilize the skills of account support resources, both in planning and actual execution.

 

Typical Audience

  • Account Executives.
  • Sellers who support the Account Executive on their opportunities.
  • Sales support personnel who work closely with Account Executives.

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Increase in Product Sales

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Improvement in Performance Metrics

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Increase in Pipelines

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Increase in Contract Values