account-plan

Overview

Based on "The New Strategic Selling" by Robert B. Miller and Stephen E. Heiman. Miller and Heiman's framework established that complex B2B sales are never one-to-one - they involve multiple buying influencers, each with different priorities and different definitions of "win." Strategic Selling maps every key player in the account, diagnoses your position with each one, and builds a coordinated plan to move the account forward.

Workflow

Step 1: Define the account objective and timeline

Write one sentence: what does winning this account mean in the next 90 days, and what does it mean in 12 months?

Format:

• 90-day objective: [specific, measurable outcome - e.g., "Close initial $120K deal with [division]"]
• 12-month objective: [expansion target - e.g., "Expand to 3 divisions, $400K ARR"]
• Strategic importance: [why this account matters - size, logo value, reference potential, or industry influence]

Without a clear objective, every action in the account plan is activity without direction.

Step 2: Map all buying influencers

Miller and Heiman identified four roles in every complex sale. Every account has all four - find them.

Role	Who they are	What they care about
Economic Buyer	Final financial authority. One person, usually senior.	ROI, strategic fit, risk to the organization
User Buyer	People who will use your product day-to-day. Often multiple.	Ease of use, workflow impact, job security
Technical Buyer	Evaluates fit against technical, legal, or compliance requirements.	Risk elimination, standards, integration
Coach	Your internal ally. Wants you to win. Provides intelligence.	Their own credibility and advancement

For each person you've identified, record:

• Name and title
• Role type (Economic / User / Technical / Coach)
• Their primary win (what success looks like for them personally)
• Your current relationship strength: Red (no contact / hostile), Yellow (neutral / unknown), Green (supportive)

Step 3: Diagnose your position in the account

For each key influencer, answer:

• Mode: Are you in "Growth" mode (expanding a relationship), "Trouble" mode (at risk of losing ground), or "Even Keel" mode (stable but no urgency)?
• Response mode: What does this person think of your solution - Overconfident, Panic, Complacent, or Realistic?

Overconfidence is the most dangerous. If you rate a relationship Green without evidence of recent advocacy from that person, you're in Overconfident mode.

Step 4: Identify red flags and strengths

Strengths (what's working in your favor):

• e.g., "Strong Champion in [department] who has budget access"
• e.g., "Existing contract provides stickiness and usage data"

Red flags (gaps that threaten the account):

• e.g., "No access to Economic Buyer - all activity through mid-level manager"
• e.g., "Technical Buyer is evaluating a competitor with stronger [integration]"
• e.g., "Renewal in 60 days with unresolved support issue outstanding"

Each red flag requires a specific action in Step 5.

Step 5: Build the action plan

For every red flag and every key influencer in Yellow or Red status, write one action.

Format per action:

• Objective: what you're trying to change
• Action: specific next step
• Owner: who on your team executes this
• By: specific date

Limit to 5-7 actions total. More than that is a list, not a plan.

Example actions:

• Objective: Gain access to Economic Buyer Action: Ask Coach to arrange 20-min exec briefing with CFO Owner: [AE] / By: [date]

• Objective: De-risk Technical Buyer concern about integration Action: Schedule technical deep-dive with [your SE] and their IT lead Owner: [SE] / By: [date]

Step 6: Define success metrics and review cadence

Set two things:

1. Success metrics: how you'll know the account plan is working (e.g., "Economic Buyer meeting secured", "Expansion SOW signed by Q3", "NPS above 8 at next QBR")
2. Review cadence: when you'll revisit and update the plan (monthly for strategic accounts, quarterly for growth accounts)

An account plan that isn't reviewed is a document, not a plan.

Anti-Patterns

1. Building the plan around one contact Bad: An account plan that lists one stakeholder and calls it done. Good: Map all four buying influencer types. If you only know one person in the account, that's the first red flag.

2. Confusing activity with progress Bad: "We had 3 calls this month - account is healthy." Good: Progress means a buying influencer moved from Yellow to Green, or a specific red flag was closed.

3. Treating the Coach as the Economic Buyer Bad: "Our Champion told us the budget is approved - we're good." Good: Verify with the Economic Buyer directly. Coaches report what they believe, not what's decided.

4. Static plans Bad: Building the account plan at the start of the quarter and never updating it. Good: Review monthly. Update influencer status and red flags as new information comes in.

Quality Checklist

• 90-day and 12-month account objectives are written and specific
• All four buying influencer roles identified (Economic, User, Technical, Coach)
• Each named stakeholder has a relationship status (Red / Yellow / Green)
• At least one person confirmed as Coach with evidence of active advocacy
• Red flags are listed with a specific action assigned per flag
• Action plan has 5-7 items max, each with an owner and a date
• Success metrics defined - outcome metrics, not activity metrics
• Review cadence is set and calendared