Strategic account planning

Account plans need a current view of the client's business.

A useful account plan connects the relationship you already have with what the client's business requires now. It should help the team decide where to spend attention, what to test and what not to assume.

Minimum structure

Five things an account plan should make visible.

Client business

How the relevant part of the client creates value, delivers and is changing.

Current footprint

What you provide today and which parts of the client business are inside or outside that scope.

Evidence

External and relationship evidence that may indicate a pressure, change or unmet need.

Hypotheses

What might be worth testing without treating inference as fact.

Next client questions

The specific questions needed to confirm, reject or reframe the hypothesis.

Operating rhythm

The plan is only useful if it is refreshed.

Relationship history changes slowly. Client business conditions may change faster. A portfolio process should therefore distinguish stable account facts from new external evidence and decide when deeper research is justified.

Portfolio Intelligence can provide that refresh layer →