The job of the sales person is always a bit of a balancing act. On one hand, we continually cruise our territory to see what opportunities look the most promising. We’re constantly scanning the account base to identify that to which we should react. On the other hand, we also need to be proactive, determining which accounts hold the most long-term potential, and strategizing our approaches to those accounts.
It’s the second part of that equation that is the subject of this piece. The best sales people regularly (annually, quarterly and monthly) think
deeply about their highest potential accounts, and create a step-by-step plan for methodically penetrating them. That’s the definition of a strategic plan.
Note that the practice assumes some prior work: The sales person has methodically identified the highest potential accounts. That’s a special process all by itself. In order to do that, he/she has collected meaningful information, analyzed it, and applied some thoughtful criteria to it in order to bubble up to the surface those accounts which
offer the highest potential.
Those top 5 to 20 percent have so much potential that they warrant special attention. And
that special attention means a well crafted, constantly reviewed strategic plan.
