Why a Key Account Plan will help you close a big deal

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I get asked on a regular basis "Why do we need to create a key account plan?"  The answer is both simple and complex.  The simple answer is, so you can know what you know and know what you don't know.  (That sounds like Donald Rumsfeld, but it is true.) Too often we make assumptions on what is happening in an account and how they are making decisions and allocating budget internally.  Too often these assumptions are wrong.  The last thing we want to do is find out bad news late in the game... like after you put the deal on the forecast!  If we keep a healthy level of paranoia, and ask ourselves the hard questions on a regular basis, we have a better chance of closing the "Big One".  To narrow down the questions, simply ask this regularly:

• Why? - Why will they do this?
• Why not? - Why wouldn't they do this?
• Who? - Who is involved? Who needs to be involved, but isn't? Who shouldn't be involved but is? Who is on my side and who isn't?
• When? - When will they be able to do this? When is it critical that they act? When do they get budget?
• How much? - How much can they afford? How much are they losing id they do not act? How much ROI can they expect?
• What? - What needs to happen next? What happens after that?

This is a simple way to analyze a deal.  For a more detailed way to look at it, take a look at the Key Account Plan White Paper, or download a trial of the Account Plan 2008 software.

Good luck and good selling!

Steve