THE ULTI

MATE
ONE PAGE KEY
ACCOUNT PLAN
TEMPLATE
By W arwi
ck Br
own
AccountManagerTips
The Ultimate One Page Key Account Plan Template
A key account plan is essential to identify opportunities,
improve client relationships, grow revenue, create value
and reduce risk. But who’s got time for that?
A key account plan is your compass. Your north star. It’s
the map that shows where your client is today, where they
want to be tomorrow – and how you’re going to get there.
But the reality is most of us are too lost in the daily grind to
give account planning the attention it deserves.
Until now.
Because I know you’re short on time, how does a one page
account plan sound? One that’s designed for maximum
impact but doesn’t take over your entire life. Pretty good,
right?
Following this 7-step key account planning process should
take no more than 2 hours to prepare and around an hour
a month to maintain.
What is key account
planning?
Above all, key account planning is the process by which
you:
l  earn about your clients’ objectives;
 decide the actions that help achieve them;
 uncover potential risks to retention;
 opportunities to drive additional revenue.
In addition, they set your priorities, get alignment with
stakeholders, improve communication and lots more stu .
Account Manager Tips
Everything should be made as simple as
possible, but not simpler.
ALBERT EINSTEIN
A few things before you
start
The best time to start your key account planning is at the
beginning of the year. Your clients are fresh from the
holidays and full of resolutions to make this year di erent.
So strike while the iron’s hot and the motivation to change
is high.
The second best time to start is now.
Things to remember:
J  ust write down what you know today. Don’t worry
if there are gaps, you’ll fill them in over time.
 Keep it simple. You only need a couple of solid
objectives for your plan, not a shopping list.
 Set targets using KPI’s that are relevant to your
client, not to you.
 The secret to a successful one page key account
plan is to keep it at one page. Be brief and be
ruthless. Only go a er the activities with the highest
return on investment.
The Ultimate One Page Key Account Plan Template

Are you thinking, “I know this stu so why bother?”

Key account planning True, I get it.

process
However, the summary isn’t for you. It’s for anyone else
1. Overview who’s involved with your plan that may not be as close to
the client as you are.
Just like it sounds, you’ll write down the important
information about your client like:
Keep it updated as things change or new information is
available.
  lient name.
C
 Main contact.
Summary overview example:
 Client since.
 Relationship strength.
 Period of the plan. “ABC Company develops packaging for the
 Plan last reviewed. pharmaceutical industry and has been a client since 2008.
 Summary overview.

It’s mostly self explanatory, however let me highlight a

They are publicly listed company and with disappointing
couple of things. earnings the past two years have recently implemented an
ambitious plan to trim $20m from indirect costs.

Relationship strength. I like to include a rating just to

remind myself if my partnership with my client is solid or
on shaky ground. Choose your own values (e.g. bad, good,
awesome).
The focus is primarily on cost avoidance and we have
already partnered with them on several projects delivering
savings in excess of $3m in the last 12 months.

This year’s account plan builds on those achievements

The period of the plan. This is important. You may jump to
with forecast savings of $5m. Miriam Davis is the
the conclusion that it’s annual. It doesn’t have to be. I
Procurement Director and also executive sponsor of the
could be a quarterly or half yearly. It o en makes sense to
plan."
tie your account plan with your business review cycle.

Summary overview. Write a few sentences about your plan Simple can be harder than complex: You
and any relevant client information. For instance: have to work hard to get your thinking
clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it
t  heir industry;
in the end because once you get there,
 any major news;
 buying process; you can move mountains
 overall strength of the relationship;
 primary objective. Steve Jobs

Account Manager Tips

The Ultimate One Page Key Account Plan Template

The art of being wise is knowing what to

2. Objectives overlook.
The fastest way to find out what your client wants to
achieve is to ask. Schedule a 30-minute call with your
William James
point of contact and ask:

1. What do they want to achieve in the next 12 4. Action Plan

months?
You’re half way there! You know the problem and the
2. What challenges are they facing today? 
solution. That’s the toughest part. Now you have to decide
3. How have they tried to solve them (what’s working
how you’ll make it happen.
and what isn’t)?
4. How will they measure success at the end of the
year? List all the steps you need to take to, who needs to do
them and by when. If you don’t have names don’t worry.
Those four questions alone will reveal some juicy Just put a placeholder and assign owners as you find
opportunities worth including in your key account plan. If them. You’ll validate all this with your point of contact
they don’t, then maybe your contact isn’t the right contact anyway.
a er all and you should find someone else to talk to.

Why do you need to do this?

If you want to go deeper, here’s 45 client questions you can
ask.
Because even simple tasks can turn into nightmares. If you
identify all the tasks needed to get the results you want,
3. Solution you’ll stay on track, anticipate issues and be able to swi ly
change course if things go wrong.
Now you know what your client wants to achieve, it’s time
to make a list of potential solutions. Ask yourself:
This is a one-page key account plan, so be brief.

  ow do your products and services support your

H
client’s objectives? Just list the primary tasks or milestones. If there’s lots of
 Is your client making the best use of them? If not, moving parts, consider adding a project plan to capture all
why not? the sub-tasks too.
 What else do you o er that could make an impact?
 What would be the return on investment for your Have you heard the expression, “In God we trust, all others
client? bring data”?
 Are there any objections (e.g. to expensive)?
 Is there any other advice can you give your client on
how to achieve their goals?

Account Manager Tips

The Ultimate One Page Key Account Plan Template

Here’s four of the best ways to measure success that will Is it worth the pain of change? Will it inspire action? How
show an impact you can quantify with data. Choose those do you know?
that are most important to your client.
Action plan example:
  ost avoidance. How can you improve results
C
without spending more. Objective:
 Cost reduction. How can you achieve the same
result but spend less.
Reduce travel and entertainment expenses by 20%
 Satisfaction. How can you improve quality or user
experience?
 E iciency. How can you reduce the time or steps Actions:
involved?
  educe domestic meal allowance for business
R
💡 TIP: Trello is a free project management tool that helps
travel from $50 down to $30
you stay on top of the tasks associated with your key
 Write dra amendment to meal allowance policy.
account plan. I’ve set up a public Getting Things Done
 Publish updated policy to the HR intranet.
(GTD) Board you can copy if you need a project plan.
 Send email to all employees to notify them of the
change.

Outcome:

 Projected savings of $175k annually.

An easy way to do this is with Kurt Lewin’s Force Field

Analysis, based on Newton’s law of gravity that for every
action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. In other
words, the benefits of taking action have to outweigh the
risks of doing nothing.
Trello is great when key account plans turn into projects

So from your plan, next to each action create two columns:

5. Change Management 1. Why change is good

Build it and they will come. I wish. 2. Why change is bad

Then under each write down all the positive and negative
Before you commit to an action, think about how likely consequences of your action. Assign a strength score and
your plan is to succeed. You can’t do this by yourself. You’ll total them up.
need the support of many other stakeholders.

Account Manager Tips

The Ultimate One Page Key Account Plan Template
Subtract the change is good score from the change is bad
score.
If it’s greater than zero, your account plan has a good
chance of success. If it’s zero or less, your plan is likely to
fail.
Force field analysis reveals your key account plan’s chance of success.
A er that, you may find you have an objective that is
impossible to get o the ground in it’s current form. Try
taking a di erent path and find new actions that increase
the number of reasons why change is good.
Or you may just need to put it in the too hard basket and
come back to it later.
Account Manager Tips
6. Implementation
OK, so this is the exciting part. It’s time to bring your key
account plan to life and make it a reality.
Presenting your final plan to your client and ask them to
agree to:
  he objectives, measurement and actions on your
T
plan;
 The task owners, time frames and due dates;
 The format of the plan (e.g. Excel, Word, Project
management so ware);
 How it will be shared (e.g, is it in the cloud or sent
as attachments);
 How o en it will be updated.
If you’re client’s happy and good to go, get it in writing.
Why?
ACCOUNTABILITY.
If your client agrees in writing, they’ll be that much more
committed to your key account plan and motivated to get
results.
A simple email will do.
Agreement email example:
“Please find attached our account plan for this quarter. 
Together we’ve developed a robust set of objectives which
I’m confident will deliver real value to your business.
I’m excited by these opportunities and delighted to be
working with you on making them happen.
Please reply confirming the plan meets with your approval
and I’ll get started right away!”
The Ultimate One Page Key Account Plan Template

Your key account plan doesn’t have to be perfect. Start

7. Review with a minimum viable plan and fine tune as you go.
Remember the most important part: have fun! You’re
How o en will you review the overall plan? Things change changing your clients’ world for the better.
and you’ll need to adjust it over time as you learn new
information or new opportunities emerge. Try this
schedule:

  i-weekly. Email status update on current activities

B Warwick Brown
on your account plan. Founder
 Monthly. 30-minute account plan update call to Account Manager Tips
your client (you may want to do this more o en if
you have a lot of objectives).
 Quarterly.  1-hour progress report to your client. Great acts are made up of small deeds
Include success to date, roadblocks, any
unexpected events, new opportunities and Lao Tzu
decisions needed to move the plan forward.

One Page Key Account Plan

Template Do You Want to
In the next pages you'll find the templates and working
Improve Revenue
examples. You can also  download them in Word versions if and Retention?
you prefer.  
Account Manager Tips helps
Just remember the 7-step process and you've got this: organisations deliver sustainable
account growth by empowering
1. Account Overview. Define all the important account managers with the tools
information about your client relevant to your
and mindset to succeed. Let's talk.
account plan.
2. Objectives. What does your client want to achieve
and how will success be measured? BOOK A DISCOVERY CALL
3. Solution. Identify the potential solutions that
support your clients’ objectives.
4. Action plan. Decide a course of action and list the
steps needed to achieve your goals.
5. Change management. Evaluate the chances of
success through Force Field Analysis.
6. Implementation. Agree actions, assign owners and
due dates.
7. Review. Regularly review and adjust your plan to
ensure you stay on track.

Account Manager Tips

 ONE PAGE ACCOUNT PLANNING TEMPLATE

ACCOUNT OVERVIEW
Client name Account Manager Tips Main contact Warwick Brown
Client since 2016 Relationship strength Excellent
Period of the plan Q3/2019 Plan last reviewed 21 April 2019
Summary overview Account Manager Tips develops packaging for the pharmaceutical industry and has been a client since 2008.
They are publicly listed company and with disappointing earnings the past two years have recently implemented
an ambitious plan to trim $20m from indirect costs. The focus is primarily on cost avoidance and we have
already partnered with them on several projects delivering savings in excess of $3m in the last 12 months. This
year's account plan builds on those achievements with forecast savings of $5m. Warwick Brown is the
Procurement Director and also executive sponsor of the plan.

OBJECTIVES
Priorities Challenges Key Performance Indicators Solutions offered
Reduce transaction  Low user adoption of  Transaction fees reduced  Monthly webinar-based training series
fee costs online channels by 20% (recorded for play back at any time)
 Large community of road  Online adoption increased promoting ease of use of online channels
warriors by 40% and lower costs.
 Low satisfaction with  Implement surveys to be sent after each
online channels. online booking to capture feedback.

Notes:

ACTION PLAN
Objective Actions Result Due Who Completed

Reduce fees Monthly webinars  Trained 300+ end users 01 April Warwick 30 June
between APR-JUN 2019. Brown
Online adoption increased
from 29% to 72%

User experience Implement CSAT surveys  Low response rate of 01 April Warwick Ongoing
1.5% Brown
 Feedback primarily on
accuracy of cost centre
information and approver

Campaign to improve survey  Response rates increased 01 July Rachel 30 September

response rate. from 1.5% to 26% Green
 Profile and billing details
continue to be primary
 Email communication
concern.
campaign to all users to
 UX feedback has led to
encourage participation.
updated navigation,
 Quarterly executive
removal of interstitials and
summary published on
improved search results.
Account Manager Tips
intranet of results and
actions taken.
Notes:

© 2018 ACCOUNT MANAGER TIPS LTD 5

 ONE PAGE ACCOUNT PLANNING TEMPLATE

ACCOUNT OVERVIEW
Client name Main contact
Client since Relationship strength
Period of the plan Plan last reviewed
Summary overview

OBJECTIVES
Priorities Challenges Key Performance Indicators Solutions offered

Notes:

ACTION PLAN
Objective Actions Result Due Who Completed

Notes:

CHECKLIST
 Force field analysis complete for each objective in the action plan
 Completed 30-minute discovery call with client
 Client has agreed to action plan
 Monthly task scheduled to review action plans (to do, doing, done)
 Bi-weekly. Email status update on current activities on your account plan.
 Monthly. Schedule 30-minute account plan update call to your client (you may want to do this more often if you have a lot of
objectives).
 Quarterly. 1-hour progress report to your client. Include success to date, roadblocks, any unexpected events, new
opportunities and decisions needed to move the plan forward.

© 2018 ACCOUNT MANAGER TIPS LTD 6

 ONE PAGE ACCOUNT PLANNING TEMPLATE

FORCE FIELD ANALYSIS

Why change is good Score Action Why change is bad Score
Customers want new 4 Upgrade factory with Loss of staff overtime 3
products new manufacturing
equipment
Improved production 2 Staff fearful of new 3
speed technology

Reduced training time 3 Impact on environment 1

Low maintenance 2 Cost 2

costs

Disruption 1

TOTAL 11 TOTAL 10

Why change is good Score Idea Why change is bad Score

TOTAL TOTAL

Why change is good Score Idea Why change is bad Score

TOTAL TOTAL

© 2018 ACCOUNT MANAGER TIPS LTD 7