stephenrogan/account-strategy-builder

Account Strategy Builder

Develops a 90-day strategic plan for a key account. Moves the CSM from reactive account management ("what is happening now?") to proactive strategy ("what should happen next, and how do I make it happen?").

This is a thinking tool, not just a template. The questions it asks force strategic clarity. If you cannot answer them, that itself is diagnostic -- it tells you where you need to invest before you can plan.

How to Use

Provide everything you know about the account:

• Account basics: name, ARR, tenure, product tier, segment
• Current state: health, usage, engagement, support status
• Stakeholder landscape: who matters, relationship strength, coverage gaps
• Commercial context: renewal date, expansion potential, pricing history
• Risks: what could go wrong in the next 90 days
• Opportunities: what could go right
• Your goal: what does success look like for this account in 90 days?

Strategy Framework

1. Account Snapshot (Where You Are)

The plan starts with an honest assessment of current state. Not what you wish were true -- what is actually true.

| Dimension | Current State | Trajectory | Evidence | |-----------|-------------|-----------|---------| | Health | [Strong/Healthy/At Risk/Critical] | [Improving/Stable/Declining] | [Specific data or observations] | | Adoption | [Deep/Moderate/Shallow] | [Growing/Stable/Contracting] | [Feature count, user ratio, usage metrics] | | Relationship | [Strong/Adequate/Thin/Strained] | [Deepening/Stable/Cooling] | [Contact count, engagement recency, sentiment] | | Value realisation | [Clear/Assumed/Uncertain/Negative] | [Growing/Stable/Declining] | [ROI metrics, customer statements, success plan progress] | | Commercial | [Expansion likely/Renewal stable/At risk/Unknown] | [Opportunity/Neutral/Threat] | [Signals, conversations, commercial context] |

2. Strategic Objectives (Where You Want to Be in 90 Days)

Define 2-3 measurable objectives. Not activities ("schedule more calls") -- outcomes ("secure executive sponsor engagement and achieve 80% feature adoption breadth").

For each objective:

| Element | Definition | |---------|-----------| | Objective statement | What you want to achieve, stated specifically | | Why it matters | How this objective connects to retention, expansion, or relationship strength | | Success metric | How you will know you achieved it (must be measurable) | | Current baseline | Where you are today on this metric | | Target | Where you want to be in 90 days | | Obstacles | What could prevent you from achieving this | | Dependencies | What needs to happen (from the customer, from your team, from product) for this to work |

3. Stakeholder Strategy (Who You Need)

Based on the objectives, map what you need from each stakeholder:

| Contact | Current Role | Current Status | 90-Day Goal | Approach | |---------|-------------|---------------|-------------|---------| | [name] | Champion | Active, engaged | Maintain. Leverage for executive introduction | Continue regular cadence. Ask for introduction to CFO | | [name] | Economic Buyer | Gap -- not engaged in 60 days | Re-engage before renewal conversation | Approach through champion with value data | | [name] | Technical Lead | Active but frustrated (open ticket) | Resolve issue, rebuild trust | Prioritise escalation resolution. Personal follow-up | | [New contact needed] | Executive Sponsor | Does not exist | Establish executive relationship | Identify via champion or org chart. Executive outreach |

4. Action Plan (How You Get There)

For each objective, define the actions that will move you from baseline to target:

| Week | Action | Purpose | Owner | Success Indicator | |------|--------|---------|-------|------------------| | 1-2 | [Action] | [How this advances the objective] | [You or customer] | [How you know it worked] | | 3-4 | [Action] | [How this advances the objective] | [You or customer] | [How you know it worked] | | 5-8 | [Action] | [How this advances the objective] | [You or customer] | [How you know it worked] | | 9-12 | [Action] | [How this advances the objective] | [You or customer] | [How you know it worked] |

5. Risk Register

What could derail the plan and what you will do about it:

| Risk | Probability | Impact | Mitigation | Trigger for Escalation | |------|-----------|--------|-----------|----------------------| | Champion departure | [H/M/L] | [H/M/L] | Multi-thread now. Do not wait for the departure | Champion disengagement signals | | Product issue | [H/M/L] | [H/M/L] | Monitor support tickets. Escalate proactively if a P1/P2 opens | Ticket severity or volume increase | | Budget cut | [H/M/L] | [H/M/L] | Build ROI evidence before it is needed. Ensure the value case is in the CFO's hands | Customer mentions budget review or cost-cutting | | Competitor entry | [H/M/L] | [H/M/L] | Reinforce differentiation proactively. Address the most likely competitive gap | Any competitive signal |

6. Review Cadence

• Weekly: Quick self-check. Are actions on track? Any new risks or signals?
• Monthly: Full review against objectives. Are the metrics moving? Does the plan need adjustment?
• Day 90: Formal assessment. Did you hit the objectives? What worked? What did you learn? What is the next 90-day plan?

Output Format

## 90-Day Account Strategy: [Account Name]
**Period:** [Start Date] -- [End Date]
**Created by:** [CSM Name] | **Created:** [Date]

**Account:** [ARR] | [Health] | [Renewal: Date/Days] | [Segment]

### Account Snapshot
[Completed dimension table]

### Strategic Objectives
1. [Objective 1 with metrics and targets]
2. [Objective 2 with metrics and targets]
3. [Objective 3 with metrics and targets]

### Stakeholder Strategy
[Completed stakeholder table]

### Action Plan
[Completed week-by-week action table]

### Risk Register
[Completed risk table]

### Review Cadence
Next review: [Date]

Quality Gates

• Are the objectives measurable? "Improve the relationship" fails. "Move from single-threaded to 3 active contacts including an executive sponsor" succeeds
• Are the actions tied to objectives? Every action should advance a specific objective. If an action does not connect to an objective, it is either a missing objective or unnecessary activity
• Is the risk register honest? If you have no risks listed, you are not thinking hard enough. Every account has risks
• Does the stakeholder strategy address your coverage gaps? If you are single-threaded and the strategy does not address multi-threading, the plan has a structural vulnerability
• Could you explain this plan to your manager in 3 minutes? If the plan is too complex to summarise quickly, it is too complex to execute consistently

Principles

• A 90-day plan is a hypothesis, not a contract. Expect to adjust it. The value is in the structured thinking, not in perfect prediction
• Two objectives well-executed beat five objectives half-done. Limit scope. A CSM managing 40 accounts cannot run 5-objective strategic plans for all of them. Reserve this depth for your top 5-10 accounts
• The plan should be uncomfortable in at least one place. If every action is easy and every objective is guaranteed, the plan is not ambitious enough. Growth happens at the edge of your comfort zone
• Review is not optional. A plan that is not reviewed becomes a document that was written once and forgotten. The weekly self-check takes 5 minutes and keeps the plan alive