Account Plan Overview

** Account GPT is now in Beta featuring AI assistance. Contact your CS Manager to learn more! **

Account Plan Overview:

ClosePlan Account Plan creates a common language across your team with Account Plans that adapt to your strategic approach to account planning. 

• Multiple Account Plans can be used to win, maintain and grow existing and new Accounts

• With Account Plan, Sales Leaders can quickly define and understand important details about new or existing Accounts, including insights into their decision-making process, competitors in the space, Initiatives, available market share and the overall strategic approach your team will take

Account Plans have a minimum 2 default tabs and 4 optional tabs:

Open

Default Tabs:

• Scorecard 

• Whitespace

Optional Tabs that can be enabled/disabled from ClosePlan Admin Manager:

• Initiatives

• Team Members

• Actions

• Files

Scorecard tab - Contains the Account Plan Scorecard workspace.

• Account Plan Scorecards help Sales to qualify and build strategic approaches to entire Accounts in an intuitive way.

• Account Plan Scorecard gives sales leaders quick visibility into Account health, so that conversations and forecasts are aligned, and surprises are eliminated.

• Collaborative team scoring improves knowledge and understanding of the Account

• Fully customize the weight of scoring questions in the Account Plan Scorecard

• Quickly identify your blind spots to ensure deep understanding of the entire Account

Whitespace tab - Contains the Whitespace Map workspace

• The Whitespace Map shows the Products and Metrics that define your relationship with your customer Accounts.

• Whitespace Product Lines show where your products and services are deployed in your customer ecosystems

• Whitespace shows where your sales teams have open opportunities to sell, and where they are in competition.

• Identify and define customer spend you aren't receiving.

• Whitespace Metrics measure key attributes of your Account engagement and potential

Initiatives tab - Displays Initiatives associated with the Account Plan

• Add Initiatives

• Edit Initiatives

• Set Timing

• Target Value

• Description

• Status

Team Members tab - The list of Users from your Organization that are assigned to the Account and their Role, e.g. Account Executive, Project Manager

• Values for the Team Member Role picklist are set in Salesforce on the CP: AP Team Member Object

Actions - Generally, the Actions tab displays a list of all Actions (tasks) associated with this Account Plan.

Files - Generally, the File tab displays a list of all Files associated with this Account Plan.

Accessing Account Plan

Accessing Account Plans is easy through the Account Plan tab on your Salesforce Account page.

Open

Account Plan Main Page

Main Page Overview

Items

1. View Account Plans

    

2. New - Create a new Account Plan

   1. Next to New button is an arrow button allowing you to Manage Account’s Business Units button.
      For further information, please see Manage Account Business Units section.

       

3. Search - Search all Account Plans

4. Fullscreen Button - Expands the Account Plan Main Page View

5. Expand or collapse all nested Account Plans (Shows ‘Follow up’ Account Plans from the past or future)

6. Name - Name of Account Plan

7. Template - Template Name and version

8. Period - Time Period covered by the Account Plan

9. Score - % score of the Account Plan Scorecard

10. Whitespace - Displays the number of Business Units and associated Opportunities

11. Status - Completed or Open

12. Responsible User - Icon of the User that created the Account Plan or displays Icon of the User who is responsible for the Account Plan. Displays the name of the user on hover over

13. > - Indicates that Past or Future Account Plans are present and are nested under the Account Plan Name

    1. Account Plan has a Past or Future nested Account Plan - Not expanded

    2. Expanded to show additional related Account Plan

14. Status Icons

15. Indicates Primary Account Plan is present in nested list

16. Primary Account Plan - Indicates that this is the Primary Account Plan. Accounts can have only one Primary Account Plan

17. Edit information about an Account Plan, Create a Follow-up Account Plan or Delete an Account Plan

Manage Account’s Business Units

Manage Account’s Business Units creates and manages a list of Business Units for the Account.

When creating the first Account Plan, you have options to:

1. Import previously created Business Units when an Account Plan is created.

• If Account Business Units are created in the ClosePlan Admin > Business Units Default section before the first Account Plan is created, those created Business Units will be available for import in the Account Plan at the time of creation.

   

• Example of Business Units available for import when creating a new Account Plan.

  • In this example, the Business Units were created in the ClosePlan Admin tab before the creation of the Account Plan.

2. Create Business Units after an Account Plan is created.

• If there are no defined Account Business Units or you choose not to import default Business Units found under Plan Structure, then the Business Units can be created directly from the Account Plan > Whitespace page

Note: If Business Units were created in the ClosePlan Admin tab and already imported, then those Business Units would not reappear for import, they would already be part of the Account Plan.

• Business Units can be created directly in existing Account Plans:

How to create Business Units:

• Click the down arrow and then Manage Account’s Business Units > click Add Unit

• For Type select Unit or Group

  • Unit - will create a single business unit

  • Group - will create a group into which can be associated another single units

• Enter the Name, Description if need and select Add to save the record or Add&New to save it and create a new one

• to assign the unit to an existing group, select the desired group from the Parent

Result:

How to Edit / Delete a Business unit

• Navigate to Manage Account’s Business Units

• Hover over the group or unit

  • + add a new Business Unit into the group

  • Edit the name

  • Delete

• All changes will be propagated into new Account Plans.

• Existing Account Plans will not be changed except for name changes, which will propagate to existing Account Plans.

Create a Follow-up Plan

A Follow-up Account plan is a duplicate of the selected Account Plan and is created for the upcoming period (Inline with the time period selected in the existing Account Plan.)

A User can create a full copy of the Account Plan with Scorecard answers and Whitespace information, or may choose to create a copy without this information under Follow-up Options.

To Create a Follow-Up Account Plan, click on Create Follow-up

• In the Sidebar, enter the new information for the new Account Plan

• Update the Account Plan Name if needed

• The Timeframe, Start Date and End Date will auto-populate

• Clone Scorecard and Clone Whitespace are selected by default

Result:

• The Follow-Up Account Plan is now nested under the current Account Plan

See the general accessibility description here.

Inside the Account Plan

Scorecard Layout & Navigation

The following describes the relevant components and related navigation of Account Plan Scorecard. Detailed descriptions of functions are described below.

Example of an Account Plan Scorecard with unanswered questions:

Details of an Account Plan Scorecard shown with questions answered:

1. Score Summary Bar - Displays the overall score % and/or points of the Scorecard and also the score % and/or points of individual Categories

2. View Dashboard Button - Brings you to the Dashboards

3. Collapse / Expand All - Collapses or expands all categories

4. Export - Export the Account Plan

5. Toggle Full-Screen mode - Toggles to and from full screen view

6. Back - Returns to Account Plan List on the Account page

7. Unanswered Question - To provide an answer, click on the question 

8. Answered Question - Answer provided and score indicated

9. Added Actions - Salesforce Tasks added to a question

10. Notes - Indicates that a note has been added to the question

11. Annexes - Links that provide reference information for the question

12. Category Header - Can be collapsed and expanded. The percentage and/or point score is displayed on the right side.

13. Text Question - Users can enter plain text to respond to the question.

14. Rich Text Question - Users can enter formatted text to respond to the question. (In this example a image is pasted as well)

15. Scoring Question - Users can select a numeric score value within a specified range.

16. Yes/No Question - Indicates Yes/No answer and related score

17. Yes/No Question with text answer - Indicates Yes/No answer and optional plain text answer

18. Yes/No Question with single select option - Indicates a Yes/No answer with an option to select only one available answer

19. Yes/No Question with multi select option - Indicates a Yes/No answer with an option to select multiple available answers

20. Answers Question with single select option - Answered with only one selection.

21. Answers Question with multi select option - Answered with multiple selections.

22. Account Field Question - This question type enables a connection to one or more fields on the Account Object.

23. Account Field question with Text Answer - This question type enables a connection to one or more fields on the Account Object, and also a text answer.

Working with Scorecard Questions

Account Plan Scorecards consist of individual questions that may be accompanied by additional information such as Help Text. These questions are presented in Question Mode.

There are different types of questions with scores based on the selected answers. Values are set when questions are added to the Template.

Question Mode Window

The Question Mode window allows Users to answer questions and contains the following sections:

• Answer - Used to answer the questions, provide predefined answers or score.

• Notes - Space for additional User notes.

• Help - Displays help text. (Help text is added when creating the template and can include links to external content)

• Actions - Displays the Salesforce Tasks that have been created by Users.

• Add Task Button - Used to add a Salesforce Tasks to the question.

Account Plan Scorecard Question Types

Account Plan Scorecards are based on Templates, consisting of various question types.

The following question types are available:

• Text

• Rich Text

• Scoring

• Yes-No 

• Yes-No with Answers

• Answers

  • Single Select

  • Multi-Select

• Field

• Contact Tracking

Each Question Type provides a different behavior as described below:

Text

Text questions provide a text answer only. Answers are entered as plain text. 

Text answers are scored with a predefined score value if an answer is provided. If no answer is provided the value is 0 points.

• Click on the Question to open the question mode window.

• Enter your answer in the text box area and Save.

Rich Text

Rich Text questions behave like Text questions with the added ability to format in Rich Text.

Rich Text answers are scored with a predefined score value if an answer is provided. If no answer is provided the value is 0 points.

• Click on the question to open the modal.

• Enter your answer in the text box area, format and Save

Scoring

Unlike other types of questions where the answer score is predefined, Scoring questions are based on the User’s subjective decisions under min/max limit. 

• Click on the Scoring question

• Change the number based value by using the up/down arrows and Save           

Yes / No

Yes / No questions are designed to provide simple Yes or No answers to the related question. Yes / No questions also have an optional text field for additional context.

If Yes is selected, the predefined score will be added to the overall score, otherwise the value will be zero.

• Click on the Question name

• Click directly on the Yes or No

• Add text as needed and Save

Note: To reset the question as unanswered, click the X button between Yes and No and delete any entered text.

Yes / No with Answers

Yes / No with Answers permit a Yes or No answer with additional information. If Yes is selected, you will be prompted to select an answer from a created list. If No is selected, the answer list will be disabled and will not appear. The score is added to the overall total if the question is answered Yes, and an answer is selected from the list.

• Multi-select

  • One or more answers may be selected

• Single-select

  • Only one answer may be selected

• Click on the Question Name 

• Click directly on the Yes or No button

• For Yes, select the preferred answers from the list in the Answers panel and Save.

Note: To reset the question as unanswered, click the X button between Yes and No and deselect ant

Answers

Answers questions have predefined answers. The answers are scored and added to the overall score.

Selected Answer questions work in one of two modes:

• Multi-select

  • One or more answers may be selected

• Single-select

  • Only one answer may be selected

• Click on the Question

• Select your answer and Save.

Single select:

Multi select

Field

Field questions allow Users to select answers from predefined fields propagated from the Account.

Field questions can also have an optional text field for additional context.

• Click on the Question Name

• Select the answer from the field/fields

• Add text as needed if the option is available

• Save

Contact Tracking

Contact Tracking Questions allow Users to select (or create) Salesforce Contacts that are important to your Account Plan identified by attributes such as Role, Decision Status, Support Status, etc. (Example: Champion)

1. Search for existing Contacts or create a new Contact

2. Search in Current Account or All Accounts

3. Sort by Last Name or First Name

4. Contacts available to select

Answered Question:

Taking Notes

• To add a note, click the Question name and navigate to Notes tab.

• Add or edit notes as necessary and Save.

Help for Questions

Access Help content for further information provided by your company settings. If there is no Help tab, Help was not provided or is not enabled. 

• Click on the Question and go to the Help tab. 

Account Plan Actions (Salesforce Tasks)

Account Plan questions have Actions (Salesforce Tasks) which can be created by Users.    

Creating a Salesforce Task

• Click on the Question to which you would like to add the Task

• Click the Add Task button

• Fill in the appropriate fields in the Task detail side panel and click Save.

• The newly created task will appear in the Actions list and in the Account Plan layout.

• From these 2 places you can view / edit / delete tasks.           

Viewing / Editing / Deleting Tasks

• Open Tasks are displayed directly in Question modal.

• Users can view Tasks in the Actions section by clicking on the Question Name to open the Question Modal.

• To view / edit a single Task detail or delete the task, click on the task subject line or the menu button on the right.

• To complete the Task, open the Question and tick the box next to the Task

 Result of completed task:

The status of a Task can be changed in the Sidebar

Account GPT Open AI Assistance (Beta Program - August 2023)

• People.ai's AI-powered Account Plan enhancement enables your go-to-market team, creating strategic Account Plans in seconds. 

• Account GPT auto-completes sections of your Account Plan with information that is publicly available on the internet through the use of generative AI and large languages models. 

• By removing menial tasks and manual data entry, your team can focus on strategic, revenue-generative activities. 

Account GPT is available for select Question Types in Account Plans

• Rich Text Questions

• Free Text Questions

If Account GPT is enabled in your Organization and your Admin has created AI Assisted questions, you will see a pop up when you open an Account Plan.

Answering All Account GPT enabled Questions

By clicking the ‘Generate AI Responses’ in the modal, all questions with Account GPT ‘AI Responses’ activated will be updated with information provided by Account GPT.

Note: By closing the modal without clicking ‘Generating AI Responses’, Users have the option to generate AI responses in individual questions.

Additionally, there is a 'Generate AI Responses' button at the top of the Account Plan.

Answering Individual Questions with Account GPT

Open a Scorecard Question and look for the Account GPT option on the right side of the modal

In this example, the Account GPT was prompted “Highlight emerging trends and related news in European Banking”

Result:

• Refresh AI Answer - Will reprocess the AI generated answer.

• Accept and Save - accepts the Account GPT answer and includes it in the Scorecard

Result:

To make your answers more readable, the suggested answer can be edited:

Dashboard

Access the Dashboard by clicking the Dashboard button in the top right of the Account Plan Scorecard

• The Dashboard shows 4 panels that give a quick overview of information and trends related to the Account Plan

• Current Scoring Propensity

  • A radar chart that shows the score % in each Category

• Overall Trending

  • The overall trend of the Account Plan

• Trending by Category

  • The trend separated according to Categories

• Activity by User

  • The activity by each User involved in the Account Plan as well as the # of Users

Whitespace Layout and Navigation

The following describes the relevant components and related navigation of Account Plan Whitespace. Detailed descriptions of functions are described below.

Whitespace Layout with example Template deployed:

Whitespace Layout Items

1. Detailed View - Choose a Detailed or Base View.

2. Manage / Add Units

   1. Manage Units - Rename or reorder existing Whitespace Account Plan Units

   2. Add Unit - Opens the Whitespace Map New Item modal to add new Unit
      (For more information see Add Business Units in a Deployed Template)

3. Export - Exports Account Plan Summary
   (For more information, see Account Plan Export Wizard)

4. Toggle Full-Screen mode - Toggles to and from full screen view.

5. Back - Returns to Account Plan List

6. Product Lines - Product Lines are created in the Template and their status is defined in the Account Plan

7. Business Unit - Business Units are the individual regions or departments that define the Account

   1. Added individually from the ‘Add Item’ button in Whitespace work area as shown here

      1. Business Units can also be added when an Account Plan is created individually or by using a Default List created in the ClosePlan admin.

   2. Business Units can be collapsed and expanded by clicking the 2 arrows

8. Business Unit Components - Indicates the status of the Product Line relative to the Business Unit

   1. Status: Open, Deployed, Competition, Competitor

   2. Initiatives

   3. Opportunities

   4. Competitors
      * See Business Unit Components section for more information

9. Metrics - Metrics are created in the Template and defined in the individual cells of the Account plan.

10. Relationship Map Stakeholder Count - Shows the number of Stakeholders in the Business Unit’s Relationship Map. If no value is present, the Unit does not have a dedicated Relationship Map.

Default Business Units

Default Business Units are a list of Business Units created in the ClosePlan Admin section: Business Units Default

The Default Business Unit List is a list of Business Units that can be deployed to a Account Plan.

Create Default Business Units List under the ClosePlan Admin tab

• Go to the ClosePlan Admin tab > Business Units Default

• Click ‘+ Add’ button

In the pop up Modal, select the Type of Business Unit you want

• Type - Select the type of Unit

  • Group - Groups contain Units (e.g. Group = North America)

  • Unit - A Unit can stand alone or be part of a group (e.g. Canada can be part of the group North America)

• Name - Add the Name of the Business Unit

• Description - Add an optional Description

• Select Add to add the Unit, Select Add & New to continue adding more Groups and Units

Example:

• In the above example, North America is the Group, Canada, USA and Mexico are the Items.

Add Business Units to an Account Plan

Business Units can be added:

• When a New Account Plan is deployed

• To an existing Account Plan

Add Business Units when deploying a new Account Plan Template

If no Business Units have been deployed to the Account, Account Business Units from the Default Business Units List can be added when deploying a new Account Plan.

To deploy a new Account Plan, go to the Account and click on New

In the modal, the section Plan Structure will display the Default Business Units List. These are Account Plan Business Units that are available to select.

• Activate Import Default Units to import your selection

  • You may choose to import all or only some of the Groups and Units defined in your Default Business Units for Account Plans List by checking or unchecking the boxes.

  • Once Business Units have been added to an Account Plan, they will be available for all future Account Plans

  • Undeployed Business Units from the Business Units for Account Plans List will still be available for deployment when creating a new Account Plan

Add Business Units in a Deployed Template

1. Manage Units - Rename or reorder existing Whitespace Account Plan Units

   1. Note: The ‘Add Unit’ button in the Manage Account Plan Units modal will open the Whitespace Map New Item modal. (See 'b. Add Unit' below)

2. The Down Arrow button to show ‘Add Unit’ option

Manage Units

Clicking on ‘Manage Units’ allows you to rename or reorder existing Whitespace Account Plan Units

If No Whitespace Items are defined, the modal will be empty.

The ‘Add Unit’ button will open the Whitespace Map New Item Modal - See ‘Add Unit’ below

Add Unit

A sidebar modal will open giving 3 options:

1. New Business Unit

2. Select from Account’s Business Units

3. New Group

New Business Unit

Creates a new unit associated with the Account's Business Unit.

• Parent - Units can belong to Parent Groups.

  • Example: A New Business Unit might be placed under the EMEA or North America Parent Groups
    
    

• Name - Assign the name of the Business Unit

• Description - Optional Description

• Product Lines - Product Lines are assigned during Template creation.

  • Enter the status of each Product Line as it relates to the Business Unit

    • Open - This space is open for competition

    • Deployed - Your Product or Service is deployed to this Business Unit

    • Competitive - You are in competition for this Product Line in this Business Unit

    • Competitor - Your competitor has provided this Product or Service

• Metrics - Metrics are assigned during Template creation.

  • Enter the required information based on the Metrics

• Create New Map - Create a New Relationship Map dedicated to this Business Unit for this Account Plan. This will open a new tab to create the Map.

• Link Account Map - Link an existing Account Map to this Business Unit for this Account Plan

• Save

Select from Account’s Business Units

Allows you to select from existing Account Business Units

• Select an existing Account Business Unit

  • If the unit is subordinate to a group, the group will also be added.

New Group

• Creates a new Group
  
  

• Create a New Group under which a Business Unit can be then created and added.

Add Unit

Follows the same information above.

Whitespace: Create Product Lines

Product Lines are the goods and services that are being sold. Product Lines are part of the Template and are added during the creation of a Template and can also be added/edited when creating new Template versions.

Create a Product Line Item

Go to ClosePlan Admin tab > Custom Attributes

• Click on New

In the Modal:

• Object: Whitespace

• Type: Product Line

• Field Type: Picklist

• Name: Enter the Name of Product Line Item

• Field API Name: This Field will auto-populate

• Fully Qualified API Name: This Field will auto-populate

• Description: Enter Description of the Product Line Item.

• Save

Product Lines can be deployed to Account Plan Templates

Add a Product Line to an Account Plan Template

• Go to ClosePlan Admin tab > Templates > Whitespace

  • Template must be in ‘Draft mode’ to edit.

• Open the Whitespace Tab

• Click on the '+' button next to the Product Line item to add it to the Selected Product Lines list.

• Items in this list will appear as Product Lines in the Template.

Edit Product Line Status

Product Line status and color options can be edited.

Standard values:

• Open Deployed

• Competitive

• Competitor

To Edit Product Line Status:

Go to ClosePlan Admin > Custom Attributes > Change Picklist Values

In the modal, click on Edit and make changes > Save

In this example, the new Label value ‘Empty’ replaces the standard value ‘Open’

• Additional values can be added by clicking the ‘+ Add Value’ button

• The list can be reordered by dragging rows using the drag bars on the left.

• API Name: Best practice is to leave API values unchanged. Please see additional notes below.

• Optional Description Text can be changed.

• Default Value can be changed.

• Color can be changed from the drop down selection.

• Values can be deleted using the bin icon on the right.

• The Close button will close the modal but will NOT save work.

Note on API Labels

Best practice is to leave the API labels unchanged even if the Label value is changed. The Label is what the User will see.

If the API label must change, the values of older selections will be affected. If updated values are needed in these places, the values must be replaced in Salesforce > Set Up > Home > Quickfind: Picklist Value Sets > CP: Product Line Status

Select ‘Del’ next to the value and replace it with the new value and color choice

If Product Line Status values were deleted in the Change Picklist Values modal, those values will appear in the Picklist Values Set Inactive List and can be updated.

Additional Information on editing and changing Picklist Value Sets can be found here: Salesforce: Add or Edit Picklist Values

Whitespace Items

Whitespace Items are the columns in the Whitespace Map. These Items represent the structure of the Whitespace Map. Whitespace Items generally represent the regions or divisions of the target company into which good and services are being sold.

Whitespace Items can be grouped (e.g. Group = North America, Items = Canada, USA, Mexico)

Whitespace Cells

Whitespace Cells are the intersection of Product Lines on the left side and Whitespace Items across the top.

Each Cell represents information about the Account Potential and current business engagement.

Detailed View:

Items in the cell are limited to 5 max items that represent:

1. Status - Open, Deployed, Competitive, Competitor

2. Initiatives - Amount of Initiatives assigned to this cell, as well as number of Initiatives (#)

3. Opportunities - Amount of Opportunities assigned to this cell, as well as number of Opportunities (#)

4. Competitors - Names of companies competing for business in the cell

5. Market Share - % of Market Share owned

Base View: Information is displayed slightly differently in the Base View

Items in the cell are limited to 5 max items that represent:

1. Status - Open, Deployed, Competitive, Competitor

2. Initiatives - Number of Initiatives assigned to this cell

3. Opportunities - Number of Opportunities assigned to this cell

4. Competitors - Number of other companies competing for business in the cell

5. Market Share - Closed Won Opportunities

Whitespace Cell Modal

Click on the Whitespace Cell to open the Whitespace Cell Modal

1. Name of the Cell - Name of the Cell to which the Modal refers

   1. Whitespace Item = North America

   2. Product Line = Product2

2. Potential Amount - The total potential amount of business represented by this Cell

   1. This information is pulled from the total of Initiatives in this Cell in the ‘Initiatives’ Section (8)

3. Open Amount - Amount of currently open Opportunities

   1. This information is pulled from the Open Opportunities in this Cell entered in the ‘Opportunities’ Section (9)

4. Won Amount - Amount of current Closed/Won Opportunities

   1. This information is pulled from Closed/Won Opportunities entered in the ‘Opportunities’ Section (9)

5. Lost Amount - Amount of current Closed/Lost Opportunities

   1. This information is pulled from Closed/Lost Opportunities entered in the ‘Opportunities’ Section (9)

6. Market Share - Bar representing the total amount of business potential represented in this Cell, indicating the total Closed/Won amount of this potential.

   1. This information is pulled from the ‘Available Market’ section (11)

7. Status - Current Status of this cell

   1. (e.g. Open, Products are already Deployed, an Opportunity exists, a Competitor currently owns this business, Not a Focus for current strategy)

8. Initiatives - Shows the total amount of future Initiatives in this Cell

9. Opportunities - List of Opportunities that represent business engagement in this cell.

   1. Opportunities are selected from a drop down list and may be Open, Closed/Won or Closed/Lost

10. Competitors - List of competing companies vying for the business represented in this cell.

    1. Competitors can be entered from the Competitors tab in Salesforce or in the modal.

11. Available market - Represents the Total Market Value, ‘Our Share’ of that Total Market Value, and the Competitor Share.

Metrics

Metrics are the indicators used to determine an Account’s current business engagement, potential growth, success and other key indicators in various aspects.

• Each Metric cell is editable directly in the Whitespace Map.

  • Double click directly on the Metric value to edit.

• The totals from all Business Unit Metrics are displayed to the left of the Metric Cells in the Total columns.

• Metrics are added when creating or editing new versions of the Template.

Create a Metrics Item

Go to ClosePlan Admin tab > Custom Attributes

• Click on New

In the Modal:

• Object: Whitespace

• Type: Metric

• Field Type: Number

• Name: Enter the Name of Metric

• Field API Name: This Field will auto-populate

• Fully Qualified API Name: This Field will auto-populate

• Description: Enter Description of the Metric.

• Save

Created Metrics can be deployed to Account Plan Templates

Add a Metric to an Account Plan Template

Go to ClosePlan Admin tab > Templates > Whitespace

• Template must be in ‘Draft mode’ to edit.

• Open the Whitespace Tab

• Click on the '+' button next to the Metric item to add it to the Selected Metrics list.

• Items in this list will appear as Product Lines in the Template.

Initiatives

Initiatives are potential matches between Products and Services with clients. Initiatives are potential business that is not yet qualified enough to be an Opportunity.

1. Add Initiative - Click to add a new Initiative

2. Name - Name of Initiative (clicking on the Name opens the Initiative modal)

3. Target - Displays numeric amount of the target and a progress bar with the % of Target amount achieved.

4. Value - Displays the numeric amount of Business defined by Initiative Lines in the Lines Section

5. Won - Represents the numeric amount of Opportunities Closed/Won in Lines Section

6. Lost - Represents the numeric amount of Opportunities Closed/Lost in Lines Section

7. Timing - Fiscal Year, Fiscal Quarter, or Fiscal Month

8. Map - Relationship Map assigned to Initiative

9. Created By - User who created the Initiative

Initiative Modal: Details Tab

The Initiative Modal can be accessed by clicking on the Add Initiative button to create a new Initiative, or by clicking on the name of an existing Initiative.

Note: Image must be updated and finalized - Feb 16 2023 - DD

1. Details tab - Shows Initiative information

2. Actions tab - Shows Salesforce Tasks created for Initiative (See additional Information below)

3. Total Value - Shows sum of Supporting Initiatives in the Lines Section

4. Potential - Shows the sum of Supporting Initiatives listed in the Lines Section excluding Open, Closed Won or Closed Lost Opportunities

5. Open - Shows sum of all in-flight Opportunities listed in the Lines Section that are not Closed Won nor Closed Lost

6. Won - Shows sum of all Closed Won Opportunities listed in the Lines Section

7. Timing - Displays optional information on the projected Time Frame

8. Total Value - displayes numeric value of all Initiatives, Open, in-flight and Closed Opporutnities except Closed Lost Opportunities

9. Description - Text area for description

10. Relationship Map - Displays the name and links to assigned Relationship Map

11. Additional Information - Custom Fields section (???)

12. Lines - List of individual supporting Initiatives
    Click the Add button to add a supporting Initiative
    Clicking on an existing supporting Initiative opens its modal

13. Notes - Notes section to add or edit Notes specific to Initiative.

Initiative Modal: Actions Tab

• Add - Adds a task

• Upcoming and Overdue section

  • Lists tasks assigned to Initiative

Actions

• Actions are Salesforce Tasks

1. Add- Add an Action. A new modal will open

2. Refresh -

3. Expand All

4. Upcoming and Overdue - List of all Upcoming and Overdue Actions

5. Past Activities - List of all completed Actions

Add Action modal

Actions are Salesforce Tasks such as emails, calls, meetings or other Tasks

Files

The files section is a repository to store materials that support the Account Plan

Files can be

• Links

• Uploaded files

• Files already stored in your Org

Deploying an Account Plan

Account Plans are deployed from the Account page under the Account Plan tab.

• Layouts may vary between individual Organizations

• Click on Account Plan and then New

• From the modal, select the Account Plan and Next

From the Next modal, complete the Account Plan information as needed

• Account Plan Name - Name of the individual Account Plan

• Responsible - Person responsible for the Account Plan. By default it is assigned to the person creating the Account Plan

• Template - Name of the Account Plan Template selected in the previous modal

• Timeframe - Timeframe covered by the Account Plan
  
  

  • Fiscal Year

  • Fiscal Quarter

  • Fiscal Month

  • Custom

    • Custom start and end date for the Account Plan

• Status - Status of the Account Plan

  • Open

  • Completed

• Description - Optional description of the Account Plan

• Plan Structure - Selected Business Units are added here.

  • Business Units displayed are from the list created under ClosePlan Admin > Default Business Units

    • Business Units can be selected or omitted from the Account Plan as needed.

• Save

Exporting an Account Plan

Users can export full or partial summaries of Account Plans from the Account Plan overview.

Account Plans are exported to a page within the Salesforce User’s Org, keeping all information internal to the Salesforce Org.

Account Summaries can be printed or exported as PDF.

To export an Account Plan, go to the the Account Plan overview and click the export icon

A new tab will open and display the Account Plan Export Wizard. The Wizard allows Users to customize the Account Plan Export to include or not include any information in the Account Plan.

Account Plan Export Wizard

To export an Account Plan summary, click the Export button

Overview of the Account Plan Export Wizard

1. Account Export Overview Information

2. Build Status

3. Collapse All - Collapses all sections to display only Headers

4. Expand All - Expands all sections to display all information

5. Rebuild - Rebuilds the export

6. Print - Send to printer or create PDF

7. Close - Closes the Account Plan Export Wizard - No record is retained in the Salesforce Org.

8. Base Options

   1. Change paper size

   2. Toggle for Whitespace information

9. Document Outline - Choose which sections to include

   1. Add cover page

   2. Table of Contents - show or hide

   3. Account Details - show or hide

   4. Record Page Layout

      1. Choose which Account Page Layout to use. More info below in the Record Page Layout section

   5. Limit Sections - choose # of sections to show

   6. Scorecard - Show or hide the Categories in the Account Plan

   7. Relationships - show or hide - See more information below

      1. Stakeholder List - Shows a list of all Stakeholders

      2. Relationship Map - Shows Relationship Map as an image

   8. Key Activities - show or hide

      1. High Priority Tasks Only - Limits list to Tasks that are set to High Priority

      2. Include Roll up Tasks - Includes any Task that rolls up to the Account

   9. Legend - show or hide

10. Preview Section - Each section is indicated in the preview

11. Section title - Correlates to the Document Outline

12. Collapse section / Include section

    1. Collapse or expand section - Section will be included in export

    2. Include or exclude section from export
       
       

Additional Account Plan Export Information

Relationship Map section

• The Relationship Map section (Item 9g from above) contains additional functionality

1. Interactive indicator - Indicates additional functionality

2. Edit Button - Opens a new tab - See image:
   
   

   1. Zoom to fit - zoom to fit window

   2. Magnification - Indicates size of image

   3. Select Area - Provides the ability to select a specific area. The selected portion can be used to replace the full map in the export.

   4. Replace Original - Uses Selected Area to replace the Original Map

   5. Add Snapshot - Adds the Selected Area to the Relationship Map Section of Export as an extra image.

   6. Cancel - Cancels the operation
      
      

3. Reset State Button - Resets the Map to the current state found on the Account

Record Page Layout

• Account Plans are exported based on the Account Record Page created in the Salesforce Org

• Account Record Page layouts control which sections and fields will be displayed in the export PDF

  • Note: Account Page Layouts are User based, so some Users may not have access to all available Account Page Layouts

• If you prefer to use a custom layout, create a new Page Layout on the Account object (clone an existing layout, or create a new layout) and save the layout starting with “ClosePlan Export “.

  • Account Page Layouts starting with ‘ClosePlan Export…’ will be recognized as the first choice.

  • For the Account Page Layout to be recognized, it must start with 'ClosePlan Export…'

• Additional information from Salesforce about Record Page Layouts can be found here.

Export the Account Plan Summary

Click the Print Button on the Account Plan Export Wizard Preview page

Account Plan Export Presets (beta)

Sys Admins can create Account Plan Presets. Account Plan Presets allow organizations to create a customized export with information tailored to the purpose of the export. For example:

• Account Plan Export Presets may include specific data that addresses the needs of a QBR, a Deal Review or any standard repeatable Business Operation in the Organization.

• Account Plan Export Presets may focus on specific Scorecard questions and answers, may include or hide sections, highlight portions of Maps for Client meetings.

Account Plan Export Presets are defined by the Admin and are managed at the Template Level.

Please see the ClosePlan Admin Section > Account Plan Template Export Presets for more details.

Note: Account Plan Presets are currently in beta as of February 2023.

Troubleshooting Account Plan issues:

Account Plan Export is blocked due to inaccessible field

The likely cause of this error is that the User does not have permission to access one or more of the fields on the Opportunity Object included in the export.

Error message:

Insufficient permissions: secure query included inaccessible field

Solution: This is a Salesforce permissions issue. ClosePlan does not grant any permissions that are not granted in the Salesforce Org. In this case, a common fix is for the Sys Admin to find the field and grant permission.

Permission to view is blocked

When adding and configuring Account Plan to existing Accounts, ClosePlan Support or the System Administrator must redistribute Permissions and reconfigure Permission Sets to allow access.

Error Screen:

IMAGE NEEDED

Solution: Go to ClosePlan Admin > User Manager > click on ‘Redistribute Permissions’ and 'Configure'

Nonexistent Fields

Error Message: Whitespace Map is referencing field which does not exist: XSBF_ProductA__c. Please contact your administrator

Solution: If a new field has been imported in an Account Plan, it is present but must be updated.

Error screen:

Go to ClosePlan Admin > Custom Attributes - The missing field(s) will be identified

Solution:

• Click on the '…' button in the top right

• Click on Create Missing Fields

Result: