Account Plan Overview

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:

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Default Tabs:

• Scorecard 

• Whitespace

Optional Tabs:

• Initiatives

• Team Members

• Actions

• Files

• Chatter

Optional Tabs are enabled or disabled in the ClosePlan Admin tab > Environment > Account Plans > Options

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

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

Chatter tab - Provides access to Salesforce Chatter feature

Activate the Chatter Feature in Account Plans

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To activate the Chatter feature in Account Plans Click on the gear icon in the top right corner of your Salesforce Org and go to Setup > Home > Search for ‘Fead Tracking’ > Click Enable Feed Tracking' > Save

Accessing Account Plan

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

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Account Plan Main Page

Main Page Overview

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Items

1. View Account Plans

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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.

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3. Search - Search all Account Plans

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

5. Expand or collapse all nested Account Plans

   1. (Shows ‘Follow up’ Account Plans from the past or future)

6. Name - Name of Account Plan

7. Template - Template Name and version

8. Period - Start and End dates for Account Plan

9. Account Plan Information

   1. - Scorecard Score

   2. - Business Units and Groups present

   3. - Opportunities present

   4. - Potentials present

   5. Status - Status of the Account Plan
      Note: These columns appear if the relevant items appear in the Account Plans associated with the Account. If no item is present, the column will not appear.

10. 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

11. Edit Account Plan

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    1. Edit: Edit information about an Account Plan - Allows Users to edit information about the Account Plan by opening the Account Plan Sidebar
       
       

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       1. Primary (If present) - Indicates that the Account Plan has ‘Primary’ status

       2. Dropdown menu - Change Account

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          • Change Account - Allows Users to transfer the Account Plan to another Account.

            • See ‘Reparent an Account Plan’ section below

       3. Account Plan Name - Allows users to edit the information

       4. Responsible - User responsible for this Account Plan, allows users to edit the information

       5. Template - Displays the Account Plan Template name and version

       6. Timeframe and Status - Allows users to edit the information

       7. Description - Optional. Allows users to edit the information

    2. Set as Primary: Remove or assign Primary Account Plan status

    3. Create Follow-up - Create a follow-up Account Plan

       1. Follow-up Account Plans are nested with the Account Plan from which they were created.

    4. Clone: Clone the Account Plan

       1. Cloned Account Plans appear as independent Account Plans

       2. Note: Actions (Tasks) are not Cloned

    5. Delete - Delete the Account Plan
       Note: Only the last Account Plan in a nested set can be deleted. You may have to delete Follow-up Plans to delete the top line Account Plan

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

    a. Account Plans can be assigned as Primary from the Account Plan List on the Account page, or from the Maintenance tab in the ClosePlan Admin > Environment > Account Plan > Maintenance

13. Expand or Contract Account Plan nested set

14. Status Icons

Open	Open and in the Current Time Period
Open	Open and in a Past Time Period (e.g previous fiscal year)
Open	Open and in a Future Time Period (e.g. next fiscal year)
Open	Completed

Reparent an Account Plan

This feature allows Account Plans and their information to be assigned to a different Account

• From the Dropdown menu on the Account Plan list, select Edit to open the Account Plan Sidebar

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• Select Change Account

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• Select the New Account Name from the list and click Submit and confirm by clicking Yes

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Manage Account’s Business Units

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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.

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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

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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:

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How to create Business Units:

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

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• 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

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

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

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Result:

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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.

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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

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

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1. Account Plan Name - Update as needed

2. Timeframe - Update as needed

   1. Status - Default to Open

   2. Mark as Primary - Toggle to mark as Primary Account Plan

3. Description

   1. As needed

4. Follow-up Options

   1. Select the appropriate options. All Options are selected by default except for ‘Clone Files’

5. Upgrade Available

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   If an upgrade is available, this section will be activated. Upgrades can be to a newer version of the same template or to a new Template.
   Note: Upgrades available here have been Mapped and Saved.

   1. Currently Selected Template: Shows the currently selected Mapped Template that will be used for the Follow up Account Plan

   2. Show available templates: Click here to display a list of all available Mapped Templates that can be chosen for the Follow up Account Plan.
      In this example, 2 Templates have been mapped. Select the Template by clicking:

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   3. Activation Button: Activates/deactivates the selected Template.

      1. If the selected Template is deactivated, the Follow up Account Plan will be based on the original Template

Result:

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• 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:

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Details of an Account Plan Scorecard shown with questions answered:

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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

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

• Outline - Lists all questions.

  • Users can progress through and answer Questions.

  • Answers are automatically saved when Users progress to the next question

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

• Notes - Space for additional User notes.

• Annexes - Links to pages that help the User with context and additional information to improve Answer Quality

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

• Chatter - Displays Salesforce Chatter

• Account GPT - When enabled, allows Users to generate and accept AI answers to the Question.

Scorecard Outline Feature

The Scorecard Outline feature allows Users to scroll through all questions without having to Open-Answer-Save. Answers can be saved automatically when Users click to the next Question by enabling:
Autosave on transition

The Outline feature is found on the left side of any Question modal.

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• When expanded, the list of questions is displayed.

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• Click on each question to display the work space.

• Answers can be saved automatically when Users click to the next Question by enabling:
  Autosave on transition

Account Plan Scorecard Question Types

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

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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.

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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

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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           

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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.