CCSM- 104

BUILDING A CCOUNT
SUCCESS PLA NS
Workb ook
LEA RNING
GOA LS
Sum m a rize the

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im p orta nc e of ta king a
stra teg ic a c c ount
p la nning a p p roa c h to
b usiness va lue c rea tion.

2
Artic ula te the role d ifferent
tea m s p la n in exec uting
a g a inst the Suc c ess Pla n.

Utilize the Suc c ess Pla n

3 Ca nva s to d rive
org a niza tion a lig nm ent
a round c lient outc om es.

Ap p ly the Suc c ess Pla n

4 c onc ep t in b oth hig h a nd

tec h touc h eng a g em ent
m od els.

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TA BLE OF
CONTENTS
TOPIC PAGE
SUCCESS IS A JOURNEY 4

SUCCESS PLANS 5

4 KEYS TO ANY SUCCESSFUL JOURNEY PLAN 6

KEY CHALLENGES 7

THE ANATOMY OF A EFFECTIVE SUCCESS PLAN 8

COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS 9

ONBOARDING FLOWS 10

SUCCESS PLAN PROCESS 11

SUCCESS PLAN CANVAS 12

SUCCESS PLAN CANVAS SAMPLE 13

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 SUCCESS IS A
JOURNEY
"Th e roa d t o Su c c ess is a lw a y s
u n d er c on st ru c t ion . "

- Custom er Suc c ess is a never- end ing journey.

- Pred ic ta b le Suc c ess lea d s to Pred ic ta b le Revenue.
- How d o you m a ke suc c ess m ore rep ea ta b le?

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 SUCCESS
PLA NNING
W h a t fou r t h in g s d o y ou n eed t o k n ow b efore y ou c a n
p la n a n y jou rn ey ?

1 Id entify where your c ustom er is a t tod a y.

2 Cla rify where they wa nt to g et to.

3 Id entify when they wa nt to g et there.

4 La y out how they wa nt to g et there.

On ly b y u n d erst a n d in g a ll of t h ese v a ria b les c a n y ou

h elp t h em a c h iev e su c c ess.

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 4 KEYS TO A NY
SUCCESSFUL
JOURNEY PLA N

1 Where a re they on their journey

2 Wha t's their next m a jor m ilestone?

3 Are they d oing the rig ht thing s to hit tha t m ilestone?

Wha t will they need from you to help them rea c h their
4 next m ilestone?

How w ell d o y ou u n d erst a n d t h e jou rn ey t h a t ea c h of y ou r

c u st om ers is n a v ig a t in g ? W h ic h c u st om er seg m en t s d o y ou
u n d erst a n d t h e b est ?

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 KEY CHA LLENGES
Th e k ey c h a llen g es t o b u ild in g a su c c ess p la n :
- Not enoug h tim e
- Not enoug h inform a tion
- Not enoug h va lue

THESE ARE ALL SOLVABLE!

W h a t d o y ou t h in k w ou ld b e y ou r b ig g est c h a llen g e w h en
b u ild in g su c c ess p la n s for y ou r c u st om ers? W h a t id ea s c a n
y ou c om e u p w it h t o a d d ress t h a t c h a llen g e?

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 THE A NA TOM Y
OF A N EFFECTIVE
SUCCESS PLA N
Su c c ess Pla n s d et a il t h e p a t h t ow a rd s a c h iev in g b u sin ess
ou t c om e.
1. Suc c ess Pla ns a re d esig ned to ena b le p roa c tivity.
2. Suc c ess Pla ns a re m ost p owerful when sha red with
c ustom ers.
3. Suc c ess Pla ns should a lwa ys b e up - to- d a te.

Sev en t h in g s t h a t sh ou ld b e in c lu d ed in a Su c c ess Pla n :

1. Com p a ny Hig hlig hts
2. Ob jec tive
3. Key Cha lleng es
4. Key Benefits
5. Milestones, Ac tions a nd Da tes
6. Suc c ess Criteria
7. Mea sure of Suc c ess

W h ere d oes t h is in form a t ion liv e t od a y w it h in y ou r

org a n iza t ion ? Does ev ery on e w h o n eed s it h a v e ea sy a c c ess?

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 COM M ON
M ISCONCEPTIONS
Suc c ess Pla ns a re only for hig h- touc h, hig h va lue
a c c ounts.

They c a n a nd should b e c onstruc ted for ALL c ustom ers.

Suc c ess Pla ns a re for interna l use only.

Suc c ess Pla ns should b e sha red with c ustom ers.

Suc c ess Pla ns a re a one- tim e p la nning tools

They should b e revised a nd up d a ted on a n ong oing b a sis.

Suc c ess Pla ns ta ke a long tim e to p ut tog ether.

They c a n b e extensive when nec essa ry, b ut using the 7

Keys to Suc c ess m a kes them q uic k a nd ( rela tively)
p a inless.

Suc c ess Pla ns c a n't b e d one a t sc a le.

Done rig ht, they c a n sc a le a long with you.

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 SUCCESS PLA NS
IN LOW TOUCH
M ODELS
- Use in- a p p p rofiling to und ersta nd c ustom er need s.
- Sim p le em a il surveys less effec tive, b ut OK a s b a c kup .
- Ma ke it ea sy b y g iving c ustom ers op tions to c hoose from .
- Seg m ent c ustom ers b a sed on resp onses.
- Ap p ly a d ifferent g eneric Suc c ess Pla n to ea c h seg m ent
of c ustom ers.

Su c c ess d oesn 't h a p p en b y a c c id en t ;

y ou n eed a p la n .

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 CONSTRUCTING
A SUCCESS PLA N
PROCESS
STEP 1: PRE- W ORK & KICK- OFF
The initia l sta g es of a ny p rojec t a re m ost often the
m ost c ritic a l. You need to ra p id ly c om e up to sp eed
on wha t wa s sold , why the c ustom er ?hired ?your
solution a nd wha t the exp ec ta tions a re.

STEP 2: DISCOVERY SESSION

The Disc overy Session is key to your suc c ess. During
the Disc overy Session( s) you will seek to und ersta nd
b etter wha t the c ustom er is looking to a c hieve,
wha t is m otiva ting them , their tim ing a nd wha t
suc c ess looks like to them .

STEP 3: SUCCESS ASSESSMENT

All d ea ls a re not c rea ted eq ua l. During the Suc c ess
Assessm ent p ortion of the p roc ess you will eva lua te
the inform a tion you ha ve g a thered a g a inst the key
c riteria tha t ena b le you to jud g e the likelihood of a
suc c essful outc om e for the c ustom er.

STEP 4 : ESTABLISH MILESTONES & BUILD ACTION PLAN

Fa iling to p la n, is p la nning to fa il. Esta b lishing the
'How?' via a n Ac tion Pla n with Milestones a nd Due
Da tes is a c ritic a l p a rt of the Suc c ess Pla nning
Proc ess. Your Ac tion Pla n is the m a p for your journey
to Suc c ess.

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 CONSTRUCTING A
SUCCESS PLA N ( c on t .)
STEP 5: DEFINE SUCCESS CRITERIA & MEASURES
The un- a im ed a rrow, never m isses. At the c ore of
the Suc c ess Pla nning Proc ess is the id entific a tion of
the c ustom er?s d efinition a nd m ea sures of Suc c ess.
Without this you c a n never b e truly suc c essful.

STEP 6: BUILD SUCCESS PLAN CANVAS

The Suc c ess Pla n Ca nva s wa s d esig ned to p rovid e
you a lig htweig ht m ea ns for id entifying the key
elem ents of a n eng a g em ent. The Ca nva s is
intend ed to b e a living d oc um ent tha t c a n b e
sha red with your c ustom ers a s you work towa rd s
d elivering on their d efinition of Suc c ess.
STEP 7: SUCCESS PLAN REVIEW
Suc c ess Pla ns a re m ea nt to b e sha red . One of the
m ost c ritic a l a sp ec t to the d elivery of a suc c essful
outc om e is the review a nd a c c ep ta nc e of the
Suc c ess Pla n. Foc us on g a ining a c knowled g m ent
a nd a c c ep ta nc e from the c ustom er of the p la n.
ONGOING ACTIVITIES
Onc e the Suc c ess Pla n is a c c ep ted , the rea l work
b eg ins. As you p rog ress throug h the
im p lem enta tion of your offering ,
b e sure to m a inta in c lea r a nd op en c ha nnels of
c om m unic a tion with c ustom er a round p rog ress
towa rd s c om p letion a nd Suc c ess.
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 SUCCESS PLA N
CA NVA S

1 2

3 4 5 6 7

COMPANY HIGHLIGHTS
1 This should b e a hig h- level overview of the c ustom er -
e.g . who they a re, wha t b usiness they a re in, how long
they've b een in b usiness, no. of em p loyees a nd offic es,
etc .

OBJECTIVES
2 These a re the long er term stra teg ic b usiness outc om es
tha t the c ustom er c a res the m ost a b out a nd tha t your
c om p a ny is g oing to help sup p ort.

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 SUCCESS PLA N
CA NVA S
KEY CHALLENGES
3 These a re m ore ta c tic a l c ha lleng es tha t a re slowing
d own or b loc king p rog ress towa rd s the stra teg ic
ob jec tives. These a re c ha lleng es tha t you a re g oing to
help unb loc k.

KEY BENEFITS
4 These a re m ore ta c tic a l b enefits tha t your c om p a ny is
g oing to b ring to the ta b le - sup erp owers tha t a re g oing
to help the c ustom er a c c elera te p rog ress towa rd s
outc om es.

MILESTONES ACTIONS AND DATES

5 Ca p ture the key c hec kp oints tha t the c ustom er need s to
p a ss throug h on their journey to suc c ess. These should
b e sig nific a nt m ilestones, not sim p ly a list of ta sks.

SUCCESS CRITERIA
6 This is where you a rtic ula te wha t suc c ess looks like, in
sim p le term s tha t a nyone rea d ing the Suc c ess Pla n
would und ersta nd .

MEASURE OF SUCCESS
7 This is where you c a p ture the exa c t KPIs / m etric s a nd
a ssoc ia ted ta rg ets tha t you'll b e tra c king to inform
p rog ress a nd c onfirm c onc lusively when suc c ess ha s
b een a c hieved .

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 SA M PLE SUCCESS
PLA N CA NVA S

Ba sed on w h a t y ou 'v e lea rn ed , h ow c ou ld y ou im p rov e y ou r

ow n su c c ess p la n n in g a c t iv it ies?

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123 N 321 E
New Yor k Cit y,
NY 10007
em ail@w ebsit e.com 809 La u rel St ., Su it e 1162
h t t p:/ w ebsit e.com Sa n Ca rlos, CA 94 070
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