I need a growth plan for my key account that sees past this quarter and protects its growth for years.

I need a growth plan for my key account that sees past this quarter and protects its growth for years.

Quarterly targets pull a team's attention to what closes next. Long-term growth comes from seeing where the account and its market are headed, and investing early in what it will take to win there.

Five questions to see if your team can do this job today:

1. Does your team study the competition in your key account before it builds the account plan?
2. Does your team know where competitors fall short in the client's business?
3. Does your team validate the opportunity with customer contacts and industry events before it commits?
4. Is your company willing to invest time, resources and new capabilities ahead of the payoff?
5. Does your account plan look three years out?

Two or more no's, and your plan may end at the edge of this quarter.

I worked in a highly competitive industry, with sometimes hundreds of competitors targeting the same customers. I started thinking less about increasing sales and more about winning a war in the marketplace. First things first: know your enemy.

So, we made a competitor target list before we made an account list. Every piece of competitor intelligence was captured and discussed. I had the entire team asking, "What do we not know about our competition?"

After three months, a clear picture emerged. The intelligence pointed to a glaring gap in the competition's capabilities in a major section of the customers' business.

We stayed on the hunt, wanting proof. We met with hundreds of customer contacts in each target client, attended industry tradeshows and webinars, and kept learning where our competition was falling short in this one area. The upside was tremendous, but the service model to support it would require a lot of upfront investment in time, resources, and new capabilities. Delivery in this segment was more difficult and more expensive. It became obvious why the competition didn't prioritize it.

In three years, we built an internal community that became best in class in this niche, critical area and eventually became the #1 provider for all service areas in the largest accounts.

Seeing past this quarter starts with knowing what you're up against, then deciding where to invest before anyone else does.

Our system, the Vitality Index, gives your key account teams a growth strategy and the plan to run it across 21 growth drivers, including competitive intelligence, internal account investments and proof points. It shows where they stand today, the work it takes to level up, and how to do it, until they reach a vital partnership that lasts.

What gap in your key account could your team own three years from now?

We built a free, 4-minute Key Account Risk Assessment. It gives you a risk score for your key accounts across team alignment, account planning, account transitions, and visibility. Link in the comments.