"Strategic account planning" should not be intimidating. As Terence’s quote suggests, the process can be simple: assess the issue and figure out how to solve it.

For example, how will you grow Acme Inc. by 20% in Q2?

Your answer is your strategic plan.

The hardest part about account planning is finding time to work on ’em. But once you sequester yourself and think about the challenges of your top accounts, the answers and creative ideas flow naturally.

Q1 is done! Let it go. This weekend, work on your Q2 plan. Keep it simple by translating your strategy into tactics.

Focus your approach on these two areas:

1. Obstacles: Itemize the hurdles you must overcome to move forward on each account. How are you going to tackle them?

2. People: Who do you need to meet with? (Isn’t it interesting how everything comes back to prospecting!?)

An hour of quiet thought this weekend might bring answers and insights to your Q2 plan that you can’t get during the hectic workweek.