Account management defined
Account management is the discipline of managing post-sale customer relationships. Renewal forecasting, expansion sales, QBRs, day-to-day customer engagement.
It's a role and an ongoing practice. Every customer typically has an account manager.
Account planning defined
Account planning is the strategic process of analyzing an account and deciding what to do with it. Where the relationship is today, where it could be in 12 months, what whitespace exists, what risks need mitigating.
It's an artifact (the account plan) and a recurring process (refreshed quarterly with QBRs).
Side-by-side
Account management is who. Account planning is what.
Account management is the role; account planning is the deliverable.
Account managers do account planning, among other things. But account planning is just one part of the account manager's job.
How they fit together
Account managers build account plans for their top-tier accounts.
Account plans drive the action items the account manager works each week.
QBRs are where the account plan gets reviewed with the customer.
Whitespace from the account plan becomes the expansion pipeline the account manager works.
Without account planning, account management becomes reactive renewal protection. Without account management, account plans go stale on slides.
Operationalizing both in Salesforce
Account management workflows: standard Salesforce setup with renewal forecasting and activity tracking.
Account planning: needs a structured plan template that lives on the Account object. Prolifiq CRUSH is built for this.
Both tied together: the account plan informs the renewal forecast, the QBR uses the plan as content, the whitespace becomes opportunities in the pipeline.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between account planning and account management?
Account management is the role and ongoing practice. Account planning is the strategic process and the resulting plan artifact. Account managers do account planning.
Do all account managers do account planning?
Most account managers do informal planning. Formal account planning with a structured template typically applies to top-tier accounts.
CTA
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