International Consultants and Trainers
 to Retailers, Manufacturers and
Technology Vendors Who Sell to Retailers

Increase sales, drive down costs and create success
This is why retailers, manufacturers and IT vendors around the world consult and train with Martec International

Account Planning and Account Development


Martec's account planning service is of benefit to companies that sell more than one product or service to retailers and prefer to use a solution selling approach.

The service has several components:

  • Desk research to provide in depth understanding of the company
  • A facilitated workshop with the sales team to develop the account plan for the company
  • Support in periodic reviews of sales plan execution to resolve difficulties and further enhance the account plan
  • A training program is also available that teaches sales people how to do the desk research themselves, conduct the analysis and develop the account plan

Each phase of the consulting service is described in more detail below. Packs of the electronic version of the account planning forms are available for a modest license fee.

Desk Research

The desk research phase involves combing a series of sources such as print media, the Internet, government submissions, stockbrokers’ reports, etc., to build as much knowledge of the company as possible. The data collected is then analyzed by retail specialists to identify all relevant factors. These include, for example:

  • Anything that indicates company culture and how decisions are likely to be made and evaluated
  • Anything indicating investment priorities for the company
  • Key performance indicators such as inventory turns, gross margins, etc.

These are then compared to industry norms and key competitors to identify under-performing areas. The analysis is compiled in accordance with Martec's own methodology and presented in the following way:

  • Overall statistics and a general profile of the company
  • Known existing vendors to the company
  • The organization structure and who's who
  • General desk research
  • Perceived business goals for the company and the critical success factors necessary to achieve those goals, performance gaps compared to industry norms and key competitors
  • A SWOT analysis (business strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats)
  • Identification of "suspect" opportunities.

Click here to view a sample Account Plan

The Workshop

The next step is to hold a workshop to feed in the sales team's knowledge, brainstorm the desk research and arrive at the initial account plan. The workshop is facilitated by a retail expert. The attendees are normally the sales or account team, the district manager, representatives of the marketing function and, occasionally, program managers for specific product or service areas. Some clients include sales representatives from other accounts so that the skills and ideas generated in the workshops can be transferred to other parts of the organization.

The process typically starts with the account team describing their installed base in the account (if they have one), who they call on, have met, have relationships with and the opportunities on which they’re already working. The next step is usually to identify all the key issues in the account that may obstruct winning business. These can include competitor activity, product quality, service and support problems, relationship problems and so on. Strategies are discussed and devised to deal with these issues.

The desk research is then reviewed in detail, matched against the knowledge of the account team and others participating in the workshop, and the list of suspect opportunities is revised, reviewed systematically and prioritized for follow through. An activity plan is compiled and first estimate budget numbers are put against the suspect opportunities, so that sales management can make informed decisions about how much resource to invest in each account. The plan is then documented and distributed to everyone involved in execution.

Account Plan Execution Support

As an additional service, Martec will provide support in the execution and implementation of account plans. This can take the form of:

  • Assistance in sales calls
  • More detailed opportunity analysis
  • Preparation of cost benefit analyses for the client
  • Participation in quarterly or six monthly sales reviews to help adjust plans in the light of subsequent developments.

Why Martec?

Vendors derive two significant benefits from using Martec to provide this service:

  • The Martec professionals that do the desk research are former retailers, who have a particular skill in interpreting the information that has been gathered and identifying the most likely business opportunities.
  • The workshop facilitators can identify ways to approach the target account and overcome obstacles with a greater probability of success.

A sample account plan can be provided with this service description to illustrate the approach, detail and likely benefits.

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