Objective
This article details the Smart Account Plan feature, enhancing and streamlining Account-based selling (ABS) workflows. It gives sales teams a comprehensive insight into all critical aspects of target accounts - seamlessly consolidated in one place and keeps account teams in sync to land, retain and expand target accounts.
Additionally, users can use this feature along with newly introduced Prospect Relationship Map functionality in Outreach. To learn more about Prospect Relationship Map in Outreach, refer to this article.
Applies To
- Outreach Users
- Outreach Admins
Overview
The Smart Account Plan feature in Outreach serves as a centralized place to enable sales teams to efficiently organize and store account research, while accessing information from various sources such as Crunchbase and CRM fields synced to Outreach. This feature aids in building and managing relationships throughout the sales process and provides insights into past and future engagements with each account. By simplifying research and improving collaboration, Smart Account Plan helps account teams make informed decisions and personalize their approach when nurturing customer relationships.
The Smart Account Plan exists as a new layout within the Account Overview section.
Procedure
Setting up the Smart Account Plan
To access the Smart Account Plan, a user needs to select the Smart Account Plan layout on the Account Overview page within the Outreach default layout. The Smart Account Plan displays varying types of information about an account using Sales Intelligence Tiles. Some tiles can be configured by the user to show as little or as much information as they need.
Some of the new Sales Intelligence Tiles available within the Smart Account Plan are as follows:
| Option | Description |
| About account | Account description and industry information sourced from Outreach or Crunchbase. |
| Account details table | A table that users can customize to include key account details such as Employee Count, Company Type, Revenue etc. These details are sourced from Outreach or Crunchbase. |
| Competitors | Specify an account’s competitors. Information about the competitor, if available, is pre-populated from Crunchbase or the user can provide their own notes. |
| Engagement activity timeline | See a chronological record of all engagement activities within the account, including calls, meetings, emails, and more. |
| Engagement strategy |
Text field where reps can document strategies for engaging with the account, delineating tactical moves, key personas, and barriers to success. It supports Rich Text Editor (RTE) with additional functions. For example, by entering “/” users can insert Prospect or Opportunity data. |
| Prospect Relationship Map | Prospect Relationship Map visualizes prospect relationships to reveal stakeholder influence in the buying process. |
| Strategic initiatives & outcomes |
Text field where reps can document the account’s strategic initiatives and business outcomes. It supports Rich Text Editor (RTE) with additional functions. For example, by entering “/” users can insert Prospect or Opportunity data. |
| Tech stack | Specify an account’s existing tech stack. |
| Text block |
Blank text field to fill in any miscellaneous account information. Supports Rich Text Editor (RTE) with additional functions. For example, by entering “/” users can insert Prospect or Opportunity data. |
Smart Account Plan Layout Customization
Outreach admins and reps can rearrange, clone, or create Smart Account Plan layouts from scratch, allowing them to select and incorporate existing or newly added Sales Intelligence Tiles.
In addition, Admins now can set new Smart Account Plan layout (or any other account layout) as default for the whole org (Administration > User management > Access control > Layouts) or for specific user profiles (Administration > User management > Access control > Profiles > (select profile) > Sales intelligence tiles)
Note: Only users granted edit rights have the ability to create, clone, and make updates to the layout.
Smart Account Plan - Side Panel
Smart Account Plan, as well as all other account layouts, now feature an updated side panel, providing reps with immediate access to essential account details. This includes things like open opportunities, past and upcoming engagement data such as scheduled meetings, pending tasks, and more. Reps can easily hover over each item for additional insights or delve deeper for further information.
Engagement Activity Timeline
Smart Account Plan also offers a new Engagement Activity Timeline tile. This a revamped version of the Activity feed, showcasing all past account activities in a clear timeline format. Users can conveniently hover over or click on individual activities to access more detailed information.
Define Template for Text Block Tiles in Account Plans
Templates for text block tiles can be modified to suit your organization’s unique needs. This includes both blueprint tiles (Strategic Initiatives and Engagement Strategy) and custom text block tiles. Changes to blueprint tile templates apply globally to all layouts, while changes to custom text block tile templates affect only the layout, they’re in.
Update the template
- Open your Account Plan layout.
- Click More Options > Customize layout.
- Locate the text block tile you want to update. Updates to Strategic Initiatives and Engagement Strategy tiles will be applied globally to all layouts where they are used. You can restore Outreach’s default templates at any time, with changes applied globally.
- Click More Options > Update Template.
- Modify the existing template or create a new one.
- Click Save.
Use {{variables}} in your templates to make them dynamic and adaptable. Use {{! comment variable }} to provide clearer guidance to your sales reps on the information they need to include.
Governance: Users with the create tile layouts permission can make changes to templates.
Track Account Plan Status Progress
Monitoring the progress of your Account Plans ensures they remain actionable and aligned with your sales workflows. Gain visibility into the progress of Account Plans directly from the Accounts list view via Account Plan Updated column.
Add the Account Plan Updated Column
- Go to the Accounts list view.
- Click Manage columns
- Search Account plan updated and add to list view.
This column shows the last update date of an Account Plan based on your organization’s defined layout.
Filter Accounts by Account Plan Updated column
Use the Account plan updated filter for the following actions
- Locate accounts by the date of their last Account Plan update
- To find accounts with no updates by filtering: Account plan updated = Not updated
- To find accounts where Account Plan was already updated (at least once), use: Account plan updated = Already updated
Important information about Account Plan status tracking
Outreach admins must select the correct Account Plan layout they want to monitor. By default, Outreach’s Smart Account Plan layout is preselected. However, if an admin changes the default account plan layout, tracking will restart, and updates will only be recorded after users begin making changes to the newly selected layout.
What gets tracked?
Updates are only tracked for tiles that meet both conditions:
- Included in the default Account Plan layout that is set for an org
- Editable by the user
Tracked tiles include:
- Text block tiles (Strategic Initiatives, Engagement Strategy, and Custom Text Blocks)
- Relationship Map
- Competitors
- Tech Stack
How tracking works
Whenever a user updates a tracked tile, the Account Plan Updated field is automatically updated with the exact time the change was made.
Tracking for cloned Account Plan layouts
If users clone the organization's default Account Plan layout, the tiles in the cloned layout will remain linked to the original default layout. This means:
- When users update linked tiles in the cloned layout, the tracking will still work.
- The Account Plan Updated field will be updated with the time of the change.
Define Account Plan Layout for an Organization
To track progress accurately, admins must define the Account Plan layout used by your organization.
- Navigate to Administration > User Management > Access Control > Layouts.
- Set the appropriate layout for the Account Plan. Outreach’s Smart Account Plan layout is set as default.
When an Admin updates the default Account Plan layout, the Account Plan last update date field will only reflect the change once users modify the account plan. Until then, it will continue to display the last update date from the previous layout.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you determine if an Account Plan is completed?
Account Plan completion is not rigidly defined due to the dynamic nature of these documents. Instead, admins can define layouts used as Account Plans, and reporting focuses on last updated timestamps and tile-specific updates to track activity and progress.
When will the Account Plan Updated field begin tracking changes?
The Account Plan Updated field will begin tracking changes only after the feature is released to customers. It will be updated when customers make their first modification to the account plan, which will initially be set to Outreach’s Smart Account Plan layout as a default value.
Can I update templates for text block tiles?
Yes. Admins can configure a new template for the following:
- Blueprint tiles, such as Strategic Initiatives and Engagement Strategy, which will apply to all layouts.
- Custom text block tiles - these changes are specific to the layout where these tiles were added.
How do I revert to the original Outreach template for blueprint tiles?
Admins can restore blueprint tiles, such as Strategic Initiatives and Engagement Strategy, to the default Outreach template by clicking Reset in Update template. This change will apply globally across all layouts.