Account strategy template with a worked example

Account strategy template

An account strategy is the plan for one key customer: what they are trying to achieve, who decides, where the supplier can grow, what could go wrong, and the results expected over the coming year. It is owned by the strategic account director and agreed with the supplier's commercial, operations and finance leaders and, in part, with the customer.

Horizon: 1 year4 priorities · 10 outcomes

Use this template

What this account strategy template includes

ContextThe situation, the challenges to solve, and what is deliberately left out.
Account profileThe facts about the customer that shape the plan.
Stakeholder mapThe people who influence the relationship and where each stands.
Customer goalsWhat the customer is trying to achieve this year.
WhitespaceWhere the customer could buy more and how likely it is.
RisksWhat could damage the relationship or the renewal.
Priorities and measuresThree to five priorities, each with an owner, outcomes with a baseline and target, and the initiatives behind them.

Account strategy example

A complete account strategy for a fictional organization: paper-based packaging manufacturer planning its largest retail account, a national grocery chain.

Worked exampleAccount strategy

Organization	Paper-based packaging manufacturer planning its largest retail account, a national grocery chain (1,200 staff)
Ambition	Extend the supply agreement before it goes to tender and become the chain's lead partner for fiber-based own-brand packaging, growing the account from $31M to $38M.
Horizon	1 year

Context

Where we are and what we are choosing

The chain runs 1,150 stores and buys $31M a year from us: $19M of corrugated shelf-ready packaging, $9M of folding cartons and $3M of molded fiber trays. That is 8% of our $380M revenue and 22% of the $140M the chain spends in these categories. The three-year supply agreement ends in March 2028 and a new VP of procurement plans a tender in Q3 2027. On-time in-full delivery has slipped to 91% against a contracted 97%, which cost $410,000 in chargebacks this year. We rank sixth of 14 packaging suppliers on the chain's scorecard, and account gross margin is 17%.

Challenges

Late and short deliveries into the chain's distribution centers have turned supply chain into a detractor a year before the tender.
The relationship runs through one category buyer. We have no standing contact with the new VP of procurement or the merchandising executive who sponsors own brands.
Fixed pricing on 60% of volume left us absorbing containerboard cost increases, so growth at current terms would dilute margin.

We will focus on

Delivery performance into the chain's six distribution centers.
Fiber-based replacements for plastic in fresh departments and frozen own-brand cartons, where the chain's 2028 recyclability commitment creates demand.
A negotiated extension signed before the tender is issued.

We will not

Bidding for the chain's flexible film and pouch spend. We would have to buy it in, and it distracts from fiber.
Matching reverse-auction prices on plain transit cases. We will give up that $2M of volume if needed to protect margin.
Selling directly to the chain's contract manufacturers this year, even though they specify a further $60M of packaging.

Account profile

Customer	A national grocery chain with 1,150 stores, six distribution centers and an own-brand range of 4,200 products that makes up 24% of sales. It has 14 packaging suppliers and has said it wants 8.
Annual spend with us	$31M: $19M of shelf-ready corrugated, $9M of folding cartons and $3M of molded fiber trays. Gross margin is 17% against a company average of 22%.
Share of wallet	22% of an estimated $140M addressable spend. We hold 45% of shelf-ready corrugated, 15% of folding cartons and 8% of fresh-department trays and containers.
Contract renewal	The three-year supply agreement expires in March 2028. Procurement intends to issue a tender in Q3 2027 unless an extension is agreed first.

Stakeholder map

Role	Influence	Stance	Our contact
Chief merchandising officer, own-brand sponsor	High	Neutral, no relationship	Our chief executive
VP of procurement, joined this year	High	Skeptical, favors tenders and auctions	Our chief commercial officer
Director of own-brand packaging and sustainability	High	Champion	Strategic account director
Senior category buyer, packaging	Medium	Supporter	Strategic account director
Supply chain director, distribution centers	Medium	Detractor after late deliveries	Our VP of operations
Own-brand quality manager	Medium	Neutral	Our quality director
Head of store operations	Low today, rising	Unknown	Unassigned

Customer goals

Make all own-brand packaging recyclable, reusable or compostable by the end of 2028, and cut plastic by 20% by weight.
Grow own brands from 24% to 28% of sales, led by a relaunch of the frozen range in 2027.
Reduce packaging suppliers from 14 to 8 and take 2% out of cost of goods through consolidation.
Cut shelf replenishment labor by moving more categories into shelf-ready packaging.
Raise on-shelf availability of own-brand lines, which makes supplier delivery performance a board-level measure.

Whitespace

Opportunity	Value	Likelihood	Next step
Molded fiber trays to replace plastic in produce and meat	$6M a year	High	40-store trial in Q1 2027 with agreed shelf-life tests
Folding cartons for the frozen own-brand relaunch	$8M a year	Medium	Submit samples and line-speed data for the March range review
Shelf-ready packaging for household and pet categories	$5M a year	Medium	Joint store labor study with store operations
Paper-based bakery and deli containers	$4M a year	Low	Share grease-barrier test results; revisit after trays
Packaging design and artwork service on retainer	$600,000 a year	High	Propose alongside the frozen relaunch brief

Risks

The tender goes ahead and becomes a price auction. We are working toward an extension offer by Q2 2027 that trades a volume rebate for a three-year term.
Delivery performance does not recover before supplier reviews. A dedicated planner and safety stock for the top 120 items are in place from January.
Our champion leaves or loses influence. Each senior stakeholder is being paired with one of our executives, with contact logged quarterly.
The incumbent carton supplier defends the frozen range with a rebate. We will compete on line speed and recyclability data, not on price alone.
Molded fiber capacity falls short if the tray trial succeeds. A second forming line is approved, conditional on a signed volume commitment.
Containerboard prices rise again under fixed pricing. Index-linked pricing is a condition of any extension.

Priorities and measures

Priority 1Owner: VP of Operations

Restore delivery performance before the tender

Nothing else in this plan is credible while one delivery in eleven is late or short. The chain's supplier scorecard weights delivery at 40%.

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
On-time in-full delivery to the chain's distribution centers	91%	97.5%	Q2 2027
Annual chargebacks for late or short deliveries	$410K	$80K	Q4 2027
Score on the chain's supplier scorecard	71 points	88 points	Q3 2027

Initiatives

Assign a dedicated planner and a customer service lead to the account
Hold four weeks of safety stock on the 120 highest-volume items
Set up weekly forecast sharing with the chain's replenishment team
Review every missed delivery with the distribution center within 48 hours

Targets are illustrative. Adapt them to your baseline before you start.

Priority 2Owner: Strategic Account Director

Secure the supply agreement early

A tender run by a procurement leader who does not know us puts $31M at risk. An extension agreed with merchandising and sustainability support takes most of that volume off the table.

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
Annual revenue under contract beyond March 2028	$0	$34M	Q3 2027
Senior stakeholders with a named executive sponsor and quarterly contact	2 stakeholders	7 stakeholders	Q2 2027

Initiatives

Pair each of the seven senior stakeholders with one of our executives
Hold a joint business review each quarter with merchandising and procurement in the room
Present an extension offer with a volume rebate and index-linked pricing by Q2 2027
Host the VP of procurement and supply chain director at the corrugated plant

Targets are illustrative. Adapt them to your baseline before you start.

Priority 3Owner: Strategic Account Director

Grow share in fiber-based fresh and frozen packaging

The chain must replace plastic by 2028 and wants fewer suppliers. Trays and frozen cartons are where its goals and our capacity meet.

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
Annualized account revenue	$31M	$38M	Q4 2027
Share of the chain's addressable packaging spend	22%	27%	Q4 2027
Own-brand products converted from plastic to our fiber formats	0 products	85 products	Q4 2027

Initiatives

Run the 40-store molded fiber tray trial and agree rollout criteria in advance
Submit carton samples and line trial results for the frozen range review
Run a store labor study on shelf-ready packaging in household and pet
Provide a recyclability report for every own-brand item we supply

Targets are illustrative. Adapt them to your baseline before you start.

Priority 4Owner: Commercial Finance Manager

Protect account margin

At 17% gross margin the account earns five points less than the company average. Growth on the same terms would make that worse.

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
Account gross margin	17%	19.5%	Q4 2027
Account volume on index-linked pricing	40%	100%	Q3 2027

Initiatives

Move all items to pricing linked to a published containerboard index
Consolidate 60 low-volume carton specifications into 25 with the own-brand team
Price transit cases at a floor margin and decline volume below it

Targets are illustrative. Adapt them to your baseline before you start.

Blank account strategy template

The same structure with a prompt in every field. Copy it, or download it as a Word or Excel file.

Your planAccount strategy

Organization	[Describe your organization in a few words, with its size]
Ambition	[One sentence on where you want to be at the end of the plan]
Horizon	[How long the plan runs, for example 12 months]

Context

Where we are and what we are choosing

[Where things stand today: the facts that make this strategy necessary]

Challenges

[A problem the strategy has to solve]
[A problem the strategy has to solve]

We will focus on

[Something you are choosing to concentrate on]
[Something you are choosing to concentrate on]

We will not

[Something you are deliberately leaving out]
[Something you are deliberately leaving out]

Account profile

Customer	[Your customer]
Annual spend with us	[Your annual spend with us]
Share of wallet	[Your share of wallet]
Contract renewal	[Your contract renewal]

Stakeholder map

Role	Influence	Stance	Our contact
[Role]	[Influence]	[Stance]	[Our contact]
[Role]	[Influence]	[Stance]	[Our contact]
[Role]	[Influence]	[Stance]	[Our contact]

Customer goals

[A goal the customer has stated or shown]
[A goal the customer has stated or shown]
[A goal the customer has stated or shown]

Whitespace

Opportunity	Value	Likelihood	Next step
[Opportunity]	[Value]	[Likelihood]	[Next step]
[Opportunity]	[Value]	[Likelihood]	[Next step]
[Opportunity]	[Value]	[Likelihood]	[Next step]

Risks

[A risk and how it is being managed]
[A risk and how it is being managed]
[A risk and how it is being managed]

Priorities and measures

Priority 1Owner: [Role accountable for this priority]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Why this priority matters now, in one or two sentences]

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]

Initiatives

[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]

Priority 2Owner: [Role accountable for this priority]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Why this priority matters now, in one or two sentences]

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]

Initiatives

[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]

Priority 3Owner: [Role accountable for this priority]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Why this priority matters now, in one or two sentences]

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]

Initiatives

[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]

Priority 4Owner: [Role accountable for this priority]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Why this priority matters now, in one or two sentences]

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]

Initiatives

[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]

How to adapt it

01
Estimate the customer's total spend in your categories before setting a growth target. Share of wallet tells you whether to defend, grow or accept that the account is saturated.
02
Build the stakeholder map from who signs, who influences and who can block, and record a stance for each. Mark every person you have never met.
03
Write customer goals in the customer's words, taken from their annual report, tender documents or business reviews. If you cannot name three, book the meeting that will tell you.
04
Size each whitespace opportunity and give it a likelihood and a next step with a date. Drop any you would not resource this year.
05
Pair each risk with a mitigation and an owner, and put the renewal date and notice period at the top of the plan.
06
Share the customer goals and joint actions with the customer. An account plan they have never seen is a sales forecast.

How to run it

A plan only works if it is reviewed on a rhythm. This is the cadence the example assumes.

Check-in	Outcome owners update progress and confidence weekly.
Review	Priority owners review outcomes and unblock initiatives monthly.
Reset	Leadership revisits priorities and targets quarterly.

Tability keeps this cadence for you. Each priority becomes an objective, each outcome a key result with its baseline and target, and each initiative a tracked task. Owners get a check-in reminder and the plan shows what is on track.

Track this plan in Tability

Still comparing tools? See the 10 best strategy software tools.

Common mistakes

Writing the plan around what the supplier wants to sell, with no section on what the customer is trying to achieve.
Depending on a single contact, so that one resignation or reorganization resets the relationship.
Listing whitespace without values or probabilities, which turns the plan into a wish list.
Completing the plan once for an annual review and never opening it again until the renewal is already at risk.

Questions, answered.

What should an account strategy template include?

It should include an account profile with spend, share of wallet and renewal date, a stakeholder map, the customer's own goals, sized whitespace opportunities and the main risks with mitigations. Finish with three to five priorities that have measurable outcomes and owners, so the plan can be reviewed every month.

What is the difference between an account strategy and an account plan?

The terms are often used for the same document. Where a distinction is made, the account strategy sets the direction for the customer relationship over a year or more, and the account plan lists the actions, meetings and deals that follow from it. Many teams keep both in one document.

Which customers need a strategic account plan?

Customers whose loss would change your year, or whose growth potential is large, need one. A common rule is the accounts that make up the top 20% to 30% of revenue, plus a few with low share of wallet and high spend. Most account directors can maintain plans for five to ten accounts properly.

How do you calculate share of wallet?

Divide what the customer spends with you by their total spend in the categories you can supply. The denominator is an estimate, built from volumes, store or site counts, tender documents and what the buyer tells you. State your assumptions, and refine the figure after each business review.

How often should an account strategy be updated?

Update the actions and stakeholder map monthly, review results with your own leadership each quarter, and rewrite the strategy once a year or when something material changes. A new decision maker, a tender announcement or a service failure are all reasons to revisit it straight away.

Account strategy template

Get the Word file

What this account strategy template includes

Account strategy example

Context

Account profile

Stakeholder map

Customer goals

Whitespace

Risks

Restore delivery performance before the tender

Secure the supply agreement early

Grow share in fiber-based fresh and frozen packaging

Protect account margin

Blank account strategy template

Context

Account profile

Stakeholder map

Customer goals

Whitespace

Risks

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Name the priority in a few words]

Get the Word file

How to adapt it

How to run it

Common mistakes

Questions, answered.

What this account strategy template includes

Account strategy example

Restore delivery performance before the tender

Secure the supply agreement early

Grow share in fiber-based fresh and frozen packaging

Protect account margin

Blank account strategy template

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Name the priority in a few words]

How to adapt it

How to run it

Common mistakes

Questions, answered.

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