What you'll get
- 3 copy-ready blocks
- Spreadsheet-ready
- 2 tables
- 6 min read
- Portfolio sheet (tab-separated, paste into a sheet)
- Review call questions
- Review note
How to use it
- Step 1: List your current customer accounts in the sheet in Part 1. Start with the 10 you know best.
- Step 2: Fill in the row for each from memory and the CRM. Leave gaps empty. The gaps are the point.
- Step 3: Make the grow, hold or protect call in Part 2 for each row.
- Step 4: Book a review call with the accounts marked grow or protect, using the questions in Part 3.
- Step 5: File a short note after each call using Part 4. Repeat the whole review every quarter.
Most sellers review customers only when something goes wrong, or when a renewal is close. This template gives you a regular review of the accounts you already have. It asks who you know in each, what changed and whether to grow, hold or protect the account. It takes about 20 minutes per account the first time and about 10 after that.
Part 1: The portfolio sheet
One row per customer account. Paste the header into a spreadsheet.
Portfolio sheet (tab-separated, paste into a sheet)
Account Owner Customer since What they buy from us People we know (names and roles) Teams that use us Teams that could What changed since last review Last real conversation (date) Call (grow, hold or protect) Next step and dateTwo columns do most of the work. "People we know" shows how thin the thread is. "Teams that could" shows where growth might come from. If you cannot fill either, you have found the first job.
Part 2: Grow, hold or protect
Make one call per account. Use the first row that fits, working from the top.
| If this is true | The call | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| We know one person, and they are the only user | Protect | Find a second person before you try to sell anything |
| Something changed in the account (a new head, a launch, a merger) | Protect | Check the new situation before the renewal does |
| We know two or more people and other teams could use what we sell | Grow | Plan an introduction to one new team |
| We know two or more people and no other team has the need | Hold | Keep the relationship warm and review again next quarter |
| We have not spoken for a long time | Protect | A review call comes before a sales call |
Protect comes first on purpose. A customer who is exposed on one contact is not ready to be sold to, whatever the opportunity looks like.
Part 3: Five questions for the review call
A review call is not a sales call. You are asking the customer to help you understand their year. Use these in order and keep to the customer's words.
Review call questions
1. What has changed for your team since we started working together?
2. What are you being asked to deliver this year that you were not before?
3. Who else depends on the result of this work, and how do they see it?
4. Is there anything we do that you would stop, or something we should do better?
5. Who should we be talking to that we are not talking to now?Question 3 and question 5 are the ones to protect. Their answers become the names in "People we know". If the customer offers an introduction, ask for it by name and send a short note they can forward.
Part 4: The note to file
Write it the same day. Three lines are enough.
Review note
ACCOUNT: [ ] DATE: [ ] CALL: [grow, hold or protect]
What we learned: [one line, in the customer's words]
New names: [name and role, or none]
Next step and date: [ ]A note with no new names is still useful. It tells you the thread is still thin.
Worked example (illustrative, not a real company)
Harbourline Systems sells payroll software to hospital groups. Ravi Menon looks after four customer accounts. All names are invented.
| Account | What the sheet showed | The call |
|---|---|---|
| Westmere Hospitals | One person known, the finance head. Two other teams could use the product | Protect |
| Calder Care | Three people known. HR had asked about a second module | Grow |
| Ashby Health | Two people known. No other team has the need | Hold |
| Norwood Clinics | No conversation for a long time. New chief executive | Protect |
Ravi booked review calls with Westmere and Norwood first. At Westmere the finance head named the head of HR in answer to question 5, and offered to forward a short note. At Norwood the new chief executive's office confirmed the finance head was staying. Ravi added both names to the sheet and moved Westmere to grow for the next quarter. Calder Care followed with a plan for the HR team.
Five mistakes to avoid
- Reviewing only the accounts that are doing well. The quiet ones are where the surprises are.
- Treating the review as a sales call. Asking for an order in the first call teaches the customer to avoid you.
- Counting one contact as the account. One person is a relationship with an individual, not with a company.
- Leaving the gaps blank. An empty cell is a task. Give it an owner and a date.
- Doing it once. The review earns its time over three or four quarters, as the names build up.
Why this works on named accounts
Common questions
What is a key account review?
It is a regular look at a customer account to decide whether to grow it, hold it or protect it. It covers who you know in the account, what changed and what you will do next. It is shorter than a business review and is for your own use.
How often should you review an account?
Quarterly suits most key accounts. Review sooner when something changes in the account, such as a new head, a launch or a merger. Smaller accounts can be reviewed twice a year.
How many accounts can one person review?
Fewer than you think. The questions need real attention, so start with 10 and add more only when the sheet is up to date. A longer list reviewed thinly gives the same result as no review.
More from the Academy
Key Account Plan: One Page per Named Account
For account owners who carry a top-tier account in their head.
You leave with a one-page plan in 5 parts, a people table, a 15-minute review agenda and one plan filled in.
Buying Committee Roles Cheat Sheet
For sellers and SDRs working deals where more than one person decides.
You leave with the six roles on one page, what each cares about, what to send each one, how to spot them by job title and the cost of ignoring each.
Account Penetration Tracker (Sheets)
For teams working a named account list.
You leave with a paste-in tracker: one row per account, six statuses, the five KPIs your weekly review needs and a rule that flags any account going stale.
Account Penetration Tracker
Track how far you are inside each named account and read the five KPIs, with stalled accounts flagged. Runs in your browser.
Buying Committee Mapper
Map the people behind a decision by role, stance and influence, and see who to approach next. Runs in your browser.
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