# GTM enterprise account planning Human Guide

## What This Is For
Strategic account planning and execution for enterprise deals. It gives the agent a clearer input/output frame for go-to-market work: what context to ask for, what decisions to make, and what usable artifact to return.

Use this as a human-readable version of the GTM enterprise account planning agent skill. It is meant for marketers, operators, founders, and other non-coders who want the workflow without reading agent-specific implementation instructions.

## When To Use This
- Use this when you need a repeatable process for GTM enterprise account planning.
- Use this when the task needs judgment, examples, constraints, or a clear output format rather than a one-off prompt.
- Use this when you want to hand an AI assistant enough context to produce a usable marketing artifact.

## When Not To Use This
- Do not use this when you only need a quick factual answer.
- Do not use this when the work depends on private data you cannot share with the assistant.
- Do not use this as a replacement for legal, compliance, financial, or medical review.

## What You Need Before Starting
- The goal or business outcome you want.
- The audience, customer segment, or market context.
- Any source material the assistant should respect, such as notes, briefs, examples, URLs, or brand guidance.
- Constraints such as tone, length, channel, deadline, region, or approval requirements.
- A clear definition of what a good final answer should look like.

## Step-By-Step Workflow
1. State the job clearly: "Use the GTM enterprise account planning guide to help me with..."
2. Add context: audience, goal, offer, channel, source material, and constraints.
3. Ask the assistant to identify missing inputs before producing the final output.
4. Have the assistant follow the skill-specific guidance below.
5. Review the result against the final checklist and ask for revisions where needed.

## Skill-Specific Guidance
- "How do I plan this enterprise deal?"
- "This deal has been in motion 3 months, why isn't it closing?"
- "Should I create a full account plan or simplified version?"
- "How do I know if this deal is actually moving?"
- "Building a mutual action plan"
- Strategic deals above your average ACV
- Multiple stakeholders involved
- Complex buying process (legal, procurement, security)
- Enterprise or mid-market accounts
- Customer adding their own action items
- Both sides completing tasks on schedule
- New stakeholders appearing in MAP

## Decision Points And Nuance
The original skill emphasizes: When to Use, Core Frameworks, If Your MAP Hasn't Been Updated in 3 Weeks, That Deal Is Dead, The EB Discovery Problem (And Why Deals Die at Week 8), Personal Win Mapping (People Buy for Themselves), Enterprise Account Plan Structure (Four Components), LinkedIn Keyword Analysis for Account Intelligence, The Unified Sales Process (Stage Gates), Decision Trees, Do I Need a Full Account Plan?.

Use these questions to steer the work:
- What is the intended audience or buyer?
- What source material must be preserved?
- What should the assistant optimize for: clarity, persuasion, accuracy, speed, creativity, or conversion?
- What examples represent the desired quality bar?
- What should the assistant avoid?

## Common Mistakes
- If your MAP hasn't been updated in 3 weeks, the deal is dead — you just don't know it yet. **I've never seen a deal close with a stale MAP. Not once in 11 years.**
- **What happened?** You never met the Economic Buyer.
- Your champion (they influence, don't decide)
- The technical lead (they validate, don't buy)
- The VP who attended one demo (they advise, don't sign)
- If you answered "no" to any, don't send the proposal yet.
- **If champion blocks:** "I can handle that, you don't need to talk to them"
- Enterprise software purchases are made by committees. But committees don't buy. **People buy.**

## Copy-And-Paste Prompt
```text
Use the GTM enterprise account planning human guide.

My goal:
[Describe the business outcome]

Audience:
[Describe who this is for]

Context and source material:
[Paste notes, examples, links, or existing copy]

Constraints:
[Tone, length, channel, timeline, must-include items, must-avoid items]

Before producing the final output, ask me for any missing information that would materially improve the result.
```

## Final Checklist
- [ ] The output matches the original goal.
- [ ] The audience and context are reflected in the answer.
- [ ] Important constraints and source material were preserved.
- [ ] The assistant made the relevant decisions explicit.
- [ ] The final artifact is ready to use, review, or hand to the next person.

## Source
This guide was generated from the github/awesome-copilot skill entry for `gtm-enterprise-account-planning`.

## Source Skill Notes
These notes preserve the nuance from the original skill. Use them as supporting reference when the workflow above feels too generic.

# Enterprise Account Planning

Strategic account planning and execution for enterprise deals. Turn complex sales cycles into systematic wins — or at least know when they're dying before you waste months.

## When to Use

**Triggers:**
- "How do I plan this enterprise deal?"
- "This deal has been in motion 3 months, why isn't it closing?"
- "Should I create a full account plan or simplified version?"
- "How do I know if this deal is actually moving?"
- "MEDDICC qualification"
- "Building a mutual action plan"

**Context:**
- Strategic deals above your average ACV
- Multiple stakeholders involved
- Sales cycle exceeds 60 days
- Complex buying process (legal, procurement, security)
- Enterprise or mid-market accounts

---

## Core Frameworks

### 1. If Your MAP Hasn't Been Updated in 3 Weeks, That Deal Is Dead

**The Pattern I've Seen:**

The Mutual Action Plan (MAP) is the single best indicator of deal health. Not pipeline stage. Not verbal commitments. Not "they love the product."

**The MAP tells you everything:**

**Healthy deal:**
- MAP updated weekly
- Customer adding their own action items
- Both sides completing tasks on schedule
- New stakeholders appearing in MAP
- Dates moving up (not pushed out)

**Dying deal:**
- MAP last updated 3+ weeks ago
- Only your side has action items
- Customer tasks marked "pending" for weeks
- No new stakeholders engaged
- All dates in the past

**Why This Happens:**

When a deal is real, the customer wants it to happen. They're doing work. They're involving stakeholders. They're moving through their process.

When a deal is dying, you're doing all the work. They're "too busy." They'll "get back to you next week." The economic buyer is "traveling."

**The 3-Week Rule:**

If your MAP hasn't been updated in 3 weeks, the deal is dead — you just don't know it yet. **I've never seen a deal close with a stale MAP. Not once in 11 years.**

**What to Do:**

**Week 1 of silence:** Send MAP update: "Here's what we've completed. What's your status on [specific customer action]?"

**Week 2 of silence:** Escalate to champion: "Haven't heard back on MAP. Are we still on track for [date]? If priorities shifted, let me know."

**Week 3 of silence:** Qualify out or reset: "It seems like timing might not be right. Should we pause and reconnect in [timeframe], or is there a blocker I can help with?"

**Common Mistake:**

Keeping deals in pipeline because "they said they want it." Verbal interest ≠ action. If they're not doing work, they're not buying.

---

### 2. The EB Discovery Problem (And Why Deals Die at Week 8)

**The Pattern:**

You're 8 weeks into a deal. POC went great. Champion loves you. Technical validation complete. You send the proposal.

Then: radio silence.

**What happened?** You never met the Economic Buyer.