Account planning for relationships that drive long-term success

Why and how Mural supports account planning for relationships that drive long-term success

The strategic account planning process is vital to building deep customer relationships that deliver results and set your team up for continued success. It shouldn't feel like a slog; a well-run strategic account planning session should get your team energized and motivated to help your customers win.

Mural gives your GTM teams a shared visual space to spot opportunities, map out next moves, and align around what matters to your customers without the "wait, who owns this?" confusion.

Use Mural for account planning any time your teams need to rally around the customer and align on an account strategy that sticks. Whether you’re gearing up for executive business reviews, prepping annual account plans, or building roadmaps for key account management, Mural helps you turn planning into action.

Better account planning isn't just about keeping your notes organized. It creates a ripple effect across the business — faster deal cycles, stronger customer trust, and more predictable revenue growth — all while making your team more confident and aligned every step of the way.

Related: The 5 steps of the strategic planning process

The benefits of using Mural for account planning

Mural gives your GTM teams a shared, visual workspace that makes it easy (and fun!) to strategize and execute customer-centered account plans.

• Seamless team alignment: Ditch the scattered emails, docs, and slide decks for a single visual collaboration space where everyone can align on customer goals and next steps without the chaos.
• Faster strategy execution: With ready-to-use account planning templates and AI assistance, teams move from planning to action more efficiently, ensuring your account growth strategy translates into tangible progress.
• Insight-driven conversations: Run structured, visual meetings that make it easy to capture, organize, and act on insights to drive customer value.
• Consistency across teams: Turn proven practices into repeatable planning processes that can scale across your GTM teams and still provide flexibility to build custom plans for each account.
• Customer-centered focus: Keep customer needs front and center with frameworks that map customer goals, challenges, and opportunities visually, helping teams prioritize what matters most.

Common challenges with account planning and how to overcome them with Mural

Account planning often stalls when teams get buried under scattered docs, clashing processes, and unclear ownership. So how does visual collaboration enhance account planning? 

Here are some of the most common account planning challenges that Mural can help your team overcome:

• Lack of clarity in knowing where to start. Account planning can feel overwhelming, especially when facing an empty canvas. Mural’s plug-and-play template library lets you skip the guesswork and kickstart planning with proven frameworks.
• Inefficient communication that drains energy without progress. Planning sessions often drag on, leaving teams unclear about what’s next. Mural’s interactive, visual environment keeps discussions focused and teams engaged. No more endless meetings just to align on a single step.
• Plans that quickly feel outdated . Priorities shift as customer relationships evolve, and account plans must adapt accordingly. With Mural, teams can refresh plans on the fly, keeping strategies aligned across the org as customer needs and business goals change.
• Difficulty in aligning on big-picture goals. GTM teams often get stuck in the weeds, losing sight of how account planning connects to broader priorities and revenue strategy. Mural helps teams visualize how immediate plans ladder up to organizational goals, ensuring planning sessions support your company’s overall growth strategy.

Best practices for account planning with Mural

Make your account planning sessions more impactful and actionable with these best practices for using Mural:

• Start with clear customer objectives: Kick off your planning by visually mapping customer goals and challenges using connectors, color coding, and shapes to align your team around top priorities without confusion.
• Conduct active, collaborative sessions: Tap into Mural’s Facilitation Superpowers, like voting, summoning, and private mode, to gather input from stakeholders live or asynchronously. Well-facilitated sessions can invite more diverse perspectives while keeping alignment tight.
• Document and visualize your strategy: Transform complex account strategies into clear, visual plans with sticky notes, diagrams, and mapping tools so teams can revisit, update, and refine plans together in a living workspace.
• Track ownership and next steps: Assign clear action items within your canvas so follow-ups aren’t lost and accountability stays front and center as plans progress.
• Celebrate and share wins: Turn every account planning session into an opportunity to build confidence and encourage continuous improvement by highlighting progress, showcasing successful plans, and sharing learnings across teams in Mural.

Related: Account planning tools: Strategies & solutions for growth