Many sellers know I am not a fan of land-and-expand deals.

But I need to qualify that statement.

(Caveat – this only applies to reps who keep accounts after the initial sale.)

The lazy rep who closes prematurely, takes the land but doesn’t invest in the account to expand – that is pure idiocy.

But a strategic seller who uses the land as the appetizer, inviting the customer to a six-course feast – that is what I’m talking about.

The strategic land-and-expand is the beachhead to months or years of fostering multiple deals – some of them will definitely have mega deal potential.

To establish that beachhead and leverage it to grow the engagement, you need a plan for staying in front of the customer.

And for that I have one word for you – account governance.

Account Governance:

A model of systematizing the ongoing stewardship of a relationship between a supplier and a customer through periodic, pre-arranged meetings.

The purpose of a governance model is to ensure the engagement is healthy and that lines of communication are open between the various levels of players – from worker bees up to senior executives.

Governance is a bread-and-butter sales motion among large tech players and system integrators,

But it is less used by startups and scaleups.

So, if you are at a startup or scaleup, here is your chance to differentiate from your competitors.

The below is an actual slide from a customer I worked with to establish a three-tier governance model.

The three tiers are for the three stakeholder types – worker bees, mid-level managers and senior executives.

Here are the frequencies and agendas for each:

1. Executive summit – 1x per year

• For 2-4 senior executives only
• Both sides share strategic roadmaps for next 3 years
• Address major issues unsolved by lower teams
• Develop exec relationships

2. Portfolio committee – 2x per year

• For system owners, project sponsors
• Health Check for all your installs across their org
• Both sides share strategic roadmaps for next 18 months

3. Project governance – 1-3x per quarter

• For project managers, CS
• Checkpoints for new implementations
• Shop-floor level issue-handling

Having a governance model in place ensures you have pre-agreed sessions on the calendar with senior stakeholders.

No more chasing for meetings – they are set at the beginning of the year.

The customer gets what they want – pre-established health checks and escalation paths.

You get what you want – ongoing access to key stakeholders to expand the engagement.

Here is the magic of why account governance works:

• Governance gives the relationship structure.
• The structure fosters order, pre-established health checks and escalation paths.
• An orderly, well-maintained relationship is what big enterprises want.
• When you deliver this kind of customer experience, that’s when they are ready to go all in, make you a preferred vendor and you get your shot at a mega deal.

Summary:

1. Account governance is the best system for account relationship management.
2. It should include all levels of stakeholders – worker bees, mid-level managers and executives.
3. It gives both sides what they want, thus paving the way for expanding the engagement.

If you want to go deeper:

I go into much greater detail into account governance and every other key component of doing uncommonly large enterprise deals in my Mega Deal Secrets masterclass. Here is the curriculum:

• Mindset
• Personal Branding
• Executive Whispering
• How to Craft a Mega Deal Premise
• Impactful Conversations
• Running the Sales Cycle
• Farming for Mega Deals
• Mega Deal Conjuring

If you are ready to accelerate your earning potential and make enterprise sales your vehicle to financial freedom, book a call with me and my team here to see if you are a fit for the masterclass.

‍