Building Outcome-Focused Plans With Customers
Expert tips from Highspot's Erica Richmond
Most annual plans fall short because they focus on projects rather than the outcomes customers truly care about. The shift from activity planning to outcome planning changes everything. It creates clarity, strengthens alignment, and sets the foundation for a more coordinated and strategic year.
In this video, Erica Richmond from Highspot shares how to re-engineer the annual planning process by starting with an outcomes workshop. Instead of asking what customers want to do next year, the conversation begins with their top business priorities and how success will be measured together.
Erica explains how to:
Facilitate outcome-driven planning sessions with customers
Translate business priorities into clear, quantifiable KPIs
Align cross-functional teams early so plans are coordinated, not reactive
Identify white space and expansion opportunities during planning
Build a unified strategy across product, partnerships, marketing, and account teams
Manage up to leadership with a structured plan that sets expectations for the year
When you set the tone early with customers, internally, and with leadership, the entire year becomes more strategic, more coordinated, and far more impactful.