How to Build an Account Plan Using Salesforce and Gong Data

The Salesforce and Gong Account Planning Problem

Most enterprise sales teams use Salesforce and Gong. They have account data in Salesforce. They have conversation intelligence in Gong. They have everything they need to build account plans.

But here's the problem: building account plans with Salesforce and Gong data is still manual. It's still time-consuming. It's still fragmented. And the plans go stale quickly.

You pull data from Salesforce. You pull insights from Gong. You synthesize it manually. You create the plan. Then it sits there, untouched, until it's outdated.

Here's how to build an account plan using Salesforce and Gong data — and why it's still harder than it should be.

What Inputs Actually Matter

When building an account plan with Salesforce and Gong data, not all inputs are created equal. Some data points matter more than others. Some insights are actionable. Others are noise.

Here's what actually matters:

From Salesforce: Account Context

Account information:

• Company size, industry, revenue
• Account health score
• Contract renewal dates
• Product usage data
• Support ticket history

Opportunity data:

• Active opportunities and stages
• Deal values and probabilities
• Sales cycle length
• Win/loss history
• Competitive mentions

Relationship data:

• Key contacts and their roles
• Engagement history
• Email and call activity
• Meeting attendance
• Stakeholder mapping

Why these matter: Account information provides context. Opportunity data shows pipeline. Relationship data shows who matters. These inputs inform your account strategy.

From Gong: Conversation Intelligence

Talk tracks that work:

• What messaging resonates
• What objections come up
• What questions get asked
• What concerns surface

Stakeholder insights:

• Who's involved in decisions
• What their priorities are
• What their concerns are
• How they communicate

Competitive intelligence:

• What competitors are mentioned
• How they're positioned
• What differentiates you
• What concerns exist

Buying signals:

• Urgency indicators
• Budget discussions
• Timeline mentions
• Decision process insights

Why these matter: Conversation intelligence shows what's actually happening in deals. It reveals stakeholder dynamics, competitive positioning, and buying signals. These inputs inform your execution strategy.

What Doesn't Matter

Vanity metrics:

• Total email count
• Total call count
• Activity volume without context

Stale data:

• Old opportunity data
• Outdated contact information
• Historical insights without current relevance

Noise:

• Irrelevant conversation snippets
• Unactionable insights
• Data that doesn't inform strategy

Why these don't matter: Vanity metrics don't inform strategy. Stale data misleads. Noise distracts. Focus on inputs that actually inform your account plan.

Why This Is Still Manual

Despite having Salesforce and Gong, building account plans is still manual. Here's why:

Data Lives in Different Systems

Salesforce has account data. Gong has conversation intelligence. They don't automatically connect. You have to pull data from both systems, synthesize it manually, and create the plan.

The problem: Data fragmentation. You're constantly switching between systems, copying data, and trying to synthesize insights manually.

Why it's manual: There's no automatic connection between Salesforce and Gong. You have to manually pull data, synthesize insights, and create plans.

The impact: This takes hours per account. You can't scale it across your entire named account list. You prioritize the hottest deals and let the rest drift.

Synthesis Requires Human Judgment

Data doesn't automatically become strategy. You need to synthesize insights, identify patterns, and create a narrative. This requires human judgment.

The problem: Synthesis is manual. You have to read through data, identify patterns, and create a narrative. There's no automatic synthesis.

Why it's manual: Synthesis requires judgment. You need to understand context, identify patterns, and create strategy. This can't be automated easily.

The impact: This takes time and expertise. Not all reps can do it well. Quality varies. Plans are inconsistent.

Plans Require Manual Creation

Even with all the data, you still have to create the plan manually. You have to structure it, write it, and format it. This is manual work.

The problem: Plan creation is manual. You have to structure the plan, write the content, and format it. There's no automatic plan generation.

Why it's manual: Plans require structure, narrative, and formatting. This is manual work that can't be easily automated.

The impact: This takes hours per account. You can't scale it. Plans are inconsistent in quality and structure.

No Single Source of Truth

There's no single place where account plans live. They might be in Salesforce, in documents, in spreadsheets, or in other tools. This creates fragmentation.

The problem: Plans are scattered. They're in different systems, different formats, different locations. There's no single source of truth.

Why it's manual: You have to manually maintain plans across different systems. You have to manually update them. You have to manually share them.

The impact: Plans are hard to find, hard to update, and hard to share. They become siloed. They don't get used.

Why Plans Go Stale

Account plans built with Salesforce and Gong data go stale quickly. Here's why:

Data Updates Don't Automatically Flow into Plans

When Salesforce data updates, it doesn't automatically update your account plan. When Gong captures new insights, they don't automatically flow into your plan. You have to manually update plans.

The problem: Plans don't automatically update. When data changes, plans don't reflect those changes. They become outdated.

Why plans go stale: There's no automatic connection between data sources and plans. You have to manually update plans when data changes.

The impact: Plans become outdated quickly. They don't reflect current reality. They become untrustworthy. Reps stop using them.

Manual Updates Are Time-Consuming

Updating plans manually takes time. You have to pull new data, synthesize new insights, and update the plan. This is time-consuming.

The problem: Manual updates are slow. You can't update plans frequently. They go stale between updates.

Why plans go stale: Manual updates are time-consuming. You can't update plans frequently enough to keep them current.

The impact: Plans go stale. They don't reflect current reality. They become less useful over time.

Plans Aren't Part of Daily Workflow

Account plans aren't part of your daily workflow. You create them, then they sit there. You don't reference them daily. You don't update them regularly.

The problem: Plans are separate from daily work. They're not integrated into your workflow. They become disconnected from reality.

Why plans go stale: Plans aren't part of daily workflow. You don't reference them or update them regularly. They become disconnected.

The impact: Plans go stale. They become historical documents rather than living tools. They don't inform daily execution.

No Continuous Maintenance

Account plans require continuous maintenance. But most teams maintain them periodically, not continuously. They update plans during QBR prep, not continuously.

The problem: Plans are maintained periodically, not continuously. They're updated during planning cycles, not continuously.

Why plans go stale: Plans aren't maintained continuously. They're updated periodically, so they go stale between updates.

The impact: Plans go stale quickly. They don't reflect current reality. They become less useful over time.

How to Build Account Plans with Salesforce and Gong Data

Here's a practical approach to building account plans with Salesforce and Gong data:

Step 1: Pull Key Data Points

From Salesforce:

• Account information (size, industry, revenue)
• Active opportunities and stages
• Key contacts and their roles
• Engagement history
• Product usage data

From Gong:

• Talk tracks that work
• Stakeholder insights
• Competitive intelligence
• Buying signals
• Conversation patterns

Why this matters: Focus on inputs that actually inform strategy. Don't get distracted by vanity metrics or noise.

Step 2: Synthesize Insights

Identify patterns:

• What messaging resonates
• What stakeholders matter
• What competitive threats exist
• What buying signals indicate

Create narrative:

• Account context
• Stakeholder dynamics
• Competitive positioning
• Execution strategy

Why this matters: Synthesis turns data into strategy. It creates a narrative that informs execution.

Step 3: Structure the Plan

Account overview:

• Company context
• Business priorities
• Key stakeholders

Strategy:

• Account objectives
• Stakeholder approach
• Competitive positioning

Execution:

• Key activities
• Next steps
• Success metrics

Why this matters: Structure makes plans usable. It creates a framework that guides execution.

Step 4: Document and Share

Create the plan:

• Write it clearly
• Format it consistently
• Make it actionable

Share it:

• Make it accessible
• Keep it updated
• Use it regularly

Why this matters: Documentation makes plans shareable. Sharing makes them useful.

The Limitations of Manual Account Planning

Building account plans with Salesforce and Gong data is still manual. Here are the limitations:

Time-consuming: It takes hours per account. You can't scale it across your entire named account list.

Inconsistent: Quality varies. Plans are inconsistent in structure and depth.

Stale: Plans go stale quickly. They don't reflect current reality.

Fragmented: Plans are scattered across different systems. There's no single source of truth.

Why it matters: These limitations prevent account planning from scaling. They make it hard to maintain plans across your entire named account list.

The Future: Automated Account Planning

The future of account planning isn't manual synthesis. It's automated systems that:

Connect data sources: Automatically pull data from Salesforce, Gong, and other sources.

Synthesize insights: Automatically identify patterns and create narratives.

Generate plans: Automatically create account plans that are structured and actionable.

Maintain continuity: Automatically update plans as data changes, keeping them current.

Why it matters: Automated systems solve the maintenance problem. They make account planning scalable. They keep plans current. They create a single source of truth.

The Bottom Line

Building account plans with Salesforce and Gong data:

• Focus on inputs that matter — Account context, conversation intelligence, and actionable insights
• Understand why it's manual — Data fragmentation, manual synthesis, and no single source of truth
• Recognize why plans go stale — No automatic updates, manual maintenance, and disconnected from workflow

The limitations: Manual account planning is time-consuming, inconsistent, and doesn't scale. Plans go stale quickly.

The solution: Automated systems that connect data sources, synthesize insights, generate plans, and maintain continuity.

The sales teams that scale account planning successfully aren't the ones that do it manually. They're the ones that use systems that make account planning automatic, continuous, and scalable.

That's how you build account plans that actually work — by understanding what matters, why it's manual, and how to make it automatic.