What is PQ and how does it impact account planning?

Over the years, selling has moved steadily towards something more collaborative. Customers expect more than product knowledge and good intentions. They want people who can work with them, think with them and help them make progress.

This is where PQ, Partnering Intelligence, comes in.

PQ is the ability to build and operate real partnerships. It is about how well you work with customers and with colleagues to create progress over time. Not just to win a deal, but to build something that lasts.

At its core, PQ is made up of six elements:

• Trust: being credible, reliable and consistent

• Win win thinking: looking for outcomes that work for both parties

• Interdependence: recognising that success comes from working together

• Transparency: being open, honest and willing to share perspectives

• Future orientation: thinking beyond the immediate deal

• Comfort with change: helping customers navigate change rather than resisting it

These elements matter in every customer interaction, but they really come into their own when applied to account planning. Account planning is not a document. It is a way of thinking. PQ gives it depth, direction and relevance.

Below we will look at each element and how it can positively impact account planning, both with customers and with colleagues.

Trust

With customers

Trust is the foundation of any meaningful account plan. Without it, plans stay theoretical.

When trust is present, customers are more open about priorities, pressures and constraints. They share what really matters, not just what sounds safe. This allows account plans to reflect reality rather than assumptions.

Trust also reduces friction. Conversations move faster. Decisions become easier. The account plan becomes something done with the customer, not something written about them.

With colleagues

Internally, trust enables better collaboration across sales, delivery, service and leadership.

When colleagues trust each other, information flows more freely. Risks are raised earlier. Commitments are clearer. Account plans stop being sales-only artefacts and start becoming shared reference points.

This improves consistency for the customer and reduces internal misalignment.

Win win thinking

With customers

Win win thinking keeps account planning balanced.

It forces a simple question: what does success look like for both sides?

This prevents plans that are overly seller focused or short term. Instead, the plan reflects mutual value, shared outcomes and realistic expectations.

Customers are more likely to engage when they can see how the plan serves them as well as you.

With colleagues

Internally, win win thinking reduces territorial behaviour.

Account planning often involves competing priorities. Sales targets, delivery capacity, customer expectations. A win win mindset encourages constructive trade-offs rather than internal tension.

The result is plans that are commercially sound and operationally achievable.

Interdependence

With customers

Interdependence recognises that success is shared.

In account planning, this shifts the focus from what you will do for the customer to how you will work together. Roles, responsibilities and dependencies become clearer.

This improves execution. Customers know where they fit. You know where support is required. Progress becomes a joint effort rather than a one-sided push.

With colleagues

Internally, interdependence breaks silos.

Account plans highlight where different teams contribute to customer success. This creates alignment and accountability across functions.

It also encourages earlier involvement from the right people, reducing last-minute surprises and rework.

Transparency

With customers

Transparency builds confidence.

In account planning, this means being open about constraints, risks, timelines and trade-offs. Not everything is possible. Saying so early strengthens credibility.

Transparent plans create fewer misunderstandings and more informed decisions. Customers feel respected rather than managed.

With colleagues

Internally, transparency improves planning quality.

Clear assumptions, honest assessments and visible risks make plans more robust. It also makes reviews more useful, as discussions are based on facts rather than optimism.

This leads to better prioritisation and stronger execution.

Future orientation

With customers

Account planning is about direction, not just activity.

A future orientation helps customers think beyond the next deal. It connects today’s actions to longer-term goals and outcomes.

This positions you as a partner who understands where the customer is heading and is willing to invest in that journey.

With colleagues

Internally, future orientation helps teams plan capacity, capability and focus.

It allows organisations to anticipate needs rather than react to them. Account plans become tools for strategic alignment, not just forecasting.

Comfort with change

With customers

Change is a constant. Account plans that ignore this quickly become obsolete.

Comfort with change means building flexibility into plans. It means acknowledging uncertainty and adapting as conditions shift.

Customers value partners who can help them navigate change rather than pretend it is not happening.

With colleagues

Internally, comfort with change supports agility.

Plans are revisited, refined and improved without defensiveness. Teams respond faster and learn quicker.

This creates resilience, both for the account and the organisation.

Bringing it all together

PQ gives account planning substance.

It ensures plans are grounded in relationships, not just numbers. It connects strategy to behaviour. It aligns customers and colleagues around shared outcomes.

When PQ is applied well, account planning becomes less about documentation and more about direction, alignment and progress.

That is where real value is created.