A new discipline for strategic customer development
Most organisations say they want deeper, more strategic customer relationships. Few have the operating framework to achieve them. Account-Based Growth combines commercial focus with delivery integrity — and the SUCCESS Framework gives leaders a practical, repeatable way to understand, grow and retain their highest-value customers.
This page introduces the core principles from Oak Consult’s Account-Based Growth whitepaper, refined and compressed into a leadership-ready guide. It shows why strategic accounts behave differently, how trust compounds value, and what executive teams must do to create meaningful, long-term growth.
Who this whitepaper is for
Account-Based Growth is designed for leaders who need to strengthen strategic customer relationships, stabilise revenue, and create long-term value.
Ideal for CEOs, Commercial Directors, Account Directors, Customer Success leaders and Transformation teams seeking a structured, evidence-based approach.
What’s inside the Account-Based Growth and the SUCCESS Framework whitepaper
A practical guide to:
- How strategic accounts create disproportionate value
- Why most organisations confuse activity with meaningful growth
- The seven-element SUCCESS Framework
- How to focus investment where it creates real return
- How to diagnose risk early and strengthen trust at scale
- How governance, experience and capability shape long-term outcomes
- How to build a fit-for-purpose account strategy your customers will feel, not just see
Why this matters now
Growth is becoming harder to win and even harder to keep. Customers expect deeper insight, multi-layered support, and partnerships that improve their business — not just transactions.
At the same time, internal complexity, fragmented ownership and misaligned metrics often weaken account performance from the inside out.
Account-Based Growth gives leadership teams a sharper way to focus:
fewer accounts, deeper relationships, stronger outcomes.
The SUCCESS Framework turns that ambition into a structured operating model that teams can trust and customers can recognise.
The SUCCESS Framework
A leadership model for Account-Based Growth
S — Strategy Alignment
Are we aligned to the customer’s goals, pressures and direction of travel?
Alignment reduces friction, accelerates trust and ensures our efforts matter.
U — Understanding
Do we deeply understand their business model, economics, risk profile and definition of success?
Strong understanding creates relevance and credibility.
C — Capability
Do we have the right solutions, expertise and delivery capacity to be a strategic partner, not just a supplier?
Capability is the foundation on which trust is built.
C — Consistency
Do we deliver reliably, predictably and without excuse?
Inconsistent delivery erodes relationship equity faster than poor performance.
E — Experience
What does the customer actually feel when they interact with us?
Experience is the emotional signature of the partnership.
S — Stewardship
Are we governing the account with discipline, integrity and accountability?
Stewardship ensures nothing important is left to chance.
S — Strengthening
What are we doing — proactively — to deepen trust, reduce risk and grow value over time?
Strengthening is the long-term rhythm of strategic account growth.
Key questions leaders should ask
- Which customers genuinely deserve an account-based strategy?
- Where are we misaligned to the customer’s true priorities?
- Do our internal metrics reflect what the customer actually values?
- What’s the real health of our account relationships?
- What would our customers say if they sat in our account reviews?
About the author
Mark Conway is the founder of Oak Consult and creator of the SUCCESS Framework, GROWTH Governance, Customer Spectacles and the DRIVERS model for customer experience. He works with organisations across B2B, SaaS and public-sector markets to build trust, strengthen strategic accounts and deliver sustainable growth.