Designing great territories that are balanced, provide reasonable opportunity for growth, and can be served effectively is critical. Once you get that right turn your attention to deploying your sales team to their highest and best use. These two things can make all the difference in growing sales and maximizing profitability.
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Better territory design & sales execution for growth
2. Better Territory Design and Sales Execution for Growth | November 2017 2
Three symptoms of sub-optimal territory design and sales execution
1. Accounts are distributed in ways that
result in high windshield time.
2. Territories are overlapping with sales
professionals passing each other on the
road/ in the air.
3. Territory and call planning processes are
creating inefficient routes and low impact
interactions with customers.
Too much
SALES TIME
focused on non-sales
related activities
1. Sales people call on the easy accounts.
2. Account value and potential is not well
understood or not applied in call
planning.
3. Sales professionals invest time in
accounts with potential but have a very
low probability of growing.
LOWER VALUE
ACCOUNTS
getting more attention
than they deserve
1. Customer segments and value
propositions
are no longer relevant and compelling.
2. Individual account challenges and
opportunities have not been defined and
addressed.
3. Sales approach is canned and applied
indiscriminately vs. tailored to address
account specific needs.
SALES
ACTIVITIES
not aligned with the
needs of each account
3. Better Territory Design and Sales Execution for Growth | November 2017 3
ACCOUNTS are assigned to
territories and roles based on a
combination of value, potential,
business needs, location and
optimal service approach.
TERRITORY DESIGNS
are developed to maximize
sales time invested in
accounts that generate a
high level of return.
TERRITORY PLANNING
and execution is data driven
but individually tailored to
ensure sales activity is
aligned with customer needs
Account
Assignment
Top performing sales teams develop and execute against territory designs that
increase time in front of the right customers doing the right things
4. Better Territory Design and Sales Execution for Growth | November 2017 4
ACCOUNT VALUATION
AND PROFILING
Market, channel, segment valuation
Account potential estimation
Data driven customer segmentation
Value proposition alignment
Account service approach optimization
FAST-CYCLE
TERRITORY DESIGN
Account remapping to segments
Territory visualization and valuation
Color coding accounts for overlap
On the fly account reassignment
Workload estimation and territory
balancing
TERRITORY PLANNING
AND EXECUTION
Service needs driven call planning
Efficient talent deployment
Data driven account opportunity
identification
Standardizing but flexible selling
approach addressing different buyer
needs and persona
Your systems, data & knowledge
Our technology & experience
Optimal territory design
Fast-cycle implementation
+
+
5. Better Territory Design and Sales Execution for Growth | November 2017 5
ACCOUNT VALUATION & PROFILING
2.) Use transaction data to identify characteristics and behaviors
that highlight the optimal sales approach by account type1.) Start with the 60,000 foot view
4.) Crowd source sales team input to remap customers by segment
using a low disruption fast-cycle approach3.) Calculate account value and estimate potential
1. Identify the largest sources of revenue and
profit (e.g., region, account)
2. Identify where trends are positive or negative
and investigate drivers of change
3. Determine industry, regional or account
specific drivers of growth
1. Is buying behavior consistent or varied?
2. Does the account buy centrally?
3. What combined set of characteristics might
suggest a new segmentation approach?
1. Identify characteristics that have historically
predicted growth
2. Using your analysis develop a method to
approximate account potential
3. Test and update approach over time
Continually update your view of the market.
6. Better Territory Design and Sales Execution for Growth | November 2017 6
2.) Reassign accounts based on current value, future potential,
location, business need and desired service approach
3.) Dynamically rebalance territories by comparing number and
contribution from accounts (current and future potential)
1.) Map accounts to visualize territory boundaries and geographic
distribution of accounts by size and type
1. Geofence areas to get
account count and value
2. Reassign accounts
selected to new territories
on the fly
3. Search the territory for
new potential clients
based on Google business
listing
1. Continue to reassign accounts
until territories are balanced
2. Review territories every year
for workload and opportunity
3. Recalculate territory goals
automatically to provide a
starting point for leadership
4.) Estimate workload and resource requirements by establishing
account service assumptions based on latest sales data
Size # # hours # hours # hours
a.) >=50K 6 0 0 10 10 5 8
b.) <50K 2 0 0 8 3 4 2
c.) <35K 5 6 10 6 5 4 5
d.) <25K 8 6 16 6 8 4 8
e.) <15K 57 4 76 5 48 6 86
f.) <5K 50 4 67 4 34 6 75
(blank) 10 4 13 4 7 2 5
Count 138 24 43 31
Total 138 182 115 188
Capturing Incoming
Orders
Account Size Off Cycle Phone Calls
Post Order
Follow-Up
1. Develop high level
assumptions for the
territory
2. Vary execution based
on sales professional
knowledge and
experience
FAST-CYCLE TERRITORY DESIGN
Use practical solutions that can be implemented in the context of your business and operating environment.
7. Better Territory Design and Sales Execution for Growth | November 2017 7
1.) Update customer value propositions to improve alignment
between what you offer and what customers need / want
2.) Assess sales person capabilities and performance for
possible redeployment to right roles
3.) Use combination of sales and potential to provide account calling
guidelines that are then informed by field experience
4.) Use your reporting solution to monitor and manage sales execution
throughout the year with the right metrics and visualizations
1. Use an off-the-shelf solution or develop
a customized assessment to test for
characteristics that define success
2. Combine with individual performance
data to assess fit by role
3. Update talent deployment to increase success
in each area of deployment
4. Update recruiting practices to reflect new approach
1. Develop a design that answers strategic
questions decisively
2. Focus on national, regional, channel, and
product / service performance first (i.e.,
approach not people)
3. Plan on iterating the design as market
behavior evolves
1. Develop distinct buyer profiles
for each segment
2. Use the value proposition
canvas to quantify and translate
needs into new propositions
3. Develop and test for resonance
with trusted accounts
1. Provide sales call guidance
based on value and potential
2. Modify approach at account
level based on field
knowledge
3. Deploy inside sales to
support lower value accounts
TERRITORY PLANNING & EXECUTION
Engage key stakeholders using tools that limit disruption and reduce time to complete the transformation.