Sales Territory Management is a rigorous process that requires you to think critically and strategize effectively. Especially when you’re dealing with large territories or complex selling environments, it’s important to establish a solid foundation for your sales efforts.
Your permanent journey plan (also known as the sales beat plan) and the way you manage your sales territories can have an impact on your ability to succeed and grow as an account-based sales organization. Let’s take a look at five things you need to know about sales territory management.
If you’re not sure what the sales positions are, that’s the first thing to look at. Sales positions can help you understand your market position, which you’ll need to know before you can determine your sales strategies. The market and sales positions are the foundation for your sales strategies. If you don’t know your market position or sales positions, it’s critical to figure those out before you can move forward with sales territory management.
Similarly, if you don’t understand the role of your product or service in the sales process, it’s important to understand that as well. Your product or service plays a significant role in shaping your sales strategies. Understanding your product or service and its role in the sales process will help you determine the best sales strategies for your business.
Once you know your sales positions and market positions, it’s time to establish your territory boundaries. If you don’t know where your sales territories begin and end, you won’t be able to effectively manage your resources. You can create a sales map for your business to show sales positions, as well as the territories where sales reps will be selling.
Once you have an idea of where the territories begin and end, you can start to look at where they intersect with the permanent journey plan (PJP). Your sales territories and the journey plan may intersect in a number of places, which means you’ll need to establish a sales mix. A sales mix is the proportion of the different types of sales activities you’ll be using within a given territory.
You may have several sales territories, each with a different sales mix. You can use a mix of activities such as inbound and outbound marketing, lead generation activities, sales enablement activities, etc. Depending on your sales territories, you may want a higher percentage of inbound marketing activities. Or you may need to focus more on outbound marketing activities.
The sales mix in your sales territories needs to reflect the needs of the account, as well as the account’s position in the journey. The sales mix of your team members in the same or adjacent territories should also reflect the needs of the account and the position in the journey.
As you’re managing your sales territories and determining the sales mix, you’ll also need to develop a permanent journey plan. The journey plan is your account-based selling strategy. It’s a way to describe the overall strategy for your sales team, including the types of accounts they’ll be pursuing, as well as the activities they’ll be engaging in with those accounts.
When you’re developing your journey plan, you’ll want to take into account your sales territories. You’ll want to make sure your journey plan is aligned with the sales mix in each sales territory. For example, if you have a sales territory that’s geared toward inbound marketing activities, your journey plan should reflect that. If you have a sales territory that’s geared toward outbound marketing activities, your journey plan should reflect that as well.
While it’s important to understand what the sales territories are and how they intersect with the journey plan, it’s also important to be smart about mapping. It’s important for your sales reps to understand the sales territories and where they fit in with the journey plan.
When you’re managing sales territories, it’s important to understand the sales positions, market positions, sales strategies, and the roles of products or services. You’ll also need to establish your territory boundaries, determine the ideal sales mix, develop a permanent journey plan, and be smart about mapping. When you have these strategies and tactics in place, you’ll be better equipped to manage your sales territories and implement an effective account-based selling strategy.