TERRITORY MANAGEMENT DR EARL STEVENS, OCTOBER 2009

10. Sales Training

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Nature of Territory Management• Salespeople are not only responsible for individual

customers (account management) but also responsible for a group of accounts (territory management).

• It is defined as planning, implementation, and control, of sales persons activities with the goal of realizing the sales and profits potentials of their assigned territories.

• Although geographic considerations play a role in setting boundaries, sales territories are primarily based on customer grouping.

• Should the sales executive assigned a territory on the basis of the geographically area or customer base? • What if a customer has multiple plant location? • Or the client shifts its business area?

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Types of AccountsMajor Accounts• Customers whose significance to the company’s business requires

special attention and experience.• Major accounts are also termed as ‘key accounts’• They are usually called on either by special sales people “senior

sales representative” or “key accounts manager”, or by regional or district sales managers.

Direct Accounts• Large accounts involving special arrangements in terms of pricing,

credit or product design. For e.g. central buying offices of a multinational firm.

• These are also called “House” or “National” accounts those served by home office personnel or executives.

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Territory Activities

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Sales Territory Design

• Designing sales territory involves breaking down a firm’s customer base so that accounts can be well served by individual sales persons.

• Poor territory design can lead to inadequate market coverage, unequal workload, lack of control over the workforce and depressed morale.

• A company's sales territory represents basic accountability units to the lowest level of aggregation.

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Manage to Succeed

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Reasons for establishing sales territories

• Companies form sales territories mainly to maximize sales and profits.

• There are 3 pairs of guiding principles that cause sales management to employ territories in their operations:• (a) customer-related• (b) salesperson-related• (c) managerial

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Customer-Related

REASONS• Provide intensive market coverage

• Provide excellent customer service

• BENEFITS• Produce higher sales• Produce greater satisfaction

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Sales Person-Related

REASONS• Generates enthusiasm and motivation

• Facilitate performance evaluation

• BENEFITS• Lead to less turnover, employee satisfaction

• Offer rewards related to effort, pay-for-performance

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Managerial-Related

REASONS• Enhance control• Coordinate promotion

• BENEFITS• Tight handle on selling expenses / allocate cost by territory

• Plan for staff incentives

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Reasons for Revising Territories1. Major accounts open or close down facilities, move into or out of the area, or shift

in customers business – geographically or technological in nature

2. Aggressive domestic or international competition (markets are dynamic and

conditions change)

3. Changes in company’s buying policies or structure

4. Salespersons related revision due to physical, social, or psychological changes.

5. A salesperson may display a reduced energy level, family problems of various

kinds can effect territory performance significantly.

6. If a territory’s sales potential was underestimated or overestimated.

7. Managers can also find that they need to realign territories as new product lines

are introduced into the company’s product mix and the presentation and servicing

burdens become too large under old arrangement.

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Reasons for NOT establishing sales territories

• When a company is small (few resources)• When friendship sales is important to maintain for long-term relationship

• When high technology selling is involved. In high technology application there are often a very limited number of potential customers nationwide that require highly specialized advice.

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Developing Territories

• Drawing up territories ranks among the most important responsibilities of sales managers.

• It affects the sales force morale and performance.• Results can be measured by sales volume, relative market share or profit.

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Factors to consider in establishing ‘Territories’

• Sales persons workload and nature of the job, for e.g. a prospecting salesperson can handle a larger territory assignment then a person who must provide full service for each account.

• The type of product / product lines• The type of competition faced by the company in each territory.• The desired intensity of the market coverage / challenging

territories• Channels of distribution available and transportation• system• Sales potential and servicing requirement. Limited potential

territories can be used as a training grounds for new members of a sales force.

• Salesperson can be assigned to more challenging territories in accordance with their performance.

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Model of Territory Management

• Territory management can be defined broadly in terms of:

• Planning (Analysis, Objectives, Strategies, Tactics)

• Implementation (achievement of new business targets, reporting)

• Control (compares intended and actual results with a view to taking corrective action)

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1. Planning

Analysis:• Account load – the number of actual and potential customers assigned to a

salesperson• Account potential – the share of an account’s business that the firm can reasonably

expect to attract.• Servicing requirements – established and new accounts have servicing requirements

that are based on both the past volume with the company and their unique needs and problems.

Objectives:• Concern here is the sales volume and market share goals in the territory, which is

derived in top-down manner, starting from corporate objectives.

Strategies:• Have to work on various strategies like pricing, promotional, delivery terms, payment

and credit terms.

Tactics:• Routing and scheduling task, avoid repetitive tasks, intensity of territory coverage and

minimizing non-productive time.• Designing a sales person travelling plan or the sequence of location to be visited

(known as ‘Routing’).• Proper scheduling or sequencing of appointments.

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2. Implementation

• Establishing customer base; selling and servicing these accounts is the principal act of territory activity.

• New business development should be a continuous• undertaking.• Customer satisfaction and maintaining long term relationship

are among the foremost concern of the territory manager.• Another important ingredient in implementation is ‘reporting’.• Maintaining a steady flow of reports to the home office about

sales results, problems or corrective actions.

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3. Control

• A feedback process• A comparison take place between intended and

actual results, with a view of taking corrective action where required.

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Prioritize Your Activities to Produce Maximum Results

• How you prioritize your sales territory management activities depends upon whether you are managing a territory that has existing customers, or whether you are building your customer base from scratch.

• If you manage a territory that has existing customers, your first priority should be to introduce yourself to every single one of your customers. This should be a pleasant, low-key introduction along the lines of, "I just wanted to introduce myself and see if there is anything I can do to help you." Then, as you are chatting with your customers, you can ask, "Would you mind sharing with me how you think my company's relationship with you has been going so far? What have we been doing well? Where could we improve?"

• Collecting this kind of feedback is a great way to start relationships with customers.• It also helps you draw any festering problems out into the open. If you can address

the problems quickly, it can really jump-start your relationships with the affected customers.

• This same approach can also be effective for customers that have been reducing their purchases from your company over time, or customers that have stopped ordering completely. It is never much fun to listen to people complain. But, if you can isolate and solve the problems that are causing the dissatisfaction, you can produce a rapid and substantial boost in sales.

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Prioritize Your Activities to Produce Maximum Results • If you find customers that are really happy with the service your company has provided, drill

down (with more questions) to determine just what has made them so happy. Their answers will provide you with a template for successfully managing their (and other) accounts. Also, ask these happy customers for referrals, regardless of whether you have contributed in any way to their happiness! Happy, satisfied customers are usually delighted to share their positive experience with others.

• Once you have met all of your existing customers, the next step is to identify target prospects in your territory

• Start by checking with your manager. If they have been managing your sales team for any period of time, they should be able to suggest some good target prospects.

• Once you have compiled a list of target prospects, determine which ones you will pursue first. Which target prospects have the greatest potential to purchase the largest amounts of products and services? Which ones are likely to be "quick closes"? If you have both types of target prospects on your list, pursue several of each type at the same time. In the words of a well-respected executive that I used to work with, "Elephant hunting is great. But those rabbits sure taste good in between the elephants!"

• When you are ready to begin pursuing your target prospects, start by asking your existing customers whether they know anyone that works in the target organizations. If they do, ask for referrals. Once you have exhausted available referrals, proceed with the other activities in your prospecting plan - but tailor these activities to attract the attention of your target prospects.

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Prioritize Your Activities to Produce Maximum Results

Conclusion• Effective sales territory management begins with touching base with

every single one of your existing customers. Ask questions to gauge their satisfaction with their relationship with your company. If they identify any problems, work aggressively to solve these problems as your first priority.

• If a customer expresses happiness and satisfaction, ask questions to determine what your company has been doing right. Use this information to create a template for managing all of your accounts. Also be sure to ask for referrals, both in general and to specific target accounts. Exhaust these referrals before you begin the other (less productive) activities in your prospecting plan.

• Prioritize your activities as described in this article, and you will maximize sales growth in your territory!

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