How to Get the Best Results from a Sales Territory Plan

Today’s guest post is by Ron Snyder, president of Plan2Win Software.

 

 

 

What is the optimal way to manage your sales territories? Here are seven steps sales leaders can use to get the best results from each sales territory.

1. Establish a process.

Determine how you plan to establish and monitor the progress of territory plans each quarter. A clear progression of action steps helps each member of the team understand what’s expected as the quarter unfolds. This includes having territory managers

• create and update territory plans

• and review the plans at the regional and then national levels.

Support, marketing, and other functions should be included in review sessions as appropriate.

In addition, the process must include steps to maintain continuity from quarter to quarter, such as working on territory, account, and opportunity plans that take longer than one quarter to implement.

For more details on the implementation of the process across the quarter, see our manager’s checklist for territory planning.

2. Review significant trends in your territories and vertical markets in the past quarter or year.

• What are the key trends driving your business?

• What are the characteristics of your top prospects and customers?

• Are there market segments, customers, or products that you could focus on that would significantly accelerate your sales?

• Are there a few special issues with which your team is struggling (for example, a new competitive offering or regulatory requirement)?

3.  Set goals for the quarter or year.

Identify your most important goals across your area of responsibility, either by region, territory, or vertical market. These could include the following:

• Overall sales, revenue increases, or sales of specific products

• New customer acquisition

• Growth in an existing customer base

• Vertical-market or product-specific objectives

4.  Review territory alignments.

Make sure each goal is appropriately allocated based on last year’s results and updated projections.

• Assign or reassign accounts based on revenue potential.

• Identify pockets of new opportunities.

• Consider new ways to focus on specific vertical markets or industry segments.

• Determine and assign quotas for each territory.

• Negotiate and finalize quota, territory, and account assignments.

5.  Help each territory manager and salesperson create individual territory plans.

• Set territory-specific goals, including quota and the objectives required to achieve quota. Examples of objectives may include increasing account share by a certain percentage, selling a new product, or penetrating a new market segment.

• Establish strategies and tactics to respond to key trends uncovered in your SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis.

• Identify target accounts and opportunities, and create specific strategies and tactics for each.

• Focus on potential key partners, ranging from corporate strategic partners to local partners to noncompetitive salespeople in the territory.

• Generate an action plan, including activities to implement each strategy and tactic. For example, decide with whom you’ll meet and what you’ll do to implement the strategy to penetrate a new target market.

6.  Link the plan to your sales strategy.

Consider how each individual plan works to accomplish its part of the team’s goals.

• Leverage good ideas across the team. One best practice is to gather ideas from each territory manager and plan, and ask territory managers to share new ideas that are producing good results.

• Provide guidance to the group on common issues.

• Allocate resources to top priority accounts and opportunities.

7.  Execute action plans.

Ensure each territory manager and salesperson has created an action plan and is actively working on his or her plan.

The regional manager should review territory plans with territory managers early in the quarter.

Executives should review each regional plan and gain visibility into critical accounts and opportunities gathered from territory plans. In addition, sales managers should be sure to do the following:

• monitor progress in weekly pipeline reviews and other meetings,

• update strategies for top accounts and opportunities,

• ensure critical accounts and opportunities have the resources they need.

Finally, regional managers and/or company executives should be available to participate in critical customer interactions and meetings.

When you plan your territories correctly, you plan to win. To quote the legendary college football coach Paul “Bear” Bryant, “It is not the will to win that matters. Everyone has that. It is the will to prepare to win that matters.”