A well-designed sales territory map can significantly boost the success of a business and its sales team. Whether the business is starting fresh with a redesign or is ready to expand its current territory management strategy, it is important to leverage the proper data and resources.

One of the best sales territory strategies used by businesses involves the gathering of demographics of the target market. Demographics are often used as a basis for market segmentation and can be used to break down a large target audience. Some most common demographic categories used by small businesses include age, gender, marital status, race, occupation, education level, number of children and living status.

Using demographics when creating sales territories can prevent sales reps from misallocating their time speaking to prospects that are not likely to result in sales. The use of demographics also provides sales leaders with more control over progress tracking when sales territory mapping software is used in combination with demographic data.

What Are Sales Territories?

A sales territory refers to an industry, region or account type that is assigned to a certain salesperson or sales team. The owner of a sales territory is responsible for selling to prospects and customers within the specified sales territory and for meeting their territory quota. Territories are generally defined by their geographical boundaries and may range in size. The main purpose of creating sales territories is to match sales opportunities with the selling efforts of a sales team.

One of the most important duties of a sales manager is the assignment of sales territories to sales team members. It is important for a sales territory map to be balanced; having too many sales reps in one area and too few in another can negatively impact performance and employee motivation.

When properly designed, sales territories provide a wide range of benefits to sales teams. The allocation of territories holds each sales rep responsible for sales and services, making sales managers able to more effectively guide their sales force. In addition, a sales territory map saves time and money by ensuring that focus is placed on accounts that are most likely to close sales.

Benefits Of Using Demographics When Creating Sales Territories

Every company uses different types of data to measure success. The use of demographics is an effective choice due to the many ways that the population can be divided using statistical data. Demographic data is highly useful for businesses that want to better understand how to successfully market to consumers. This information can also be used to strategically plan for future trends in customer demand.

Some top benefits of using demographics when creating sales territories include the following:

Eliminates Wasted Time Vetting Customers

Demographic data is often collected over time and used to build a profile for a business’s target customer base. While the most common demographics used by businesses include basic information including age, sex, location and homeownership, these are not the only demographics that can be used. Some businesses will also classify customers and prospects based on lifestyle, hobbies, specific preferences and similar aspects.

When businesses better understand customers and prospects, they are able to determine if they fit into their target market. If they do not, they can avoid trying to sell to people who are not likely going to make a purchase and place the focus on selling to the ideal customer.

Provides Guidance For Knowing What Demographics To Target

Sales territory maps often display patterns over time. When tracking performance, sales leaders may notice that their product or service sells to certain demographic categories better than others. With this information, a sales team can focus on selling to that particular demographic.

The more information that a business can gather about their current and prospective customers, the better equipped the sales team will be when identifying potential customers that have the highest chance of closing a sale. In addition to knowing what demographics to target, the use of statistical information enables sales teams to provide customers and prospects with personalized services. Each territory should have dedicated reps who are then able to get to know their customers better and offer custom solutions.

Reach Out To A Sales Territory Professional Today

Marketing using demographics is highly advantageous for businesses that want to pinpoint and define their prospective buyers. Demographics are very practical as they can be very simple or extremely involved, depending on the product or service being sold.

Using demographics when creating sales territories gives businesses outstanding results for the money while also gaining a better understanding of the customers they serve. For more information about the importance of using demographics when creating sales territories or to inquire about sales territory mapping software, contact the sales territory mapping professionals at Geographic Enterprises today.