companies usually segment their sales territories before deploying their sales repsTerritory planning is an effective strategy to ensure that a sales team is targeting the right prospects and customers to maximize growth and profitability. Although the creation of sales territories by businesses is nothing new, technology has made it easier than ever to design informative and highly visual maps.

In the past, sales managers would spend several consecutive hours optimizing territories on paper by hand. Today, the use of sales territory mapping software and other resources allows sales teams to efficiently plan territories to streamline sales processes and improve overall business operations.

Top 5 Tips For Efficient Sales Territory Planning

Creating an effective sales territory plan encourages sales teams to be more productive, reduce costs, increase sales and improve customer coverage. However, when sales territories are left unbalanced and unclear, it can negatively impact employee productivity and reduce morale.

It is important to think of a sales territory plan as a workable strategy for targeting the right customers that can be continuously improved over time based on sales data. Sales territory planning should also align with business goals to help companies achieve steady growth over time.

Some top tips for efficient sales territory planning include:

1. Utilize Sales Territory Mapping Software

The use of sales territory mapping software is one of the best ways to enhance sales territory design and efficiency. Sales territories can be defined by a variety of factors, such as geography, sales history, sales potential or a combination of factors. The main goal of sales territory planning is to create balanced territories that increase revenues.

Planning sales territories manually can be a complex and very time-consuming process. That is why many modern businesses rely on innovative sales territory mapping software to streamline the process and avoid wasted time and resources. Sales territory mapping software is affordable and offers a wide range of features and functionalities to make it easy to create sales territory maps.

2. Plan For Yearly Growth

sales teams use data when planning sales territoriesWhile it is not possible to see the future, most sales teams plan for growth year to year. Businesses that change and grow over time will typically require new approaches to sales planning to keep up with this growth. It is important for sales teams to continuously review their sales territory planning efforts to determine how much growth the business has seen and how to best re-balance the territories. In some cases, this may require taking on more sales members to ensure that all territories are well covered.

3. Minimize The Risk Of Sales Territory Disruption

Disruptions when planning sales territories are fairly common, especially when businesses overlook the importance of developing a sales territory plan before the start of the new fiscal year. Sales members come and go throughout the year and when a member of the team leaves, the spot must be filled or the sales territory map must be reanalyzed to determine who will take over those specific areas. The proper planning of sales territories on a regular basis minimizes the risk of these types of disruptions and lowers the likelihood of missed sales and opportunities.

4. Make Decisions Based On Data

The sales territory planning process involves reviewing a lot of data spread out over time and in many industries. The type of data analyzed by sales teams can tell sales managers a lot about a particular region, such as data that pinpoints the percentage of prospects versus customers in a particular territory. The data collected and portrayed in sales territory maps can also help sales managers make important decisions, such as where to assign certain sales members and where to host marketing events. Sales data that is collected over a period of time can also help sales managers identify valuable patterns.

5. Adjust Sales Territories Based On Feedback, Results & Data

Sales data, feedback from sales teams and customers and measured performance can also be used to help grow a business. When companies receive feedback about what they are doing right and what they can improve on, they are able to develop a strategy that will take advantage of their strengths and reduce their weaknesses. Access to continuous feedback and data motivates sales teams to be more strategic in the sales territory planning process to improve results.

Speak To A Professional Sales Territory Mapping Company

sales teams can perform better when their sales territories are carved out properlyProper sales territory planning provides businesses with countless benefits and provides guidance on where sales representatives should focus their time. It can also pinpoint any untapped regions or verticals that require more attention. The use of quality sales territory mapping software speeds up this process by providing sales managers with a wide range of features and capabilities for developing shareable sales territory maps. For more information or to acquire sales territory mapping software, contact the mapping experts at Geographic Enterprises today.