It’s surprisingly common for company sales representatives to neglect large segments of their assigned territories. Like many anglers, they are overwhelmed by the size of the lake. Therefore, they tend to work in some favorite fishing spots. Here are some simple guidelines to help the field sales professional design a winning territory coverage plan. In my series, “The First 100 Days…”, I’ve presented some best practices and some unique ideas for the sales professional who wants to “get going” in their new sales territory.
Whether your sales territory is geographically huge or small with thousands of calling points, you’ll benefit from a smart coverage plan. Regardless of the type of field sales you do, there are some basic and easy ways to maximize your success. A smart sales territory coverage plan should be designed to give you the following benefits:
– More opportunities in your Sales Funnel
– More sales
– Increase in commission income
– Reduced travel expenses
– More and better relationships with customers.
– More quality time with your family.
– Greater job security.
– Top rankings in your company’s sales organization
Step 1:
The best land coverage plans start with a thoughtful categorization of those you call. You will need to define what type of businesses or accounts represent your best opportunities. Start by making a list of the general characteristics of the “Ideal Prospect” to call. These general characteristics should not require intimate or inside knowledge of the potential account. This task should end with 2 simple and clean definitions: 1) for an “Ideal Sales Prospect” and, 2) for a “General Sales Prospect”.
Step 2:
Define your “A”, “B” and “C” sales call objectives in your territory. Your “A” list sales call objectives will include the following:
– All of your “Ideal Sales Prospects”
– All current “sales leads”
– All accounts currently in your “Sales Funnel”
– All accounts that you consider important “Current Clients”
– A strategic selection of the biggest and best clients of your competitors
Your “B” sales call targets will include those accounts that make up your “Overall Sales Prospects,” along with all those who didn’t make it a little bit below the “A” list.
Your “C” targets will be the remaining universe of sales call opportunities in your territory.
Step 3:
Create the “Sales Zones” of your territory. Divide your territory into 4 to 10 Zones. The number of Zones you have in your territory will depend on the size of your territory (both geographical and the number of call points) and the type of sale you make. Make up a couple of your own rules of thumb for mapping the subdivisions of your territory, similar to the following. This will serve as a guide to help you establish the number, size, and location of Zones in your territory:
I) A guideline related to trips or overnight stays in a given week:
“When I visit a Zone in my territory I will stay or work in the Zone for 2-4 consecutive business days.”
II) A guideline related to the coverage of accounts and objectives of list “A”:
“You should be able to see all my “A” list accounts every 1-2 visits to that area.”
III) A guideline related to probing your accounts and targets from list “B” and “C”:
“I should be able to see all the goals on my “B” list every 3 months and all the goals on my “C” list every 6 months.
You will need to adapt these general rules of zone creation to your sales environment.
I generally caution sales professionals against scheduling pattern or “cycle” visits to their areas. The practice of pre-assigning Zone visits to specific weeks of a month or quarter often fails. A sales professional will be “dragged” to an area more often than they will “bike” to an area in a pattern of scheduled visits. Customer issues, sales opportunities, and sales funnel activity will often be the reasons for scheduling a visit to an area. Any time you are “pulled” into an area, be sure to plan ahead for your time there and extend your stay.
Remember the old riddle about attacking large tasks?
“How do you eat an elephant?”
“Answer: one bite at a time.”
A smart sales floor plan is the way to maximize your time and give yourself the absolute best opportunity for success in “…your new sales territory.”