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Quarterly sales by territory: How to create reports that drive insight

Written by Liam Costello | Oct 13, 2020 1:42:00 AM

Every sales team is different. But there are some standard features you'll find in most sales reports. Here are some examples:

  • Sales revenue: A quarterly sales report should break sales revenue down by customer, sales rep, lead source, and territory (more on that later).
  • Sales forecast: If you've got good data on what you've done, you have a better chance of forecasting what you'll do next. That allows for better planning and not just in sales.
  • Open opportunities: The quarter is over, and you'll want to know how much of your sales pipeline is rolling over. At the end of a quarter, there is a natural drop in intensity; measuring the new sales pipeline is critical.
  • Average deal size: A popular KPI with sales managers. Nudging up the average deal size is an excellent way to improve sales productivity (more revenue from the same or similar effort and cost).
  • Sales activity: How active was each sales rep—how many meetings, calls, and new opportunities did they generate? Track these metrics to gauge effort and pipeline activity. They're strong leading indicators for next quarter's performance.

When building a quarterly sales report by territory, you have a few tool options. Many teams start with spreadsheets like Excel or Google Sheets. Mapping Excel sales data, for example, makes it easy to group data by territory and quarter and quickly run calculations.

Excel or Google Sheets

Creating a report that displays quarterly sales by territory using Google Sheets or Excel is simple, familiar, and flexible.

Pros

Google Sheets Excel
  • Multiple team members can edit or comment in real time
  • Easily share live reports via a link
  • Accessible anywhere, anytime
  • Powerful data tools and data analysis add-ins
  • Better for large datasets
  • More formatting options

Cons

Google Sheets Excel
  • Limited advanced features
  • Can slow down with very large datasets
  • Fewer built-in visualization tools
  • Collaboration is harder
  • Requires installation and might need specific licenses
  • Extra steps are needed to share a new version

Territory reporting with dedicated software

Is sales territory management an integral part of your overall strategy? Analyzing your market by geographic area can be the first step toward developing a sales territory plan. But remember, circumstances can change quickly.

When creating a report that displays quarterly sales by territory, you need to organize and realign sales territories in real time. That way, you can get your resources in the right place and cut inefficiency when designing your sales process. This is where dedicated software comes in.

Dedicated mapping and territory optimization tools take territory reporting far beyond what spreadsheets can offer. Instead of relying on rows and columns, you can use mapping software for sales teams to create dynamic, map-based reports that reveal patterns at a glance. These reports make it easier to share clear, visually compelling insights with your team.

Pros

Territory mapping software like eSpatial is designed with sales teams in mind. They relieve the admin burden from your sales managers. You can also leverage integrations to seamlessly transfer and report data between different sources.

In addition, using a dedicated mapping tool to create a report that displays quarterly sales by territory provides better visual insight. It can help you better align your resources, driving higher revenue with lower costs. All in all, this means:

  • Improved accuracy
  • Lower sales team burden
  • Better, faster insights

Cons

  • Usually requires a subscription or license cost
  • A slight learning curve if your team is new to map making tools