Growing a sales territory is challenging but a requirement for all sales reps, managers and marketing leaders. It is a data-backed strategic process rewarded with higher sales potential and revenues.
Below are ideas and proven steps for sales managers and reps who plan to grow their sales territory footprint consistently.
Your data is your friend, and with some data crunching, you can see your sales territory in a different light. First, understand your ideal customer profile. To help you get started (if you still need a clear customer profile), answer these questions:
Above is a color-coded map showing customer locations by industry vertical. Using zipcode, heatmaps, and color-coded maps is the perfect way to analyze your data.
Next, define your goals. Many goal-setting frameworks can help you; the most popular is SMART. As you frame your goals:
Check out the Conquering mapping software guide
.Outline your one-page plan summarizing:
Review your customer base and assess their sales potential. For example, two customers deliver $300,000 in revenue each year. But your research reveals that customer B is part of a larger corporation with three other divisions. Your assessment of sales potential is close to $1,000,000. Customer A has little potential to grow, so you re-prioritize your time to exploit the new sales potential by planning more time with customer B.
Assess your sales territory potential using similar logic. You'll quickly unleash new ways to grow a sales territory. Prioritize sales potential over historical sales.
The map above shows sales potential by county, with the red areas showing the highest levels. Heatmaps are perfect when analyzing areas for growth.
Customers invest in suppliers they trust, so the strength of your customer relationships is critical.
When you assessed your sales potential, you uncovered new opportunities to grow. Leverage the strength of your relationships to generate referrals. Increase your reach by networking, attending industry events and conferences. A key differentiator will be how you manage your relationships and how you sell.
Your market research uncovered new potential customers. Your customer research revealed new opportunities to upsell and cross-sell. Never stop asking for referrals. They are by far the most effective lead-generation tactic available to you.
The pain points for a marketing manager differ from a sales manager or operations director. So you should work hard to develop a proposition that resonates with each. Avoid a generic "one size fits all" approach, and you engage your audience better.
Above is a map with prospect account locations.
When planning to grow a sales territory, you must prioritize your time. You have already taken some crucial steps above by clarifying your goals, priorities, assessing your sales potential by customer type and creating a sales plan.
You set yourself some non-negotiables, and the best tactic for your success is to make appointments with yourself by blocking out the time needed in your weekly schedules to complete your priority tasks.
Build your schedule around your priorities, and you'll see the results.
Above is an optimized sales route using eRouting. Sales route optimization is essential if you want to compress sales planning and drivetime.
Only 5% of your target market is ready to buy now. 20% will never buy from you. Up to 75% of your target market will buy some time in the future. So you need a consistent lead nurturing cadence.
Regularly stay in touch with customers and leads using email, phone, social media and face-to-face meetings.
Remember to think strategically about your follow-ups. Ask yourself, "how does this follow-up action help build trust and engagement"?
Track and analyze your results monthly and hold yourself accountable to your goals, priorities and critical measures. High-performers are power users of their CRM tools because they know they enable them to win more sales deals. Track your sales activities and your conversion rates. Analyze your results for trends. Analyze your closed lost deals and identify areas for improvement.
Integrating maps with your regular sales performance reviews is a great way to boost engagement and insights.
There are so many ways sales mapping software helps you grow a sales territory:
If you value face-to-face time with customers, you need route optimization software. It compresses schedule planning, optimizes your working day and minimizes drive time.