Territory design should be top of mind for sales leaders - in particular given the dynamics of the business world in our post covid era and the ever-changing economic landscape.  According to Allego, recent research from Mckinsey reports that almost 90% of sales have moved to a virtual model since the pandemic began*.  While leading the Voiant team through sales performance optimization projects over the last few years in this post-covid virtual era, I have noticed several factors emerging that necessitate a more dynamic approach to defining our territories. The factors we've seen emerging include:

• The move away from physical office space; and the embrace of work from anywhere
• Shifts in labor markets with less predictability in work tenure-both internally within firms and externally with prospective buyers and clients
• Constantly evolving demand markets that shift purchasing emphasis, with more pressure than ever to compete vigorously

All of this means that the traditional way sales leaders set their territories through an annual planning cycle with some change in accounts between regions and a quota uplift is a method of the past. Managing this process in email and Excel and taking a quarter or more to perform basic territory moves will be a distinct competitive disadvantage in the market when other companies are performing these processes much faster. 

Sales leaders must re-imagine how they set up their territories and assemble their teams. The re-envisioning of this process will allow for more flexibility in the set-up and will lead to winning execution in the market with an emphasis on profitability. Adjusting quarterly or even monthly is the new norm.

To build on these capabilities, you must also have a planning solution that synchronizes and consolidates data that brings this information in, that happens in real-time, and that you can review, access, and adjust with proper workflow and useable dashboards. Sales management needs to have reliable access to their sales KPIs quickly and make good choices.

Such a system should be able to answer questions like:

• What is the goal in this territory, how do I break that down by revenue at accounts, in both land and expand?
• What is the addressable opportunity in our CRM opportunities by stage and the overall market based on macroeconomic and wallet share?
• Are the territories built with equitable opportunity?  are they imbalanced? Are the goals set in accordance with the size of the prize?
• Is the rep coverage appropriate at a macro level across the sales org?  even more finitely and discreetly, does the rep have the right skill to address this territory?
• Do I have enough support and overlay coverage to support my anticipated demand? 
• Is my incentive design misaligned with our corporate objectives of landing new logos, for example?

Conclusion 

To have clarity on these critical questions, sales leaders require a sales planning solution designed with a purpose. Relying on disjointed solutions from a data warehouse or BI reports won’t suffice. A decision support system with agility, ease, and quick connectedness to your vital HR, CRM, ERP, and data systems of record is the key to clarity and successful SPM behaviors. 

Once the critical data is assembled into a sales planning tool, the territory transformation process starts with the basic, most fundamental capability-data-driven analysis and reassignment.

From there, other capabilities like better forecasting, account and lead scoring, quota setting, customer lifetime value, and other sales KPIs,  amongst others, can contribute to a fuller view of opportunities,  customers, and the sales team.  This process will add value to the exercise and improve your command of your Go-to-Market.  But this starts with the first step of building the territory transformation spine of consolidated data in a planning tool.

Use this form to start a conversation about your Territory design. 

*References: Allego.com