Recently I was working with a client on setting up new sales territories for his company. We talked through several different methods to organize his salespeople for prospecting efficiency, minimizing existing account geographical overlap, cross-selling/up-selling opportunities and leveraging existing client relationships among the sales team. Below are the approaches we pondered.
Industry specific (vertical) – Specialized and dedicated salesperson for a discrete industry
- Pros: Strong brand and company recognition ; Deep specialized knowledge
- Cons: Too many industries to serve and not enough salespeople ; Higher travel and entertainment cost
Commonality within a group of accounts – i.e. nonprofits, for-profits, governmental, NGO’s, healthcare, telecommunication, etc.
- Pros: Allows for customized sales approach to each account/prospect
- Cons: Two or more sales specialists in the same geographic area
Geographic – Global, hemisphere, country, region, state, county, zip code boundaries
- Pros: If managed correctly, more selling time due to decreased travel time ; Clear organizational boundaries for the sales tea ; Better familiarity, over time, with the geography and culture
- Cons: Depending upon initial market share, growth could be limited ; Salesperson would need to be a generalist rather than an expert
Connected groups or organizations – i.e. Girl Scout/Boy Scout troops, professional and amateur sports organizations, law enforcement, unions, etc.
- Pros: Territory laid out by accounts/prospect’s needs alone ; Natural groupings of accounts/prospects
- Cons: The messaging and the delivery mode of the message(s) are critical
Government agency requirements – If you are selling a controlled substance (i.e. liquor, beer, wine, etc.), EEOC compliance, ADA compliance, you may have government defined boundaries and/or prospects/accounts.
Other – Defined by your own set of requirements.
With all this said, now go forth and organize your sales team into practical and profitable territories.
Dave Harman is an associate with Sandler Training. He has over 30 years’ experience in sales and sales management with Fortune 500 companies as well as small, family-owned organizations. He has held positions from sales to senior management with companies such as Conoco/Vista, Amresco and Ohio Awning, and owns his own business. He earned his MBA with a concentration in Marketing from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. You can reach him at [email protected] or (888) 448-2030.
