Sales territory planning is not just about numbers and data. It’s also about the people involved—the sales reps, the customers, and other stakeholders.
Recognizing and understanding the human element of it all is crucial for creating effective and sustainable territory plans.
Empowering Sales Reps
Sales reps are on the front lines of executing territory plans. They need to feel both empowered and supported in their roles. When it comes to designing territory plans, it’s essential for leaders to consider factors such as sales rep strengths, preferences, and even aspirations.
So, what does it look like to take the human element of sales reps into consideration in the territory planning process? Let’s talk about it.
Tailor Territories to Individual Strengths
Every sales rep comes with their own unique set of skills, strengths, etc. One way to empower reps in the sales territory planning process is by shaping their territories based on those strengths and overall interest.
For example, a sales rep with strong technical knowledge may excel better in territories with complex products or industries.
Perhaps a different rep has strong relationship-building skills. They might thrive in territories with a high concentration of relationship-based sales, like with smaller businesses who truly appreciate a personal touch.
Take time to assess the skills and career aspirations of your sales reps when carving out the sales territories. Bringing that particular human element into the conversation will undoubtedly result in more highly motivated reps.
Offer Training and Development Opportunities
Empower sales reps by providing them with the training and development opportunities they need to succeed in their territories.
This could look like individual coaching sessions, specific product training, honing in on different sales techniques, customer relationship management workshops, or even industry-specific training.
Regardless of the path you choose as a leader, it’s crucial to understand that investing in the professional growth of your sales reps not only enhances their confidence and competence, but also improves their overall effectiveness in executing territory plans.
Balance Workload and Resources
In general, the entire definition of sales territory planning revolves around the concept of balance. The human element comes into play when you start examining the why behind the balance.
If you’re balancing workload and resources properly among your sales reps, then you are ensuring that reps feel like they are all given a fair shot. Because of this, appropriately balanced sales territories are the epitome of taking the human element into consideration.
Be sure you’re looking at factors such as territory size, customer density, revenue potential, growth potential, etc. when assigning territories to ensure that sales reps have a manageable workload and sufficient resources to succeed.
If you’re thinking about skill sets while also providing training on top of the other factors to balance territories, you are not only empowering reps, but also maximizing results.
Understanding Customer Needs
Customers are at the heart of any successful sales operation. Their pain points, purchasing behaviors, etc. shape the very foundation of sales territory planning. By deeply understanding customer needs, sales teams can tailor their strategies, allocate resources effectively, and ensure maximum engagement and, ultimately, satisfaction.
Conduct Market Research
The first step in truly understanding customer needs — another crucial human element of territory planning — is to conduct market research. Through this important process, you are able to gain insights into what gets your customers out of bed every morning and what they really need.
This could involve analyzing demographic data, industry trends, competitor offerings, and even customer feedback. Once this information is realized, it becomes so much easier to segment customers inside of each territory based on their unique needs. That segmentation will ultimately help prioritize sales efforts and messaging strategies to satisfy a customer base.
By truly understanding the market landscape, sales leaders can properly identify opportunities and challenges specific to each potential territory in the planning process.
Engage with Customers Directly
Perhaps a point of some apprehension is the idea of directly engaging with customers. This process provides invaluable insights into customers, and should not be overlooked.
Sales reps should actively listen to customer feedback, ask probing questions, and seek to further understand their challenges and goals. Building relationships in this way not only fosters trust, but also provides an opportunity to tailor offerings to meet specific needs more effectively.
Speaking directly with customers in the sales territory planning process also opens the door to an often-overlooked part: anticipating future needs. Effective sales territory planning goes beyond addressing current customer needs: it involves identifying future needs and trends.
When reps talk directly to customers, it can be the fastest way to stay abreast of industry developments, emerging technologies, and shifting customer preferences. This very idea makes it possible to proactively adjust territory plans and sales strategies before falling behind.
As a good rule of thumb, it’s wise to believe that understanding customer needs is the cornerstone of effective sales territory planning. With proper market research, the right data, and connecting with customers, sales teams can create territories that are aligned with customer needs and drive sustainable growth.
The Humanity of it All
When we think of territory planning, we think of a process that shouldn’t happen in an echo chamber. Because of that, we know there is a human element involved. It requires taking so many humans into consideration.
If you think about it, really think about it, having a human element at play makes territory planning a little less daunting. It means teamwork and collaboration and feedback.
When you have all the smartest people in the room with their own findings and an understanding of customers, you are guaranteed to produce the most effective sales territories every time.
