We find over 77% of sales reps wasting selling time. The biggest waste of time we find is practicing poor Territory Management. Reps are not maximizing time in front of customers, face poor planning of being in their patch and trying to ‘cold call’ unqualified prospects. Sales people could pick up over 20 hours a month by just planning their territory properly, qualifying prospects and planning in their patch.
We also find Sales Management doesn’t manage this important piece as well. Over and over again they neglect coaching Sales Reps on good Territory Management. It’s overlooked because they assume everyone knows how to do it.
They couldn’t be more wrong.
I was riding in the field with a sales person last month. We left the office promptly at 8 AM to ride to our first call. Arriving 15 minutes early for our 9 AM call, everything was great. Left that sales call with an advance in the sale and started towards our second call-two and half hours away! We got to that city at 12:30; ate lunch and prepared for our 1 PM call. Lasting one hour, we got in the car to drive back to the office-another 3 hour drive ending the day at 4 PM. The sales calls we went on were great. Everyone one of them achieved an advance. We provided value to the buyer. It was ideal. But I predict this sales person won’t be successful.
Why? We wasted 6 hours in the car of an 8 hour day. We were only in front of customers for 2 hours! That’s only 25% of our time that day. Not nearly enough to be successful and awfully low to World Class (which is above 65%).
What do we do about this situation?
Best Practices for World Class Territory Management
Organizations also neglect training the Best Practices around Territory Management. We notice Training Departments don’t have any type of courseware on how to manage a Territory. And no way to provide any kind of Sales Management reinforcement around a defined Territory Management Process. Companies who can practice one show a sales productivity increase of over 20%. That can be a big improvement for those companies who spend time on this important area. Ask Tony Valli. Tony’s team sells window coverings and is very successful. In today’s housing crisis, that can be tough. He credits just a couple things to his success; hiring top talent, coaching his sales people on the buying process and ensuring strict time and territory management. Keep up the great work Tony.
Want more advice on Territory Management? Do you have any best practices not mentioned above? Is there anything not mentioned above that others can benefit from?
Download the best practices shared above and also get what you should avoid at All Costs when managing your Territory. Leave a comment or thought on how you are coaching your reps on territory management. Your sales productivity depends on it.
Dan Perry
Dan approaches the idea of making your number from a unique perspective. Like many SBI leaders, he has walked a mile in your shoes. He comes from the industry side and has had to make his number to be successful. Perhaps this is why it’s wise to rely on SBI’s evidence-based methodologies. Though SBI is certainly an execution-based firm, Dan only implements strategies and solutions for his clients after they have been verified with before-and-after data. This leads to adoption of sales programs in the field, rather than shelf-ware.
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