How do you allocate sales territories effectively?

Analyze your SAM, TAM and SOM. Define where you want to be at the end of the fiscal period (by region, by segment and by company size - all of them needs and have different KPI). Check the history of success of your reps and based on what you have make the distribution of accounts again, considering rep experience (mid-market, enterprise/corporate and Global accounts) and their career progression. Gather the amount of accounts and based on the expected revenue growth do the distribution, IMHO the best way to go is rule-based (company size and geo - maybe vertical too) and work on the exceptions (based on experience, relationship and expertise). Build the customized KPIs based on the divisions of your territory and monthly/quarterly revise.

Customer Centricity is a best practice when it comes to territory design. Most organizations that I have worked with have a combination of Geographical ( AMER, EMEA, APJC, & LATAM) and Segment (Enterprise, Public Sector, Commercial, etc) definitions at the most macro level, this does provide a good starting point but is not enough to be successful. Once the guard rails are set it is important to define your ideal customer profile and assess TAM (Total addressable market), coupled with a share of wallet analysis can help set realistic territories and deeply the right talent to cover them, being cognizant of existing seller, partner, customer relationship and leveraging them to reduce churn is always a great idea.

On a large scale, target demographics and market analysis are key ways to get the best outcome for the target audience. Understanding the demand and competition to optimize the strategy needed to have an effective approach in the market. Mapping will give a clear projection of how the number will work on average and what area of the process needs to be improved.

In my opinion a key part of operating a business is understanding your industry and the market you are serving. That means analyzing the competition, the opportunity for growth and your audience or customer base. This is also an important thing to consider when developing your business plan. 1) Define your audience. 2) Target multiple audiences to help grow your business. 3) Know where you stand compared to the competition.

In my experience, effective sales territory allocation starts with analyzing data to understand sales performance and customer distribution. Setting clear goals and criteria, such as geographic areas and customer segments, is crucial. I prioritize promising market segments and create balanced territories to ensure fair opportunities. Matching reps to territories based on their skills and performance is key. Once territories are set, clear communication with the team is essential. Regularly reviewing and optimizing territories based on feedback and key metrics ensures continuous improvement. Monitoring performance and being flexible to make adjustments as needed helps manage territories effectively and boost sales performance.

Objectives describe the actions or activities involved in achieving a goal. The specific, measurable actions each team employee must take to achieve the overall goal. Most objectives will feature quantitative data like units, numbers, and figures. This means you can measure the progress you’ve made toward the outcome you expected to achieve.

Designing sales territories has never been more important for door to door and field sales teams. This is a major issue for something that is guaranteed to have a considerable impact on each sales rep’s ability to achieve their quota.Sales territory design is often viewed as a tedious process by managers who lack a thorough understanding of the direct impact it can have on their team. On the other hand, many fail to consider the very real possibility that this is a sales territory design issue. The salespeople who don’t have the number of high quality prospects needed to stay busy on a daily basis are almost forced to over pursue the potential customers with a low probability of converting.

The assignment engine automatically assigns territories to opportunity product lines by matching the dimensional attributes of product lines to territory dimensions, such as Customer Size or Industry. You may use some or all these steps when building your territory plan. Analyze your business goals and objectives Analyze your prospects and customers Determine your Total Addressable Market Perform a SWOT Analysis

In my opinion this assessment should focus on how well each territory aligns with your goals and objectives. It is important to identify any imbalances, such as territories with an uneven distribution of customers, varying sales performance, or excessive travel time for sales representatives.

Although territory mapping seems lately to rely on data collected from statisticians and pattern analysis, it's important not to disregard the direct evidence of living experience in the target area.