Your sales team needs to improve their territory management. What tools can you use to help them succeed?

CRM is not just a tool; it's the natural rhythm of your sales process. As you engage with your customers, gather insights, and adapt your strategies, CRM becomes the organic heartbeat that keeps your sales ecosystem alive and thriving. So, in the organic world of sales, CRM is not just a software; it's the soil, sunlight, water, and rhythm that breathe life into your customer relationships, allowing your sales garden to flourish and bloom.

A well-crafted Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system can be a game-changer for territory management. It empowers you to optimize resource allocation, maximize revenue potential, and boost sales efficiency within your designated areas.

Customer relationship management (CRM) is a business strategy and philosophy that involves engaging customers in collaboration when creating value. CRM is a combination of strategies, practices, and technologies that companies use to manage and analyze customer data and interactions throughout the customer lifecycle. CRM theory is based on the idea of "integrating the customer". This new way of looking at the business involves integrating the customer into all aspects of the supplier's business, and vice versa. CRM theory is based on the idea of "integrating the customer". This new way of looking at the business involves integrating the customer into all aspects of the supplier's business, and vice versa.

CRM is an important tool so long as it is updated consistently with accurate, timely information. If it's only used sporadically, or the content is lean on detail, the value will quickly diminish. And the tool will fall into disuse. Integration and operation need to be sensitive to the needs of a busy sales professional. CRM is a cultural shift that should support the sales process, and not be used as an enforcement tool.

With clients growing in numbers, it's pertinent to have a user friendly and effective CRM to ensure that your clients are serviced efficiently and that you are always top of mind.

Targeted customer data is a game-changing tool for identifying opportunities and focusing sales strategy. But only if the quality of the underlying data is sound. Data gaps, inaccuracy, non-standardized inputs...the list goes on. Make sure you're working with validated, scrubbed, clean data before applying it to analytical tools. Once established, however, mapping is a great resource. You can quickly identify geographical positions of strength (ie. your market share) and weakness (ie. competitor share). Or voids in the market. Areas for peripheral product attachment. Strategize accordingly. Not an exhaustive list by any means. Great way to inform a sales territory plan.

If you are going to use presentation software (ex. PowerPoint, Keynote) use it well. Learn it. Search LinkedIn Learning and/or YouTube. Don't abuse the technology (ie. silly effects, wild transitions, too many fonts). Be consistent with corporate branding. The quality of the presentation will reflect on you positively or negatively. A slide presentation is a tool that supports your verbal presentation, not the other way around; keep each slide brief, the audience should be listening and not reading.

For analytics you must ensure a standardized format for customer feedback. Provide fixed choices from checkboxes or pulldown menus. If left to chance you will not be able to mine anything of relevance. Use ad hoc (textual) responses sparingly.

I'm a international sales manager, so from my point of view: - Get insight into your territory, economy, population, political situation etc - Study your current customers and draw their persona - Learn the trade data of your territory, you can get it from UN Comtrade - Focus on customers that you've found from the above