Why Bother with Territories?

Well, one visit to the gas pump lately and you will quickly realize as an HME manager or business owner that you could have a problem you have not yet addressed: Your sales team may not be working your sales territory in the most productive or cost-effective manner. While you may have spent hours looking at the map, you may not have considered all the issues that are key to effective sales territory management and the right deployment of sales resources.

Before evaluating the territory and the use of your sales staff, keep in mind you want to do all you can to decrease the number of changes in personnel responsible for the territory.

Customers want to deal with the same salesperson, one whom they have come to trust. They also know when your company employs the same salesperson in their territory, it exemplifies a sense of stability and means they are working with a company that a salesperson is proud to represent.

There are reasons why your home care company might change sales staff and territories — turnover, the addition of new staff or the thought that someone new might do better than the previous rep. But customer relationships can take months — or even years — to solidify, and you do not want to jeopardize this customer rapport.

You also need to consider that shifting territories and changing a salesperson’s turf often leads to behind-the-scenes jealousies that take energy and time away from the real reason salespeople were hired. You want to avoid the sales territory “wars” by adjusting your territory based only upon good sound sales planning, not just because you thought it might work. You also do not want to make a territory allocation plan without the involvement of those who will work the plan.

Why have territories?

Territories allow the sales effort structure and accountability. They help to combat the competition and they can help in establishing and maintaining the all-important customer relationship. When developed equally for each salesperson, they also can help to create a spirit of competition between sales reps, which could help to stimulate new revenues.

The territory is similar to an area of responsibility. It is yours to work and cultivate, somewhat like a farm. It is an area that may need some extra seeding to grow and constant watering to produce. It helps to set bounds, create a sense of entrepreneurial spirit and keep the sales representative focused.

Before you decide how to organize your sales territory, do some analysis. Learn about your market. Define the location of each hospital, rehab center and doctor’s office. For example, how many inpatient beds are in each zip code? Remember that salespeople or clinicians who are going to work the territory should be included in the pre-territory deployment process.

Think about these key points before considering how to set the territory management system in place:

• Every salesperson wants to work in a territory that generates revenue.
• If their territory is key to their commission plan, salespeople want a territory that helps them generate a decent living.
• Sales representatives do not want to spend the entire day, every day, behind the wheel of a car. Many salespeople tell me they spend more than 20 percent of their time driving. But drive time is not time that allows your salespeople to do what they do best: creating positive business relationships.
• Some of your sales reps may have more to do than others, and some may be secretly looking for more to do. Investigate to see if a small change in the territory that limits time behind the wheel could increase revenues. Or whether a small change in the territory giving a few more accounts to that new salesperson who has some extra time might increase job satisfaction and, in turn, everyone’s revenues.

The object is to grow revenues from your sales territory without adding costly resources. One outstanding by-product you will enjoy is a more satisfied and happier salesperson. And that sounds like money in the bank for your company!

Louis Feuer is president of Dynamic Seminars & Consulting Inc. and the founder and director of the DSC Teleconference Series, a teleconference training program. He can be reached at www.DynamicSeminars.com or by phone at 954/435-8182.