Providing Proper Market Coverage

Sometimes a company loses business to competitors because it does not have proper market coverage. Sales management has not matched selling efforts with sales opportunities effectively, competitors have a better match, and they obtain the orders. To overcome problems of this type, generally management must establish sales territories, if the company does not have them, or revise those that it has. If sales territories are set up intelligently and if assignments of sales personnel to them are carefully made, it is possible to obtain proper market coverage. Note that mere establishment or revision of the sales territories is not enough. The design of the territories should permit sales personnel to cover them conveniently and economically. Territories, in other words, should represent reasonable workloads for the sales staff while assuring that all prospects that are potentially profitable can be contacted.

Good territorial design allows sales personnel to spend sufficient time with customers and prospects and minimizes time on the road. This permits them to become thoroughly conversant with customers problems and requirements. Successful selling is based upon helping customers solve their problems, not just upon making sales or, even worse, upon taking orders. Well-designed sales territories, combined with appropriate sales force assignments, result in calls upon different classes of customers and prospects at needed frequencies. Call regularity is important selling products purchased on a repeat basis, and persistence turns many a prospect into a regular account.