Sales territory maps serve as the game boards for outside sales, which makes field sales reps the game board pieces.
Without knowing how the board is laid out, you won’t know which directions the pieces should go.
Though it can be tedious, sales territory mapping provides a framework for strategic planning — ensuring that sales reps don’t go into meetings blind.
What is Sales Territory Mapping?
Sales territory mapping is the process of building a visual action plan for outside sales. With a focus on getting ahead of competitors, reps are assigned target prospects without overlapping each other.
So let’s say you want to target larger enterprises in the US. You’ll need reps in every major city, targeting main corporate headquarters.
Territory maps enable management to configure driving routes and evaluate sales performances. Ultimately, they optimize resources (both in-office and on the field) and make goals more easily achievable.
The Benefits of Sales Territory Mapping
As mentioned, sales territory maps layout a visual guide for field sales success and optimized daily tasks. Other benefits of mapping include:
- Increased sales performance – Sales reps develop deeper connections with their leads and get more closes when their territories are thoughtfully balanced.
- Improved Morale: Burnout, high turnover, and heavy workloads affect sales team morale. Organization in territory mapping irons out these potential issues and allows you to easily change whatever is in your sales rep’s way — such as moving an air conditioning sales rep from Alaska to Arizona.
- Greater adaptability: One of the main reasons territory maps are built is to maximize company visibility to sales prospects. Better planning allows your team to flexibly adapt to new challenges and opportunities.
- Growth enablement: Forecasting market changes and adjusting sales strategies are done with complete sales territory views.
How to Build Sales Territory Maps
Possessing foresight when building sales territory maps help with potential changes and growth.
Optimal sales territory mapping also requires balance, alignment, and valuable intelligence. Every sales rep gets an equal prospect distribution in areas most productive to an individual’s experience and strategies.
These steps will set you up for building an effective sales territory map:
- Analyze your market: Who are your competitors? Who’s your ideal customer?
- Segment your target audience: One-size-fits all methods to outreach will turn off your audience. How can you attract each unique segment?
- Establish specific goals: “Increase revenue,” and “Gather more leads,” are always great goals to have. But you have to think about goals that pertain more to your organization.
- Gather data: This includes technographic, firmographic, and demographic data to combine in shared maps.
- Choose the right tools: With the budget in mind, you have to pick tools that optimize your organization’s operations.
Sales Territory Mapping Software and Solutions
Sales territory mapping used to be done with actual maps, drawing out blocks with markers and reading from dot matrix-printed spreadsheets.
But even veterans of territory mapping can make mistakes — thankfully technology is here to make it better.
Though all-in-one sales territory mapping software exists, different solutions can be leveraged for building them. Here’s a list of commonly used solutions for sales territory mapping:
- Online maps: With Google Maps being the popular online map, interactive maps are the most obvious solutions to sales territory mapping.
- Sales intelligence: This is the information you gather for identifying and addressing target prospects.
- Business Intelligence (BI) visualization: Though they can function like interactive maps, this type of solution lets you visualize gathered information.
- Routing: Route planners are used to create optimal driving routes for field reps. They’re simple solutions to cut down on small costs like gas and car rentals.
Why Use ZoomInfo?
As a complete sales intelligence solution, ZoomInfo offers features to aid the sales territory mapping process. In the Search function, you can filter contacts and companies within specific geographic locations, along with contact information.
Even if your sales plans go beyond the state line, you can build your brand from your local community out by finding nearby prospects.
At this point in the sales game, you’ve either built sales territory maps or you’ve planned on it. Either way, they’re crucial for efficiently running field sales teams.
The more tactics and resources you pour into territory mapping, the easier your sales strategies can be implemented.
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