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Sales territory alignment software uses data to match your sales territories to your available resources, helping to improve sales performance by up to 30%.
Since they work in a competitive field with high stakes, sales professionals thrive in a challenging, but rewarding, environment. Still, in order for a sales rep to do their job well, their sales manager has to set them up for success. A key consideration for every sales leader should be sales territory optimization. That means effective management and alignment of your sales territories.
What is territory management and alignment? Put simply, territory management is the active, ongoing process that a sales manager undertakes to organize and refine their sales territories. Sales territory alignment and realignment are components of good territory management. This means using data to tweak and adjust territory design to better reflect sales rep capacity, the geographical spread of customers and prospects or potential for expansion into new territories.
Sales territory alignment software: A quick overview
Sales territory alignment software is an automated, data-driven tool for progressively realigning sales territories using information from a variety of sources. This allows sales managers to allocate resources strategically so that opportunities are fairly distributed between their reps.
While territory mapping and alignment can be done using manual processes, these outdated techniques have steep limitations. Given the complexities of territory management, analog processes for sales territory alignment can be inefficient and time-consuming. This means missed opportunities and unnecessary tension between sales managers and their teams.
Whether you're building sales territories from scratch or importing data directly from a customer relationship management (CRM) platform like Salesforce, specialist sales territory alignment software can help you unlock your sales potential.
5 key stats that demonstrate the importance of sales territory alignment software
To get a closer look at how sales territory alignment software can help managers overcome some of the most common hurdles they're likely to encounter, we've pulled together 5 compelling stats. They help give us a realistic glimpse into the everyday challenges of sales managers and their teams.
1. The turnover rate for salespeople in the U.S. is 27%
According to the Harvard Business Review, the turnover rate among sales professionals in the U.S. could be as high as 27%, which is more than double the average rate across all professions.
A sales person could have lots of reasons for moving on and it won't always be their decision. But if reps feel opportunities are not being fairly distributed and that they don't have a decent chance of making quota, they'll be unhappy and more likely to leave.
Poor sales territory management is a sign and symptom of this problem. If territories are not properly aligned, sales reps will wind up overworked or underused. Either way that means missed targets and less commission.
And when someone does leave, without the right sales territory alignment software to reallocate responsibilities, customers and prospects can be left in the lurch, not knowing who to contact. A fumbled pass may damage the customer relationship or see good opportunities go to a competitor.
Sales territory alignment software helps ensure that resources and opportunities are aligned and that changes can be made quickly when necessary.
2. Salespeople are rushing to meet quotas at the end of the quarter
Analysis of sales data conducted by Gong.io, a provider of sales optimization software, found that, among the bottom 80% of salespeople, calls skyrocketed during the third month of the quarter. Despite all this activity, those calls were less effective than calls made in the previous two months.
This is what happens when sales reps are left to their own devices. They backload the quarter, starting to slow and trying to catch up at the end.
Sales territory alignment software allows data to take over decision-making. Managers practice proactive territory balancing and alignment based on what the numbers tell them. When resources are allocated based on data-driven insights, the steady stream of leads can help avoid situations where sales reps are scrambling to beat the buzzer.
3. When sales managers face inefficient processes, their quota attainment drops by 18%
That's according to Gartner, the research firm. Gartner noted that 58% of sales managers said they had difficulty getting their work done, while 52% said it was imperative to "work around organizational process" to accomplish their tasks. But that leads to an 18% reduction in sales performance.
This highlights the opportunity for software that can help make the average sales organization much more efficient.
Mapping software and territory alignment tools reduce the amount of time managers devote to burdensome processes and administrative tasks, freeing them up for effective, personalized sales leadership.
4. Reps only spend 34% of their time working the sales territory
A HubSpot survey of sales associates based in the U.S., the U.K. and Ireland found that, on average, the respondents spent the majority of their time on the clock completing tasks that, largely, could be automated . Only 34% of their working time was spent actually selling.
This shows that it's not just managers that get stuck with admin tasks. Fairer territory assignment can help make your salesforce more efficient. When your resources are distributed based on data, each sales rep gets a territory they can actually manage.
Balanced territories mean nobody is frantically trying to get around an unrealistic list of opportunities while their colleague is being under-utilised.
With enhanced territory optimization, reps have more time to dedicate to what they do best: speaking to prospects and closing deals.
5. Automated solutions for territory management could raise sales performance by 20%
Here's the kicker: sales are actually better for organizations that leverage automated solutions to handle their territory planning and alignment.
According to the Sales Management Association, while only 36% of sales teams ranked effective at territory design, those that did achieved higher sales performance by up to 30%.
So when it comes to achieving your sales goals, better, smarter sales territory design could be the key. Finding the right software to build a responsive, data-driven plan for new and existing territories could unlock the potential in your sales team.
Finding inefficiencies in your sales operations is especially important when budgets are tight. But there is never a bad time to figure out how to do more with less.
The takeaway: Sales territory alignment software improves sales performance
Any sales leader looking to drive sales productivity, generate more revenue and get the most out of each sales person should invest in software to manage their territories.
When businesses leverage sales territory alignment software, they see improvements like:
- Reduced administrative burden.
- Empowered sales reps and lower turnover.
- Data-backed insights that aid sales performance.
- Improve customer experience.
- Shorter sales cycle and fewer missed opportunities.
By aligning sales territories as part of a data-driven sales plan, territory management software creates pathways for companies to retain existing customers and win more new business.
Sales managers and their staff benefit from streamlined processes and fairer, more logical territories, allowing them to focus on hitting their targets.
For their part, customers will appreciate smoother handoffs when territories are adjusted or reps move on.
Territory management software from eSpatial is available for a free seven-day trial, or you can get in touch with us to learn more about how sales territory alignment software could benefit your organization.