Found this interesting article that hopefully will;
Sales Territory Management - How to Prioritize Your Activities
to Produce Maximum Results
By Alan
Rigg
How you prioritize your sales territory management activities
depends upon whether you are managing a territory that has
existing customers, or whether you are building your
customer base from scratch.
If you manage a territory that has existing customers, your
first priority should be to introduce yourself to every single
one of your customers. This should be a pleasant, low-key
introduction along the lines of, "I just wanted to introduce myself and
see if there is anything I can do to help you." Then, as you are
chatting with your customers, you can ask, "Would you mind sharing with
me how you think my company's relationship with you has been going so
far? What have we been doing well? Where could we improve?"
Collecting this kind of feedback is a great way to start
relationships with customers. It also helps you draw any
festering problems out into the open. If you can address the
problems quickly, it can really jump-start your relationships with the
affected customers.
This same approach can also be effective for customers that
have been reducing their purchases from your company over time, or
customers that have stopped ordering completely. It is never much fun
to listen to people complain. But, if you can isolate and solve the
problems that are causing the dissatisfaction, you can produce
a rapid and substantial boost in sales.
If you find customers that are really happy with the service
your company has provided, drill down (with more questions) to
determine just what has made them so happy. Their
answers will provide you with a template for
successfully managing their (and other) accounts. Also, ask these happy
customers for referrals…regardless of whether you
have contributed in any way to their happiness! Happy, satisfied
customers are usually delighted to share their positive experience with
others.
Once you have met all of your existing customers, the next
step is to identify target prospects in your
territory. Start by checking with your manager. If they have
been managing your sales team for any period of time, they should be
able to suggest some good target prospects.
Once you have compiled a list of target prospects, determine
which ones you will pursue first. Which target prospects have
the greatest potential to purchase the largest amounts of
products and services? Which ones are likely to be
"quick closes"? If you have both types of target
prospects on your list, pursue several of each type at the same time.
In the words of a well-respected executive that I used to work with,
"Elephant hunting is great…but those rabbits sure taste good
in between the elephants!"
When you are ready to begin pursuing your target prospects,
start by asking your existing customers whether they know anyone that
works in the target organizations. If they do, ask for
referrals. Once you have exhausted available
referrals, proceed with the other activities in your prospecting plan -
but tailor these activities to attract the attention of your target
prospects.
Conclusion
Effective sales territory management begins with touching base
with every single one of your existing customers.
Ask questions to gauge their satisfaction with their relationship with
your company. If they identify any problems, work aggressively to solve
these problems as your first priority.
If a customer expresses happiness and satisfaction, ask
questions to determine what your company has been doing
right. Use this information to create a
template for managing all of your accounts. Also be
sure to ask for referrals, both in general and to
specific target accounts. Exhaust these referrals before you begin the
other (less productive) activities in your prospecting plan.
Prioritize your activities as described in this article, and
you will maximize sales growth in your territory!
Copyright 2005 -- Alan Rigg
Sales performance expert Alan Rigg is the author of
How to Beat the 80/20 Rule in Selling: Why Most
Salespeople Don't Perform and What to Do About
It. His company, 80/20 Sales Performance,
helps business owners, executives, and managers
DOUBLE sales by implementing The Right
Formula™ for building top-performing sales teams. For more information
and more FREE sales and sales management
tips, visit http://www.8020salesperformance.com/.
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