Sales Territory Management - How to Prioritize your activities to produce maximum results

How to prioritize tasks for the sale of land management depends on whether you are managing a territory that has existing customers, or if you are building your customer base from scratch.

If you are managing a territory that has existing customers, your first priority should be to present 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."

Then, while you are chatting with your customers, you may ask:

"Would you mind sharing with me as I believe that my business relationship with you has been so far? What have we done well? Where can we improve?"

The collection of this kind of feedback is a great way to start relationships with customers. It also lets you draw any festering problems out into the open. If you can solve problems quickly, you can really jump-start your relationships with your customers interested.

This same approach can be effective even for customers who have reduced their purchases from your company over time, or customers who have stopped ordering completely. It's never fun to hear people complain. But, if you can isolate and resolve problems that are causing dissatisfaction, can produce a rapid and substantial boost in sales.

If you find that customers are really happy with the service the company provided, drill-down (with more questions) to determine what made them so happy. Their answers will provide a model for successfully managing their (and other) accounts. Also, ask these satisfied customers for referrals ... regardless of whether they have contributed in some way to their happiness! Happy, satisfied customers are usually happy to share their positive experience with others.

After meeting all existing customers, the next step is to identify the prospects in the territory. Start by checking with your manager. If you were managing the sales team for a period of time, they should be able to suggest some good target prospects.

After compiling a list of target prospects, determine which ones you pursue first. What's next destination have the greatest potential for the purchase of larger quantities of products and services? What are likely to be "fast" is closed? 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 beloved manager I used to work with:

"The Elephant hunting is great ... but those rabbits that good taste among the elephants!"

When you are ready to begin pursuing your target prospects, start asking your existing customers if they know someone who works in international organizations. If they do, request a referral. Once you have exhausted the available references, proceed with other activities in the exploration plan - but tailor these activities to attract the attention of your potential target customers.

Conclusion

Effective management of sales territory begins with touching base with each of your existing customers. Ask questions to gauge their satisfaction with their relationship with your company. If you find 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 done well. Use this information to create a model for the management of all accounts. Also be sure to request a referral, both in general and to specific accounts. Draining these references before starting the other (less productive) in the prospecting plan.

Prioritize your activities, as described in this article, and you will maximize sales growth in your territory!

-2008 - Alan Rigg ......