Explain with example the method of assignment of sales persons to territories having sales potential proportional to sales person abilities.

Sales territories and quotas

1. 1. Management of SalesTerritories and Quotas
2. 2. Sales Territories A sales territory consists of existing and potential customers, assigned to a salesperson Most companies allot salespeople to geographic territories, consisting of current & prospective customers Major Reasons / Benefits of Sales Territories Increase market / customer coverage Control selling expenses and time Enable better evaluation of salesforce performance Improve customer relationships Increase salesforce effectiveness
3. 3. Procedure for Designing SalesTerritories Ideal objective in territory design is to have equal opportunityand equal sales workload for all sales territories.Select a control unitFind location and potential of present and prospective customers within control unitsDecide basic territories by using Build-up method
4. 4. Procedure in Build-up Method Decide customer call frequencies Calculate total customer calls in each control unit Estimate workload capacity of a salesperson Make tentative territories Develop final territoriesObjective is to equalize the workload of salespeople
5. 5. Build up territories District A District B Customer Call No of No of calls No of No of Calls Type Frequency Customers per year Customers per year per month A 431444192 B 271688192 C 120240283363055240720 Assuming that a sales person is able to make 5 calls a day, and no of working days in a year are 250, then in a year he can make 1250 calls.SDM-Ch.45
6. 6. Assigning Salespeople to TerritoriesSales Manager should consider two criteria:(A)Relative ability of salespeopleBased on key evaluation factors: (1) Product knowledge, (2) market knowledge, (3) past sales performance, (4) communication, (5) selling skills(B) Salesperson’s Effectiveness in a TerritoryDecided by comparing social, cultural, and physical characteristics of the salesperson with those of the territoryObjective is to match salesperson to the territory
7. 7. Management of Territorial Coverage How salesperson should cover the assigned sales territoryIt includes three tasks for a sales manager: • Planning efficient routes for salespeople • Scheduling salespeople’s time • Using time-management tools
8. 8. Routin gRouting is a travel plan used by a salesperson for making customer calls in a territory Reasons for routing: • Reduction in travel time and cost • Improvement in territory coverage
9. 9. Procedure for Setting up a Routing Plan Identify current and prospective customers on a territory map Classify each customer into high, medium, or low sales potential Decide call frequency for each class of customers Build route plan around locations of high potential customers Computerized mathematical models are developed Commonly used routing patterns are:Base C (B) 1 B B C C C C 5432 Straight line / Hopscotch Circular Clover Leaf
10. 10. Schedulin g Scheduling is planning a salesperson’s visit time to customers. It deals with time allocation issue How to allocate salesperson’s time? • Sales manager communicates to salesperson major activities and time allocation for each activity • How sales person should spend their time: Tasks Time Spent (%) Service Calls 15 Face to Face Selling 32 Waiting/ Travelling 21 Others 32
11. 11. Contd.. • Salesperson records actual time spent on various activities for 2 weeks • Sales manager and salesperson discuss and decide how to increase time spent on major activities  Companies specify call norms for current customers, based on sales and profit potentials, and also for prospective customersSDM-Ch.411
12. 12. Time Management ToolsTo help outside salespeople to manage their time efficiently andproductively, the tools available are: • High-tech equipment like laptop computers and cellular phones • Inside salespeople to provide clerical support, technical support, and for prospecting, and qualifying, as they remain within the company • Outside salespeople can then spend more time getting more orders & building relationships with major customers
13. 13. Sales Quotas • Sales quotas are sales goals or targets set by a company for its marketing / sales units for a time period • Marketing / sales units are regions, branches, territories, salespeople, and intermediaries Objectives of Sales Quotas • To use quotas as performance standards or performance goals • To control performance • To motivate people by linking quotas to compensation plans • To identify strengths and weaknesses of the company
14. 14. Methods for Setting Sales Quotas• Several methods are used for establishing sales quotas• In practice, companies use more than one of the following methods to increase their confidence in sales quotas Total market estimates Territory potential Past sales experience Executive judgement Salespeople’s estimates Compensation plan
15. 15. Insight into Setting & Administration of SalesQuotas Set realistic quotas Understand problems in setting quotas Ensure salespeople understand quotas • By allowing salespeople to participate in the process • By continuous feedback to salespeople on their performance compared to quotas Have flexibility in administering quotas • Change quotas in cases of major changes in market demand or company strategies Use monthly or quarterly quotas for incentives and annual quotas for performance evaluation Select a few quotas that have relationships with marketing environment and sales situations

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WELL ANSWER ADD BY MR, VINOD <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

thank you Mr Pravin for inviting me to answer. However, I express my inability to put an answer as I do not have sufficient knowledge on the subject. I regret. My best wishes.

I don't think that I have anything more to add after Mr.Vinod answer.

Sales is not my forte, hence I appreciate the contributions by the experts.