Time, Territory and Self-Management
For the sales representatives, territorial management is a continuous process of evaluating, planning, and executing the service and sales offered to customers. By completing all of the significant elements of the territory management, the salesperson strives to ensure customers are provided excellent services. Also, prospects are found in such territories that may become prospective customers. A healthy business relationship is simply like personal friendship. It is essential to spend time with your customers to get to know and meet their needs. As a salesperson, you need to make an informed decision on how to spend business time with your clients. A sales representative is responsible for generating sales in a given location based on its sales potential. A sales manager has to establish the specified sales quota that can be achieved by each salesperson. Upon setting this quota, it’s the responsibility of a salesperson to devise territorial sales strategies for reaching such quota.
Account analysis – once the sales objectives are set, the salesperson has to analyze each customer and prospect to maximize the chances of reaching the goals. First, the sales representative must involve in identifying all the present customers and prospects. Second, he/she should estimate the present prospect’s and customers’ sales potential. This enables easy allocation of time between prospective customers, to better make appropriate plans for sales, and decide what specific product to sell to a given customer (Futurell et al., 2012). There are two fundamental approaches to account analysis – account identification and their differing levels of sales potential – account segment approach and undifferentiated selling approach.
Undifferentiated selling strategy – selling approaches should be applied and purposely designed uniformly to all accounts. For instance, a salesperson should aim at using a single selling strategy in all their accounts. The rationale behind this approach is that the account needs for a group of products or a specific product are relatively similar. Sales representatives call on all accounts and devote equal time to all of them. The same sales presentation can be used to sell an entire line of products (Futurell et al., 2012). A single selling strategy can be used to sell to different customers. For instance, the same selling approach is used by door-to-door salespersons – a response-stimulus sales presentation. Salespeople whose accounts have homogeneous characteristics and needs to find this strategy useful. Although some companies still use the undifferentiated selling strategy. Some salesperson thinks that their accounts have varying needs and represent different sales potentials. This has increased the popularity of the account segmentation strategy. Salesperson utilizing the account segment approach understands that their territories have different accounts with differing characteristics and heterogeneous needs that require different selling approaches. Eventually, they devise sales goals based on sales of all products and depending on the customers’ needs. New accounts, economic condition, promotion and price offerings, and personal selling are the crucial elements in the territory and account analysis.
Response
Traveling is the best opportunity for salespeople’s jobs. Technology is a useful tool, which can be used for communication while on travel. Management software is used to maximize scheduling efficiency. E-mail enables the sales representative to be in close contact with their associates and for instant transportation of memos (Futurell et al., 2012). A mobile phone is helpful, especially when the salesperson needs to contact a customer. These tools enhance flexibility and increase efficiency.
Reference
Futurell, C., & Valvasori, M. (2012). ABC’s of Relationship Selling through service. 5th Canadian edition.