Successful Territory Management Skills
By Dermot Rice MD, Priority Management International
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Frustrated with customers who take but don’t give? Who only call when their main supplier can’t deliver, or when they want a benchmark and have no intention of buying from you? That’s a challenge all territory managers face! We’d like to ‘transition them up, or out!’
The 80/20 Rule
And though we know our top customers – the 1 in 20 – give us 30 to 50% of our sales revenue and our profit, our ongoing challenge is to find sufficient time for them. We fear that if we truly adopted the 80/20 rule in allocating our time to these stars, we would be accused of seriously neglecting the 50% of our customer base that regularly buy our products and services, provide us with consistent revenue, and guaranteed margin. And many of these will become our future star customers.
Plan to Succeed
Surveys with experienced and successful territory managers confirm that planning how to manage their portfolio of customers is their number one priority each year. Customers come and go – it is never a static portfolio. They reassess the value of each customer in terms of gross revenue, margin and potential, and often include the products they buy in the value mix. Most have a formal sorting system – the best customers being ‘Gold’ or ‘A’, the lowest ‘Bronze’ or ‘C’. The judgement call is numbers per category – helpfully research suggests that for territory managers 15% of customers should be As. Then they plan their calendar - allocating calling time appropriate to each category (eg. 40% for As), and then break it down by customer. They know that for most territory managers only 10% of their total time is actually spent in front of customers selling – less than an hour a day!
So they schedule weeks and days – starting with fixed and floating field calls, then allocate time for meetings, administration, reports, trade shows, preparing proposals, prospecting, appointment making, phone sales, etc. This comprehensive plan ensures they maximise the amount of time face to face with As and top Bs. This plan ensures cost effective time and territory management, with the guarantee they will maximise sales and profits, and provide each customer with the level of sales and service they require.
The Sales Plan
Most territory managers are also responsible for their territory sales plan. Key result areas typically include revenue, margin, product or service range and mix, promotion, prospecting, account development, and perhaps channel management. These require strategic planning skills, as well as the ability to produce workable projects with daily and weekly activities supporting the goals set for each. One of the most challenging, yet most rewarding tasks for territory managers is to expand their range of contacts within existing customers – other departments, levels of management, more and diverse product and service penetration. This includes cross- and up-selling, but is more inclusively total account development. It is planned, proactive, and consistently gives them the highest ROI for their time and resources.
The successful territory manager still sells, but they find they are more professional partners, problem solvers, and trusted advisers for their customers than transactional salespeople. Their skills at planning and executing a complete account management strategy give them the professional edge.
“Success is based on a few simple things. The challenge is that you have to do them.”
Marvin Bower, McKinsey & Company
Priority Management International
Dermot Rice , Managing Director.
Tel 01 8359946; Mob: 087 8193089: email drice@prioritymanagement.com
Priority Management are running training courses on both territory management and account management over the coming months. Full Details below.
Territory Management & Prospecting – 1 Day Programme Dublin
Apr 2nd
Apr 30th
Achieve optimal results from a portfolio of customers, through effective use of processes and tools to analyze, classify and allocate appropriate time and resources to plan call cycles, account development and prospecting activities. The Territory Manager is responsible for a portfolio of accounts, and is an important intermediary between your company and your customers. In addition to selling skills, account management, planning, profiling, territory analysis, prospecting and influencing skills are required to maximize customer relationships.
Who should attend:
Territory managers, sales representatives, account managers, sales managers.
Key Account Management- 2 Day Programme Dublin
Mar 31st, Apr 1st
may 1st, 2nd
Gain an in depth understanding of the complexities that exist within the servicing requirements of customers designated as Key Accounts, and use the strategic and tactical tools and processes to achieve the customer – supplier relationship required. Key Account Managers are responsible for an organization’s major, national and international accounts. Many are moving their customers from supplier relationships into preferred sale or partnership status.
Who should attend:
Key account managers, experienced salespeople, sales managers.
All enquiries
Priority Management International
Dermot Rice , Managing Director.
Tel 01 8359946; Mob: 087 8193089: email drice@prioritymanagement.com
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