Sponsored by KickStart Search:
Most organizations that rely on outside sales implement some form of sales territory mapping. Depending on the company’s goals, it could set its strategy geographically, by the specific strengths of each sales representative, or another unique strategy.
Salesforce, a well-respected leader in customer relation management (CRM) and developer of a popular cloud computing software program, recommends selecting a primary focus when mapping sales territories. While things like generating profit, employee retention, and sales growth are all important, it’s crucial to start with a primary focus and work from there.
Some other tried-and-true sales territory mapping strategies recommended by Salesforce include:
- Build a successful market strategy by catering to a specific market, such as B2B or the small business segment.
- Have a hiring strategy in place with the goal of achieving full capacity. This requires consideration of hiring budgets, recruitment efforts, and how long it takes to fully onboard a new sales representative.
- Build a professional working relationship with sales managers who can use their experience to help brainstorm new sales strategies.
- Create equal teams to appropriately evaluate performance of sales representatives and their managers.
Beyond the aforementioned strategies, increasing evidence shows that promoting diversity among teams within individual territories can reap benefits as well. Consider gender equity for example.
The Advantages of Women in Sales
Both men and women can achieve high incomes and successful sales careers for themselves if they’re dedicated to continual self-improvement and service to the customer. While sales has long been a field dominated by men, women bring some unique advantages due to their hardwiring. Even accounting for individual differences, women are more likely to possess these attributes than their male counterparts:
- Detail orientation: Women tend to pay attention to more details in any given situation than men do, which means they may pick up important parts of a conversation with a prospect that a man could miss.
- Greater motivation: Women are more likely to feel they have to prove themselves in a career, especially one that has been male-dominated for so long. This inspires them to work harder and take more risks, such as placing cold calls to generate new business.
- Listening skills: A successful sales transaction requires much more listening than talking on the part of the representative. Recent industry research suggests that women sales professionals listen approximately 80 percent of the time and talk only 20 percent. This makes sense when considering that women often have stronger attention to detail as well.
Why Gender Balance for Sales Teams and Territories is a Good Idea
In a 2016 blog post published on the website Always Hired, a female sales professional reported that the ratio of men to women was 10 to 1 on her team. This led her to reflect on why it’s important to bring more women into sales and leadership positions. With their unique attributes and skill sets, women bring diversity, knowledge, and experience that can transform the entire industry. Such benefits can only improve the bottom line for sales organizations and improve the customer’s experience.
This post was written by and paid for by KickStart Search
