The best tip from sales territory management training when you have been assigned a new sales territory is to go slow to go fast. That means having a clear strategy. That means planning your key activities upfront. That means focusing on what matters most to leverage your short-term efforts and build for long-term success.
Resist the temptation to dive right in and knock on all potential doors searching for new business. You will find yourself in a cycle where you prospect like crazy at first and then neglect the new to take advantage of any business you have stirred up in the meantime. Then, to replenish your pipeline, you focus too much time again on prospecting.
A much more effective game plan is to:
- Knowing and focusing on your ideal target clients. Not all prospects or accounts are created equally. Know who matters most to your unique sales strategy and value proposition.
- Setting aside time to keep your pipeline full. This means doing some smart and targeted prospecting every single day.
- Divvying up your territory and your appointments according to a plan that makes sense geographically and strategically. You might spend the first four days of each week developing opportunities in each one of your territory’s four quadrants and then set aside Fridays for unexpected opportunities and necessary administrative duties or follow-up.
- Keeping your customer database up to date with contacts, poignant notes about your calls and clear plans and timing for next steps.
