Manage sales territories or portfolios
Overview
This standard is about managing sales territories or portfolios. It includes analysing the market, appraising options for the definition of territories or portfolios, and their allocation. You need to understand how to track the effectiveness of these allocations, identify improvements and make those changes to optimise the sales effort. It also includes design, planning and resourcing the work of the sales team. This standard is for senior sales professionals who manage sales territories or portfolios.
Performance criteria
You must be able to:
1. identify the key drivers for selecting or retaining a territory or portfolio management approach
2. define suitable territories or portfolios through investigation of the social, technological, legal, financial, economic, political and environmental factors
3. carry out a market assessment on a territory or portfolio based on the organisation's own criteria, including external market information and sales forecasts
4. allocate the resources required for covering a territory or portfolio
5. assess and evaluate the risks and benefits of defining new sales territories or portfolios
6. optimise the deployment of sales resources to provide the best sales coverage of each territory
7. plan sales resource requirements based on information about number, size and location of customers
8. set financial and sales activity targets for the sales team
9. determine boundaries for each sales territory or portfolio
10. assign territories or portfolios to sales team members, in accordance with their knowledge, competence and skills
11. recruit or re-locate sales team members to service the new sales territories or portfolios
12. monitor and control sales territory or portfolio performance
13. take corrective action if sales performance does not meet targets
Knowledge and Understanding
You need to know and understand:
1. the current legal and regulatory aspects in relation to sales territories or portfolios management
2. the variety of competitor activities relating to sales territories or portfolios
3. the industry or sector structure and the scope of geographic coverage
4. the geographical spread of the organisation's potential and existing customers
5. your organisation's sales strategies and plans
6. the reasons why your organisation is establishing or changing sales territories or portfolios
7. your organisation's market and customer segmentation strategies
8. how to carry out an investigation and evaluation of sales territories or portfolios
9. how to define economic support systems that may influence the boundaries of territories or portfolios
10. how to evaluate the potential turnover, profit and growth potential of a territory or portfolio
11. how to assess resource requirements for a territory or portfolio in terms of sales activities
12. how to design sales territories or portfolios in terms of size, location, number of customers, prospective accounts, product range, and number of contacts
13. how to monitor, evaluate and measure territory or portfolio and sales performance
14. how to undertake comparative analysis of territories or portfolios to establish benchmarks for performance