Spring into Action: Three Actions Your Organization Must Implement to Avoid the Penalty for Waiting-out Uncertainty
May 1, 2012How to Qualify an Account For a Sale Before Dedicating Resources
May 9, 2012
Sales managers are familiar with that most common complaint of their sales people, “My territory is too small.” What many sales reps fail to appreciate, and therefore do not develop, is the untapped potential of the existing territory.
Identifying a territory’s market potential, by account segment, allows leadership to deploy the company’s sales resources more effectively. Where a sales rep may assume the territory is already “tapped out,” there are, in most cases, additional opportunities waiting.
As a sales manager, you can maximize the effectiveness of your resources by informing the sales team of critical market information, combined with specific market research, and how to apply that information to reveal additional overlooked opportunities.
Accumulating the terrain information may be a challenge for you, particularly if there aren’t readily available estimates of your local market’s potential. Possibilities include:
- the purchase of existing data from industry-related data company
- collection of data from existing statistical resources, web searches
- utilizing data sourced from your company’s marketing research and studies
Quantifying the broader opportunities in your local market enables you, as a sales manager, and your sales team to make more informed and strategic decisions about your company’s sales approach. Consider combining this information with targeted training for your sales staff, highlighting strategies for increasing the growth of sales.
Hand-in-hand with that thought, you can also design an incentive program for sales reps which will reward actual performance, regardless of each representative’s territory assignment. Set goals that are challenging but attainable–as well as fair to everyone–and watch your newly trained and newly energized staff bring in the revenue!