Does your sales team spend more time behind the wheel than in front of potential clients? A scattered, too-big territory might be the cause of all the drive time, and effective territory organization and management can cut down on windshield time and boost up customer face time.
Jeff Mariola says that the average salesperson spends 40 percent of their time traveling. Thirty percent of their time is spent in meetings, 25 percent waiting and only 5 percent in front of potential clients, noted the president of Rentokil Tropical Plant Services, an interior company based in Riverwoods, Ill.
Mariola suggested dividing a salesperson’s territory into five segments so sales representatives are not driving around the entire territory in one day, which results in sitting through more stop lights than meetings. By creating such segments, sales density can increase up to 30 percent, he estimated. He allows his salespeople to visit one segment per day – thus the five-segment split. Then, they can focus on the specific area and build stronger relationships with clients, he reasoned.
“You want your sales team to know where they’ll be next week,” he said. Knowing which days are to be spent in which areas allows them to plan meetings with potential clients on specific days, knowing they will be in that area. This way, they can efficiently visit other clients that are nearby.
However, when managing territories, Mariola realizes that sometimes emergency calls crop up. Most of the time, these “surprises” don’t occur in the assigned segment, so allowing a little flexibility while tightening territory management is important.
“They are allowed to leave the area two times every day,” he explained. This leeway is either the first or last visit of the day – when the salesperson is just leaving their home or returning at the end of the day. That way, time isn’t wasted driving across town during the workday, he said.
Overall, managing territories more effectively can cut down drive time up to 20 percent, Mariola said. “This is why territory planning is so important,” he remarked.
The author is Managing Editor – Special Projects for Lawn & Landscape magazine.