A predictable sales planning process gives sales managers the ability to control the critical few high-performance sales activities that make a difference to sellers and the entire sales team. A great sales plan should provide sales leaders with clear and real-time visibility into the performance of their sales organization.
It should also act as a mechanism for sellers to provide reliable information to their sales managers. Still, many sales leaders struggle with creating a consistent plan to maximize territories and build better pipelines.
Building a consistent highly-qualified pipeline demands sellers have a solid grasp of their territories from four perspectives:
Effective territory management is a key enabler of building a successful pipeline. If you run your sales organization focused on building pipeline, you can’t fail.
When your reps have a solid grasp of their territories, they’ll focus on building their pipeline at the territory level rather than scrambling to fuel the forecast at the opportunity level. Targeted and coordinated sales activities at the territory level will drive a healthy pipeline that can make the difference between your meeting this quarter’s revenue goals and falling short. As a sales leader, it’s important that you take the critical steps to coach your team to maximize their territories and pipeline opportunities. A comprehensive approach to sales planning maximizes your efforts as a sales leader.
The right operating rhythm not only provides sellers with a credible and executable account strategy, it also drives metrics that provide management with a clear line-of-sight into the performance of their entire sales organization.