Successful Territory Management

THE PROBLEM:

Field visit reports by district sales managers from three of our client companies had a noticeably similar ring to them. When experienced salespeople had been covering their territories for more than two years, the customer contacts had become social calls rather than sales calls. More time was spent on pleasantries than on selling and, at best, the sales presentation was weak. In many cases it consisted of simply asking for an order.

THE SOLUTION:

All sales training sessions were programmed to include the reasons why close relationships with customers can cause lack of impact when selling and an inability to apply even an acceptable amount of pressure. But training in this particular area is not always effective. When human beings develop friendly relationships they sometimes find it difficult to separate business from camaraderie. Consequently, the decision was also made to do a certain amount of territory swapping, thereby removing long standing relationships from the sales effort.

THE RESULT:

In each territory involved, sales increased dramatically – mainly by obtaining new business from existing customers.

The original reaction to swapping was not good. Both managers and sales reps practically rebelled. That was understandable. The old prejudices against swapping territories are still alive in a majority of companies. The rationalization is that the present salesperson has developed close relationships with good customers and to disturb that would be foolhardy.

In some cases this rationale has been stretched to the Nth degree. We know of one company, in the furniture manufacturing business, that for years had five salespeople…count them, five…covering a city of only 75,000 residents. Each had to travel over an hour to make one or two calls on people with whom they were on very friendly terms. And then, because this was considered such an easy day, they would plan to synchronize the coverage and meet for lunch. Think of the gross waste of good selling time. But the company was adamant in holding to its policy. Was it worth it? Well, that company is now defunct. There probably were other reasons for its failure, but this policy may have contributed to its demise.

Personal relationships between salespeople and their customers…why are they considered so essential? In some cases they help greatly, but not in the majority of cases. They may make little difference or may even be injurious in the long run. Familiarity does not always produce more business. When sales calls become social calls because of a high degree of familiarity, the sales presentation suffers. There are more interruptions (because one, “My friend won’t mind”), more humor than usual, important details are omitted or glossed over and the close is not as aggressive as it could be. Most salespeople claim that a good customer who also becomes a good friend must be handled quite differently than one who is just an acquaintance or an outright stranger.

MORE PROOF

Selling to friends, or to the same people regularly, has been looked upon with disfavor by some companies because it holds down sales increases. For example, for years the large group of salespeople who cover New England selling advertising for the one of the Yellow Pages have always looked forward with much anticipation to a certain yearly sales meeting. At that meeting, the territories for the ensuing year are drawn from a hat – and it is a definite rarity when the same territory is drawn for a second year. Do the salespeople mind it? Not at all. They’ve become accustomed to the practice. Besides, they have discovered that management’s theory puts more money in their pockets year after year. On that basis, the challenge is accepted happily.

Management’s theory is clear-cut in this case. Territorial swapping is considered a material means to the end result of more sales. The goal, after all, is not to go out and get Yellow Pages advertisers to renew their ads for the upcoming year’s issue. The goal is to get them to take larger ads with substantial proof that such an investment invariably brings more business for the advertiser. And when pressure of an acceptable type is applied by salespeople not familiar to the prospects, it is more often effective. That this theory has worked for that particular sales organization is clear. Every year Yellow Pages has a lot more pages in it.

AN ADDED BENEFIT

At least three sales managers feel that, in addition to increasing sales, territory swapping has substantial PR value. They happen to be in industries where the turnover of salespeople is way above average. So, the swapping policy is standard operating procedure…and customers are so informed. Result? When a customer sees a new face, or hears a new voice over the phone, no questions are asked. They are well aware of the swapping policy and rarely need to be reminded of it. A company’s image is always bruised somewhat when customers have to be told that a salesperson they had come to know and like – “is no longer with us.”

A WELL-DESERVED LOOK

Since salespeople are quite human, they resist change. Let them be in a territory for one or two years and the thought of shifting to a different one is appalling. Sales managers, too, resist change. If all is going well and sales are up, why rock the boat? And rocking it by swapping could mean morale problems. And who needs those? Well, it’s a case of deciding whether or not you are satisfied with your level of success with the sales staff. If the forecasted quota is being met or surpassed, you may well decide to let things stand as they are. But if you are looking for creative ways to give the sales curve an upward jolt…the swapping theory deserves a careful look.

Naturally, in most companies, any amount of wholesale swapping would certainly upset a sales staff and most likely produce wholesale morale problems. Especially if it has never been done before. But to do it occasionally might prove quite fruitful. Particularly in the case of a seasoned salesperson who has covered the same territory for some time and is showing a decrease in sales when the rest of the staff is showing increases. Bringing a new face into that territory could well change customer attitudes and increase territorial sales.

Remember the story about the learned professor who was demonstrating an experiment to a class of students of behavior. The experiment was one of a male rat in the center of a maze with two possible ways out, one leading to food and the other leading to a female rat. Even though the professor substituted different kinds of food, the rat always chose food instead of the female. After such clear cut demonstrations he announced the conclusions derived from the experiment: “Hunger is a greater motivating force than sex.” But an open-minded student in the rear of the classroom loudly suggested, ‘Have you tried changing the female rat?’

Paul Micali is a professional speaker on sales, sales management and motivation. He is publisher of the sales and sales training newsletter, The HOT BUTTONEER. For a sample copy and more information, please write 15 Paine Rd., So. Yarmouth, MA 02664 or call 617/394-6888.