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Territory and Quota Planning for Chameleons

Territory and Quota Planning for Chameleons

 In 2020 we learned to pivot almost everything about our business and sales strategies to adapt to a fully remote environment and a changing economy. In 2021, we're facing new challenges with an unpredictability in remote work and the general state of the world. Between all of this unpredictability we've got to worry about territory and quota planning (TQP)! How do we channel our inner chameleons and learn to adapt quickly and gracefully with our new environments? 

A huge thank you to Varicent for sponsoring and Martin Fleming for participating as a panelist!

Topics

  • Establishing a culture of leadership and a decision making team around TQP

  • Territory planning for scaling teams in a remote world

  • Quota planning with transparency in uncertain times

  • The importance of your tech stack in creating best practices

Key takeaways

  • Territory planning first principles: Territory planning is really about deciding which clients you want to make an investment in most. Knowing which customers you want to continue to build and deepen relationships with, and which customers you want to invest and grow relationships with, is the essential first step. 

  • How to look at your customer base for better territory planning: Understand your customers, your customer segments, and how you group customers together. If you’re looking at geography, are there some types of products or distributors that are different from others?  Are there industries at certain locations that are different from others? Prioritize the right customer investments that generate the kind of return you want, both for the salesperson and your organization. 

  • Evaluate, evaluate, evaluate! Many sales organizations don't do enough evaluation of their territories or their quotas, namely, how effective they are and how effective they've been.  How are you evaluating not only the individual, but the entire layout of territories and quotas and their success? This should happen on a rotating 12-month basis, with minor assessment at the 6-month mark.

  • Compensation best practices:  Depending upon the nature of your product and how frequently buying decisions are made, compensation can look different for each person on your team. Sellers in a territory with new customers have more time between their first successful sale - recognize that and make adjustments to the quota and compensation structure. 

  • Martin’s Key Takeaway: Don't think about planning territory as the first step! Think about it as a step that occurs after we understand your customers, how they’re segmented, their buying decisions and then what the territories and compensation might look like.