Sales Territory Mapping – A Complete Guide

Sales territory mapping is essential for any sales team that wants to optimize its performance. But it can be a complex and time-consuming process, making it challenging to keep up with changing economic circumstances.

In this guide, we’ll show you everything you need to know about sales territory mapping, from the basics of how to create a map to more advanced methods for analyzing your data. We’ll also provide tips and tricks for making the most out of your map.

This Guide will answer all your questions, including:

What is Sales Territory Mapping?

Sales territory mapping is the process of organizing sales territories to optimize sales productivity. 

You can use the parameters that make the most sense for your sales team: revenue potential, proximity to existing clients, distance from the warehouse, demographics in each area, and more.

Once the territories are well-defined, you can confidently assign them to each sales rep on your team. Every business has unique KPIs when it comes to sales targeting, but a well-designed map can help any sales team identify new opportunities, track performance, and better understand their customers.

The specific boundaries of each sales territory are determined based on various factors, such as population density, customer concentration, and transportation routes. Therefore, creating an accurate and up-to-date sales territory map is essential for any organization that relies on a geographic territory to drive sales.

Types of Sales Territories

There are several different types of sales territories, each one with specific benefits depending on what your goals might be.

Finding the best one for your organization is relatively straightforward; simply ask yourself: what criteria are most important for the success of your sales team?  For example, some of them may need to target specific demographics, while other teams should be organized by proximity to your facilities or warehouse. 

• Geographic territories: Probably the most common type, this type of territory is based on physical boundaries such as states, counties, or zip codes. 
• Product territories: These territories are based on the products or services that a company sells. For example, a company may have separate territories for its different product lines.
• Customer territories: These territories are based on the company’s customers. For example, a company may have respective territories for large and small businesses.
• Industry territories: These territories are based on a company’s industries. For example, a company may have separate healthcare and automotive client territories.
• Sales Channel territories: These territories are based on the sales channels that a company uses. For example, a company may have separate territories for direct sales and indirect sales.

For more details on how to manage each type, please read The Ultimate Guide to Effective Sales Territory Management.

Sales Planning Statistics & Trends

• The Sales Management Association finds that substantial performance advantages accrue to sales organizations effective in territory design. Firms that design sales territories effectively enjoy rates of sales objective achievement that are 14% higher than other firms.
• According to a study by CSO Insights, only 38% of sales organizations said they were very effective at executing their sales plans, while nearly 60% of respondents said they “somewhat agree” or “strongly agree” that their company’s sales planning process needs improvement.
• According to a study by Harvard Business Review, optimizing sales territories have been shown to increase sales by up to 7%. 
• A study by Xactly found that organizations that were using effective territory design had 14% higher sales objective achievement.
• A trend report by Deloitte reveals that, after the pandemic, executives are ranking marketing and sales as the second-most critical function (63%), after digital technology (68%).
• According to Hubspot, sales data and technology are changing how sales teams operate for the better: “implementing a data-driven sales approach can also make your business more profitable — up to 6% more profitable than their competitors”.

Clearly, the importance of sales and business development teams is rising across the board, and new software and apps are driving efficiencies by unlocking the power of data.

Sales planning territories are an example of this, helping sales teams stay ahead of their competitors through powerful visualizations and strategy planning.

Why Does Your Business Need a Sales Territory Mapping Software?

Sales territory mapping can have a number of benefits, but at its core, it really is a game-changer when it comes to boosting your sales and enabling your teams to do their best work.

While sales territory planning is a complex process, and it can be challenging to keep up with changing economic conditions, technology has come a long way, and tools like Maptive can help sales teams stay organized and efficient by providing a platform for tracking customer data, analyzing sales data, and creating territories.

Mapping software offers several advantages over traditional methods:

More Flexibility

Sales territory mapping software provides sales teams with greater flexibility when it comes to managing their territories. 

With traditional territory management methods, sales teams are often confined to pre-determined geographic boundaries that can make it challenging to optimize sales efforts. 

Instead, sales territory mapping software enables sales teams to create custom territories based on various factors, such as customer demographics, buying habits, and even competitor activity. This allows sales teams to target their efforts and ultimately improve their results more effectively. 

What’s more, sales territory mapping software also provides users with real-time insights into territory performance, making it easier to identify problems and correct them promptly. With mapping software, you can make changes to your territories quickly and easily. This is essential for sales teams that need to respond to market conditions regularly.

Better Data

Any business that relies on sales territories to generate revenue knows that those territories must be well-defined and understood. 

Sales territory mapping software provides a comprehensive analysis of customer data, allowing businesses to identify trends and optimize their territories for maximum efficiency. The software also makes it easy to track results over time so that businesses can fine-tune their territories. 

In short, sales territory mapping software is a powerful tool for businesses that depend on sales territories to drive revenue, but it can also be a game-changer to improve your sales strategy overall since mapping software also provides tools for analyzing your customer & sales data. 

Increased Productivity

Sales territory mapping software can help sales organizations increase their productivity by automating the creation and upkeep of sales territories, so your salespeople can spend more time selling and less time on administrative tasks.

In addition, sales territory mapping software makes it easier to identify potential new customers and track the progress of existing ones. 

As a result, sales teams can more effectively target their efforts and close more deals. In short, sales territory mapping software provides a much-needed boost to productivity for sales organizations.

How To Design a Sales Territory Plan?

Knowing how to design a sales territory plan is essential for any business that relies on geographic territories to drive sales. 

The process of creating a sales territory plan can be complex, but there are a few basic steps that all businesses should follow:

Define Your Goals

The first step in designing a sales territory plan is to define your goals. What are you trying to achieve with your sales territories? Do you want to increase market share in a particular region? Drive sales of a new product?

• Once you have defined your goals, you can begin to design territories that are aligned with your future success. 
• For example, if you’re looking to increase market share, you might create territories that focus on specific customer segments or geographic regions.
• If you’re looking to drive sales of a new product, on the other hand, you might create territories that focus on specific channels or types of customers.

Whatever your goals may be, it’s essential to keep them in mind as you design your territories.

Know Your Customers

The next step in designing a sales territory plan is to know your customers. Who are they? What do they need? What problems are you solving for them?

• Answering these questions will help you design territories that are tailored to your customer base. 
• For example, if you’re selling to businesses, you’ll want to create territories that focus on specific industries or company sizes.
• On the other hand, if you’re selling to consumers, you’ll want to create territories that focus on specific demographics or geographic regions.

Whatever your customer base may be, it’s essential to understand their needs and motivations before you can effectively sell to them.

Analyze Your Data

After you have defined your goals and know your customers, it’s time to analyze your data. This step is critical for understanding your current sales performance and identifying opportunities for improvement.

• Start by looking at your sales data. Where are your most successful sales coming from? What regions or customer segments are you underperforming in? Answering these questions will help you understand where to focus your efforts.
• It would help if you also looked at your customer data. Who are your best customers? What do they have in common? Identifying your best customers will help you find more prospects that are similar to them.
• Finally, you should look at your competitor’s data. Who are they selling to? What areas are they targeting? Understanding your competition will help you find new opportunities and avoid areas that are already saturated.

Once you have analyzed your data, you should understand your current sales performance and where you need to improve. This information will be critical for designing territories that are aligned with your goals.

Define Your Territories

The final step in defining a sales territory plan is to design your territories. There are a few different ways to do this, but the most important thing is to ensure that your territories align with your goals.

• One way to design your territories is by customer type. This approach is ideal if you’re selling to businesses or if you have a large and diverse customer base.
• Another way to design your territories is by geography. This approach is ideal if you’re selling to consumers or have a small customer base.
• A third way is to segment territories by potential value. This approach is ideal for ensuring fair outcomes for all your sales team members.
• Finally, you can also design your territories by channel. This approach is ideal if you’re selling through multiple channels or have a complex sales process.

Whichever approach you choose, the most important thing is to make sure that your territories are designed to help you achieve your goals.

If you are unsure how to get started, here are 4 Territory Plan Templates that can help make your sales team more successful.

Segment Your Market

When segmenting your market, you’ll want to consider a few different factors, such as customer needs, motivations, and buying habits. You’ll also want to consider your own goals and objectives.

• For example, if you’re looking to increase market share, you might want to segment your market by customer type or geographic region.
• If you’re looking to drive sales of a new product, on the other hand, you might want to segment your market by channel or customer type.

How Maptive Can Help Your Sales Territory Mapping Process?

Maptive is a powerful sales territory mapping tool that can help you design territories aligned with your goals. With Maptive, you can easily segment your market and understand your customers’ needs and motivations.

But that’s not all. Let’s take a closer look at some of the other ways Maptive can help you with your sales territory mapping process:

Develop Custom Sales Territory Maps

One of the most popular features of Maptive is the ability to develop custom sales territory maps. This can be a valuable tool for sales managers who need to allocate resources efficiently or for businesses looking to expand into new markets. With Maptive, it is easy to create maps that show sales territories, customer locations, or any other data sets.

For example, you can map customer locations, getting the full picture of who they are, where they live, and what they’re looking for. This type of visualization can provide valuable information about the scope of your business and customers, including patterns, gaps, and saturation levels that focus your sales and advertising efforts.

Maptive software also allows users to overlay demographic data, so users can see which areas would be most receptive to their products or services. 

In addition, Maptive offers a range of other powerful features, such as the ability to create heat maps and multi-stop route maps. As a result, Maptive is an ideal tool for sales territory mapping.

Analyze Data within Your Territories

Another powerful feature of Maptive is the ability to analyze data within your territories. This can be a valuable tool for sales managers who need to understand how their territories perform. 

With Maptive, you can easily visualize and analyze data sets, such as sales, customer, or other data sets.

Divide & Conquer 

Geospatial data can impact marketing strategies, sales initiatives, and overall business decisions. 

Visualizing the zip codes across your sales territories can help you figure out which of your sales rep might be the best one to succeed, and track results accordingly. In addition to zip codes, Maptive’s boundary tool can take your location data and maps it within predefined boundaries, like states, counties, regions, etc–so you can divide and conquer both at the micro and macro levels. 

By visualizing trends with territory mapping, you can quickly and effortlessly identify areas of opportunity, cut out operational redundancies, and help your business thrive.

Target Key Demographics

Maptive’s demographic map tool provides users with a wealth of useful information about the people living within a selected sales territory with insights like population density, minority populations, and median household income.

By adding demographic data to your existing research, business planning, and marketing, you can take your sales planning to the next level. 

Design Territories that are Aligned with Your Goals

Maptive can help you design territories that are aligned with your goals. With Maptive, you can easily segment your market and understand your customers’ needs and motivations. As a result, you can design territories aligned with your goals and optimize your sales strategies.

Use it for Presentations, Reports, & More

In addition to sales territory mapping, Maptive can also be used for presentations, reports, and more. With Maptive, you can easily create custom maps that can be embedded in your PowerPoint presentations or exported as high-resolution images.

What’s more, our software makes it easy to share your maps with colleagues or clients. As a result, Maptive is an ideal tool for sales managers who need to share their territories with others.

CRM Mapping

By plotting your CRM data into territory mapping software like Maptive you can plot your customers’ locations in an interactive map, allowing you to plan more effectively and discover key insights that were hiding in your data.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platforms have become an important tool for sales teams, as they allow you to store information for customers and leads and stay on top of important accounts. 

Some CRMs, like Salesforce, have apps built in to help you create maps. Salesforce Maps offers location-based visualization of critical customer data effortlessly, that is accessible from mobile devices or desktops. Salesforce maps allow you to visualize your businesses’ location data and gain spatial insights from them. 

When it comes to planning your sales strategy, analyzing your data, and managing territories, CRM maps can prove incredibly effective. 

Promote Internal Analytics & Collaboration

Maptive can help you promote internal analytics and collaboration. With Maptive, you can easily share your territory planning maps with colleagues or clients. 

As a result, you can encourage all teams across your organization to use internal analytics, spark new ideas and conversations, and keep everyone informed on progress and future planning.

Get Started With Maptive. Signup for a Risk-free 10-day Free Trial.

Sales Territory Mapping FAQs

Does my Business Need Sales Territory Mapping?

Sales territory mapping can be a valuable tool for businesses of all sizes. In fact, according to some experts, “territory design has a bigger impact on sales rep performance than effort or selling skills.”

For example, if you’re looking to increase sales and grow your business, sales territory mapping can help you allocate your resources more efficiently and understand your customers’ needs and motivations.

How Can I Get Started with Sales Territory Mapping?

If you’re interested in getting started with sales territory mapping, Maptive offers our software a free trial. With Maptive, you can easily segment your market and understand your customers’ needs and motivations. As a result, you can design territories that are aligned with your goals and optimize your sales strategies.

What is the Difference Between Sales Territory Mapping and Route Planning?

Sales territory mapping is a process of designing territories that are aligned with your business goals. Route planning is creating a route map that shows the best way to travel from one location to another.

Both can be useful tools, depending on your business goals and needs. Generally speaking, sales territory mapping is more helpful if you want to boost your sales overall, while route planning helps unlock efficiencies and cost savings. 

What’s the Difference between Sales Territory Mapping & Market Segmentation?

The main difference between sales territory mapping and market segmentation is that sales territory mapping is a process of designing territories that are aligned with your business goals. On the other hand, market segmentation is the process of dividing a market into distinct groups of customers who have similar needs and motivations.

Both processes can be valuable tools for businesses, but they serve different purposes. If you’re looking to increase sales, sales territory mapping can be a helpful tool. Market segmentation can be a valuable tool if you’re looking to understand your customers’ needs and motivations.

What Business Types Benefit the Most from Sales Territory Mapping?

Sales territory mapping can be a valuable tool for businesses of all sizes. However, companies that may benefit the most from sales territory mapping include:

• Enterprise companies with large sales teams
• Small businesses with limited resources
• Startups that are looking to grow quickly
• Companies that are expanding into new markets

Is There a Way to Automate Sales Territory Mapping?

Yes, there is a way to automate sales territory mapping. Maptive’s sales territory mapping software offers a free trial that includes all of the features you need to segment your market, understand your customers’ needs and motivations, and design territories aligned with your goals. As a result, you can easily create maps that show the best way to divide your sales territories.

How Can I Get Started with Sales Territory Mapping?

If you’re interested in getting started with sales territory mapping, Maptive offers a free trial so you can get a feel for how everything works before you commit. 

With Maptive, you can easily segment your market and understand your customers’ needs and motivations. As a result, you can design territories that are aligned with your goals and optimize your sales strategies.

If you want to start from the basics, this Mapping Term Glossary will prove helpful in getting your bearings before you jump into action. 

Does Maptive Offer a Free Trial for Sales Territory Mapping Software?

Yes, Maptive offers a free trial of our software. With Maptive, you can easily segment your market and understand your customers’ needs and motivations. As a result, you can design territories that are aligned with your goals and optimize your sales strategies.

How to Decide What the Best Sales Territories for My Business Looks Like?

You’ll want to consider a few factors when deciding on the best sales territories for your business. These include:

• Your business goals
• Your customer data
• Your sales data
• The size of your sales team
• The geographical area that you’re selling in

You’ll also want to consider the type of territory design that will be most effective for your business. Maptive offers three different types of territory designs:

• Cluster territories based on proximity – this is a good option if you’re looking to improve efficiencies and reduce travel time.
• Divide territories based on equal populations – this is a good option if you’re looking to target specific demographics.
• Optimize territories based on historical performance – this is a good option if you’re looking to increase sales.

Once you’ve considered all of these factors, you can start to map out your ideal sales territories. Maptive offers a free trial of our software, which can help you easily segment your market and understand your customers’ needs and motivations. As a result, you can design territories that are aligned with your goals and optimize your sales strategies.

How Much Does a Sales Territory Mapping Software Usually Cost?

The cost of sales territory mapping software can vary depending on the features and functionality you’re looking for. Maptive offers a free trial of our software, which includes all of the features you need to segment your market, understand your customers’ needs and motivations, and design territories aligned with your goals.