Chapter 15
TIME, TERRITORY, AND SELF-MANAGEMENT:
KEYS TO SUCCESS
Main Topics:
The tree of business life: Time
Customers Forms Sales Territories
Elements of time and territory management
THE TREE OF BUSINESS LIFE:
TIME
Managing time is one of the most important factors in selling. Time is money. Why? cause it is
limited. Time is a measure in which events can be ordered from the past through
the present into the future, and also the measure of durations of events and the intervals
between them. We need to know how to effectively use time.
There is only so much time in a day, week, month and year. People spend time doing what
are the most important things to do in their life. That’s why we are living, because we have
purpose. We are living because we have so many tasks to do every time we wake up in the
morning. We have so many challenges to face in life. We need purpose in our life that’s why
we are existing and living, in order for our job to have guidance.
How we spend our time determines our lives. It influences the level of our success in sales and
in school. Time encompasses the time spent with customers and our life activities. Using ethical
service as a guide for actions allows one person to spend time doing what one loves. It allows
you to find your purpose. It allows you to find your worth. It allows you to know why we are
living.
CUSTOMERS FORMS SALES TERRITORIES
A sales territory is the customer group or geographic district for which an individual
salesperson or sales team holds responsibility. Territories can be defined on the basis of
geography, sales potential, history, or a combination of factors. Companies strive to balance
their territories because this can reduce costs and increase sales.
Reasons Companies Develop and Use Sales Territories







To obtain thorough coverage of the market.
To establish each salesperson's responsibilities.
To evaluate performance.
To improve customer relations.
To reduce sales expense.
To allow better matching of salesperson to customer needs.
To benefit both salespeople and the company.
Although there are reasons why we developed counter part of it is there are also reasons
why we do not develop sales territories.
 Salespeople may be more motivated if not restricted by a particular territory.
 The company may be too small to be concerned with segmenting the market into
sales area.
1. A salesperson is an individual who sells goods and services to other entities. The
successfulness of a salesperson is usually measured by the amount of sales he or she
is able to make during a given period and how good that person is in
persuading individuals to make a purchase. If a salesperson is employed by a company,
in some cases compensation can be decreased or increased based on the amount
of goods or services sold.
A salesperson quota goals may involved (1) sales volume quotas, (2) profit quotas, (3) expense
quotas, (4) activity quotas and (5) customer satisfaction scores.
2. Account analysis is identifying accounts and their varying levels of sales potential. There
are two general approaches to account analysis these are the undifferentiated selling
approach and the account segmentation approach.
a. The Undifferentiated Selling Approach
The salesperson uses this when an organization see the market as similar and the selling
strategies are designed and applied equally to all accounts.
Mass marketing is used to effect attitude change to as wide an audience as possible. Often this
would take the form of selling a product like toothpaste. Toothpaste isn't made specially for
one consumer and it is sold in huge quantities. A company or individual who manufactures
toothpaste wishes to get more people to buy their particular brand over another. The goal is
when a consumer has the option to select a tube of toothpaste that the consumer would
remember the product which was marketed. Mass marketing is the opposite of niche marketing,
where a product is made specially for one person or a group of persons. Other products of mass
marketing are furniture, artwork, automobiles, residential communities, fizzy drinks
and personal computers. Typically, things which are perceived to be necessary/essential to the
consumer are subject to mass marketing. Resources of mass marketing provide cost-effective
marketing solutions for small and micro businesses, including start-ups.
Even "products" like politicians and services from professions such
as law, chiropractic and medicine, are subject to mass marketing.
b. The Account Segmentation Approach
This type of approach recognize that their territories contain accounts with heterogeneous
needs and differing characteristics that require different selling strategies.
c. Multivariable Account Segmentation
3. Set Account Objectives and Sales Quotas
It is the third element for individual’s products and for current and potential accounts.
Objectives might include increasing product distribution to prospects the territory or
increasing the product assortment current customer’s purchase.
(1) Sales volume quotas
(2) Profit quotas
(3) Expense quotas
(4) Activity quotas
(5) Customer satisfaction scores
4. Territory –time allocation
This is the element we will know on how salespeople’s time allocated within territories.
Time allocation is the time spent by the salesperson traveling around the territory and
calling on accounts.
I. Basic factors to consider:
 Number of accounts in the territory
 Numbers of sales calls made
 Time required for each sales calls
 Frequency of customers sales calls
 Travel time around the territory
 Non-selling time
 Return on time invested
II.
Sales Response function
 The salesperson invests sales time in direct proportion to the actual or potential
sales that the account represents.
 The most productive number of calls is reached at the point at which additional
calls does not increase sales.
 The relationship of sales volume to sales calls is the sales response function of
the customer to the salesperson call.
III.
Return on Time Invested
 Time is a scarce resource
 Breakeven analysis
 The management of time
A. Plan by the day, week, and month
B. Qualify the prospect
C. Use waiting time
D. Records and reports
5. Customer Sales Planning
Developing a sales-call objective, a customer profile, and a customer benefit program
including selling strategies for individual customers.
You need to do the following for each sales call:
 Develop sales call objectives
 Create customer profile
 Create customer benefit plan
 Select FABs
 Develop marketing plan
 Develop business proposition
 Develop suggested order
 Develop your sales presentation
6. Scheduling and Routing
Scheduling is establishing a fixed time for visiting customer’s business while routing is
the travel pattern used in working a territory.


Strict formal route designs enable the company to:
 Improve territory coverage
 Minimize wasted time
 Establish communication between management and sales force in terms of
location and activities of individual salespeople.
Carefully plan your route
Using the Telephone for Territorial Coverage
 Satisfy part of the service needs of accounts by telephone
 Assign smaller accounts that contribute less than 5 percent of business to mostly
telephone selling
 Do prospecting, marketing data gathering, and call scheduling by telephone
 Carefully schedule personal calls to distant accounts
7. Territory and Customer Evaluation
Territorial evaluation is the establishment of performance standards for the individual
territory in the form of qualitative and quantitative quotas or goals.
Summary of Sales of Selling Issues
 How salespeople invest their sales time is a critical factor that influences territory sales.
 Proper time and territory management is an effective method for the salesperson to
maximize territorial sales and profits.
 A sales territory comprises a group of customers or a geographical area assigned to a
salesperson.
 Companies develop and use sale territories for a number of reasons
 Performance can be monitored when territories are established
 There are also disadvantages to developing sales territories.
 Time and territory management is continuous for a salesperson – it involves seven key
elements.