Qualitative methods

Qualitative methods of sales forecasting rely less on data, and much more on the opinions and experiences of the people involved in the forecasting pro There are three common approaches cess
Delphi method Panel method Scenario planning

Delphi method
Perhaps the best-known method for generating a forecast using experts. Rather than getting experts to meet face-to-face, the chosen experts are sent a survey or questionnaire (by post or email). Each expert completes the survey without reference to any other contributor disadvantages- The time-consuming nature of the survey process (potentially costly as well) - The way in which the experts are chosen (who choses and why?) - Whether some experts are more expert than others! whose opinions should be given most weight (if anyone)

Panel method
This method of sales forecasting is a specialised form of focus group (remember that from consumer market research?) The panels members meet face-to-face and discuss openly their views on the forecasts required, with the aim of reaching a consensus. disadvantages? - Some experts will shout louder than others, or be more forceful in expressing their opinions - The panel approach encourages a quick resolution, rather than a more reflective approach (which might lead to a better quality sales forecast)

Scenario planning
This method is popular where the sales forecast is subject to a lot of uncertainty. This is often true when a sales forecast is intended to cover a long time period (e.g. 3+ years) or where there are inherent risks in the demand for the product or market being forecasted.

Scenarios are not intended to produce a consensus. Rather, it is about identifying the likely or possible scenarios for different sales outcomes, and then coming up with a plan for how the business would respond for the least desirable scenarios. Scenario planning is linked, therefore, to contingency planning

Territory Design
For nearly 25 years, we have been creating franchise and sales territories for all types of businesses pharmaceuticals to home furnishings, international to local, largest to smallest. We create the franchise and sales territories you need. The following discusses sales territory design, the process of working with you to create your territories. If you already have territories, we may be able to help your efforts, to save you money and better optimize the results. If you already have franchise or sales territories

Sales Territory Design Options

We Do All of the Work for You With an understanding of your business and specific needs, our experts create your territories and deliver the maps, reports and databases necessary to put them to work. Our Team Does the Work With You Territory design is an iterative process, often involving many departments. Our team works closely with your departments in the way that best coordinates the project and provides the deliverables required by each. We Deliver the System, You do the Work Many organizations have the staff and expertise, as well as the commitment to manage the Territory Design Process themselves. For these companies, the benefits of control over the process more than offsets the additional cost of time and staff. We make sure that you have the tools you need.

Sales Territory Design Process Examples

New Sales Force for New Product A national medical supply company requires not only territories...but a prediction of the required number of sales people as well. Teams work together to study the sales potential at hospital and clinic locations as well as travel time and other work load factors. Maximizing Franchise Revenues A business services franchise grows beyond designing territories by "what the franchisee wants". A web based system helps them use demographics to create the greatest number of optimal areas. Standardize & Update By ZIP Code A home cleaning service wants to transition to territories defined by ZIP Codes. Older maps are used to redefine and update new areas. 10 Year Growth Plan A national home protection service looks to establish over 1,200 new territories over the next 10 years. A combination of customer profiling, demographic projections and a statistical study of distance weighted factors provide the basis for a yearly plan. Translate Legal Documents A national fast food franchise looks to establishing a computer based territory management system. A web based mapping system was created which helps the user to visually translate legal descriptions into computer mapping formats

Sales Territory Design Process Examples

Territories by Household Income A regional home service looks to expand nationally. A model based primarily upon the number of households with children in areas within a certain income range is used to create territories. Balance by Customers, Prospects, Drive Time A regional office supply company looks to update sales territories. The locations of customers and prospects are factored with current revenues, current account growth and new account prospects to create a balance of sales opportunities with work. Design by Retail Outlets & Ethnic Populations With successful growth, a seller of phone cards looks to create new territories, often splitting existing ones. Analysis of sale history and location of retail outlets in relationship to targeted ethnics populations provided the basis for the new territories. Door-to-Door Delivery Tools A national publisher of phone books distributes by door-to-door delivery. An online system allows them to easily plan for each market, design each delivery route and print the packet of instructions and delivery map used by each book deliverer each day. Delivery by a National Grid A shipping and delivery services company looks to create sales territories, analyze data and manage deliveries through a custom national grid system. A web based system helps them build and maintain this "nested grid" territory system, as well as input customer data and track delivery resources.

territory management in sales force

you have Roles, Profiles, User Records, Sharing Settings, Organization Wide Defaults, Field Level Security, Page Layouts, Lists, Views, Reports, Folders and more to segment, hide or display data in different ways. Confused yet with this massive interrelation of data management tools? Well, time to introduce Territory Management into the mix.

territory management in sales force

Roles - Hierarchy of roles represent the Product Divisions. Each division is broken down into Sales Region roles representing both Managers and Sales People and possibly Sales Partners. Partners and Sales People both report to the Manager role. Reporting is primarily done by role, because VPs/CEOs for these Product Divisions typically only care about their own sales Territories - Hierarchy of territories that represent the Sales Regions. An example would be: 1 World, 2 North America 3 East N.A.. This can be as granular as necessary. Rules will be defined that automatically associate Accounts with these territory buckets. So, not East N.A. has a collection of Accounts in East North America that you can assign to any group that you would like. It is best to provide the minimum sharing capability for these by default. Sharing Settings Sharing Settings are what actually assign Territories to Roles in SFDC. For example, for the Product Line 1, East North America role, you can assign the Territory and Subordinates for the associated Territory. This will allow the users in this role to see everything within this region and also cross sell multiple products. The divisional reporting structure still remains.