Considering many salespeople are responsible for sales & marketing activities within their respective territories, being able to understand and develop a meaningful territory sales plan is an important. In developing a territory plan, salespeople must have a good understanding of the issues affecting their market area, the competition they are up against, and the different segments of the market that can/should be targeted for territorial sales growth. Weaving its way through this conversation is the idea of being able to identify attractive opportunities and effectively plan to achieve territory sales objectives with both personal achievement, and organizational sales & profitability goals in mind.
Seminar Overview
Throughout this 1.5 day workshop, participants will be introduced to different territory management concepts and be giving an opportunity to work through a series of different exercises (individually and/or with peers) that focus on their own territory planning situation. Participants will be encouraged to come prepared with several customer examples or case studies to work through, in which they can apply thinking and share ideas with one another. The end result will be the framework for an actual territory sales plan that can be implement during the growing season within the participant’s own territory. The following topics would be explored in this session:
Understanding the Market
-Identifying key market trends that are affecting sales and marketing issues in agriculture (and individual sales territories) today, including demographics, attitudes, and behaviors
-Examination of grower attitudes towards salespeople and sales activities that impact the overall sales/marketing experience
-Identifying and evaluating marketing opportunities designed to increase sales and market share
-Competitive analysis and development of strategies designed to deal with competitive threats and opportunities
Customer Analysis
-Identifying and prioritizing market segments
-Prioritizing key customers and prospects using a quantitative approach
-Development of prospect profiling system designed to collect and monitor key customer/prospect information
-Understanding customer needs and how this translates to the development of a meaningful value proposition
Creating & Communicating Value
-Identifying and measuring share-of-wallet opportunities
-Communication of key product/service features and benefits
-Discovering ways to quantify the value proposition
-Development of an action-plan focusing communication/promotional tactics that can be used to help create awareness and drive sales
-Develop follow-up & contingency plan to build long-term value
Application Assignments
As participants work through the various topics outlined above, they will be thinking of their own territory and specific customers they work with. In-class topics will be applied through exercises that appeal and relate to the entire group, designed to allow them to discuss and think about the issues affecting the marketplace, and their sales activities today. Following the in-class portion of the program participants will be given an opportunity to develop their own Territory Sales Plan.
Who Should Participate?
This workshop is ideal for salespeople who manage a customer base or product portfolio within geographic regions or with certain customer segments. This may include, but is not limited to:
-Territory or Regional Sales Managers
-Senior Retail Sales Representatives
-Technical Sales or Marketing Representatives
-Sales Managers responsible for managing sales teams
While there are no prerequisites to participate in this program, due it’s more advanced nature having attended Agri Studies’ Selling to Farm Businesses seminar, or some other comprehensive sales training program would be beneficial. Territory Sales Planning is not a selling skills course.
Interested in Learning More?
If you are interested in learning more about having Agri Studies deliver Territory Sales Planning with your organization, please contact Justin Funk at jrfunk@agristudies.com or call 519-827-5507.