How does your organization decide which rep will handle which accounts?
Do you have sales territories divided up geographically? Do different salespeople handle different industries? Maybe the most senior salespeople get first pick of accounts. Or maybe everyone starts off with nothing and has to find all their own clients.
Most B2B companies have been dividing up accounts the same way for so long that no one even questions it any more. It’s just what seems fair or easy to manage because it is “the way we’ve always done it.”
But what if there is a better way?
The case for strength-based sales coverage
The truth is that each of your sales reps has individual strengths and weaknesses. And some of them are going to be better at handling certain accounts than other people are.
Consider: you wouldn’t try to sell high-end enterprise software to a mom-and-pop startup that doesn’t have the budget or need for it. You also wouldn’t try to sell an entry-level product to a Fortune 500 company with offices all over the world. This kind of mismatch would just waste resources, confuse customers, and result in missed opportunities.
In the same way assigning the wrong salesperson to an opportunity can lead to wasted time, lower win rates, and frustration for everyone.
Reasons to assign accounts to a particular rep might include the following:
- Industry expertise If you have a salesperson who used to work in one of your target industries, it just makes sense to assign that person those accounts. After all, they know the lingo, pain points, and what makes the buyers tick. They might also have important contacts that can help them expand into new companies in the same industry.
- Geographical familiarity Your fast-talking native New Yorker might not be the best person to send on sales call in southern Georgia. And in the same vein, French customers might take more kindly to a French salesperson than to someone from Poland.
- Company size Some reps are really good at talking to small business owners — either because they’ve worked in small companies or because they just understand what it takes to be an entrepreneur. Others might be really good at navigating the hassles inherent in a large company.
- Solution focus You may have a salesperson who understands a particular product or service better than others. Maybe they feel an affinity for a particular type of buyer or maybe they just have a personal interest in certain offerings.
If your organization is small, you might be able to figure out all these personal strengths and weaknesses just based on what you know of your staff. But data analytics can be really helpful — even if you (or your sales team) think you know what would be best. It could be that Donna from North Carolina is actually really good at selling to people who live in LA, while Juan who used to work in pharmaceuticals is actually best at pitching people in the auto industry.
By matching each person to the types of accounts that they most often win, you can increase sales while also increasing job satisfaction. It also allows you the flexibility to create a dynamic coverage model that evolves with market needs, team member skills, and business goals.
Next steps
If you’re intrigued by the idea of strength-based sales coverage, we have a couple of resources for you:
Remember, “because we’ve always done it that way,” isn’t a good enough reason to keep doing something. If you do it the right way, shaking up your sales coverage can be good for individual reps, customers, and your company.
