Are You Really Covering Your Territories?
The answer may terrify you.
What percent of their territory are my reps actually working?
You should ask yourself this question as you plan quota capacity and territory size.
The answer isn’t too hard if you or your team are handy with a pivot table. It’s something we’ve learned is a very useful diagnostic tool for anyone considering a change in territory design (e.g. dynamic books, re-carving geos, etc).
The coverage plot
1) Count the accounts each rep’s responsible for.
2) Count how many of those accounts each rep engaged over the last 12 months. We usually use the most generous measure of engagement possible: just one activity recorded on that account.
3) Plot those numbers.
You’ll get something like the chart below. (Each column is a rep.)
See that sea of red up there? That means that these reps are barely covering their books. It’s really common. Most reps only engage with a low percentage of their book.
If you see this, there are som concrete steps you can take.
What to do if coverage is low?
Sometimes low engagement is because reps aren’t putting in the work. But it's rarely the whole story.
If your reps are hitting their activity goals and still only engaging less than half of their territory, consider these questions:
1) Is that the right half?
To answer this, break the book down into segments / tiers and measure engagement for each. Consider whether you have the data necessary to help them prioritize—a data gap is usually at play here. What you find might (unpleasantly) surprise you.
2) Why assign the other 50% if nobody’s engages them?
You’re creating cognitive overhead for the reps. Maybe you shouldn’t assign them if they’re not good enough to actively work.
3) Do I have the right number of reps?
If you find out that your reps are putting in the work and targeting good accounts but can only touch < 50% of their territory you *might* be able to add quota capacity.
I highly recommend you have someone on your team do this coverage analysis because it can help turn the above questions into strategic decisions around ICP and staffing.
Happy 2025 planning.
By the way, if you’re serious about getting efficient with your territory design and want this type of analysis, talk to us at Gradient Works. Yes, we’re a software platform and not a consultancy but we know that a little analysis goes a long way. We don’t show up and throw up. Whether you buy from us or not, we’ll do our best to give you a new perspective on your sales org.