First, pick what you want to improve: coverage, travel time, and sales per stop. Then, pull the basics from your CRM so you can draw fair, workable territories.
What To Pull From CRM (keep it simple)
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accounts: name, address, city, state, and parent banner
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sales: last 12 months revenue and product mix
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activity: last visit, next visit, owner
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potential: store count or size, simple A/B/C potential tag
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limits: credit status and delivery window
Clean And Prep The Data
First, remove duplicates and fix addresses. Next, add latitude/longitude (for maps and routes). Then, standardize names for banners and categories. Finally, give each account a single global ID so it’s the same in every tool.
Score And Tier Accounts
First, build a simple score from potential, past sales, and engagement. For example:
score = 0.5 × potential + 0.3 × last 12m sales + 0.2 × recent visits
Then, turn scores into tiers:
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tier A: weekly visit
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tier B: every two weeks
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tier C: monthly or inside sales
Draw Territories
First, group accounts by drive time around the rep’s home base. Next, balance total score or sales so each territory is close in value. Also, lock key chain accounts to specialists if needed. Finally, check language, delivery cutoffs, and van stock rules before you publish.
Check Capacity
First, set target visits per day and per cycle. Then, add up required visits by territory. If the total is above 85% of a rep’s capacity, move some accounts to a nearby territory. As a result, reps get realistic workloads.
Test Before You Launch
First, run a one-week sample route for each rep. Next, check time windows and SLAs. Then, fix overlaps or long drives. Finally, confirm pricing and account ownership rules so there’s no poaching.
Roll Out And Manage CRM Data For Territory Planning
First, explain the why with simple maps and numbers. Next, pilot two areas for 2–4 weeks. Then, set hard assignment rules in your CRM to stop backsliding. Finally, review quarterly and adjust for new stores, churn, or seasonality.
How To Use CRM Data For Territory Planning With SimplyDepo + Your CRM
First, sync accounts and territory tags from your CRM into SimplyDepo. Then, let SimplyDepo show each rep only their accounts, price lists, and promos. Next, set visit cadences by tier and auto-build weekly routes with time windows. Also, capture field truth—check-ins, photos, orders, invoices, and returns—and send it back to CRM and ERP. Finally, use dashboards for drive time, visits on cadence, and sales per stop, and therefore tune territories with real results, not guesses.
Quick Checklist
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clean, de-duped accounts with lat/long and a global ID
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simple A/B/C tiers tied to visit frequency
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territories balanced by value and drive time
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routes tested against time windows and SLAs
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assignment rules in CRM; visibility rules in SimplyDepo
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quarterly review with before/after KPIs
Start simple, use transitions in your process (first, next, then, finally), and keep rules in your systems, not in side files. With CRM for ownership and SimplyDepo for field execution, territory planning becomes faster, fairer, and, ultimately, more profitable.