Deep sea fishing… not my sport, if fishing is a sport, but I have now been out a couple of times by the persuasion of a good friend of mine… and enjoyed it… doing nothing… but I did catch a nice Sea Bass for my tea the last time I went out.

However, one thing, other than the Sea Bass, that I took away from the experience was that deep sea fishing is a good way of explaining what territory management is all about… which is very helpful to me right now because I’m currently in the middle of training a group of pre-sales consultants in the art and science of territory management… these guys have individual sales targets and their management want them more involved in managing their business… helps keep the regular sales guys focused…

…so how to explain territory management?

Deep sea fishing is about knowing where to fish… knowing what fish will be about… knowing what bait to use… and using a little bit of skill to hook the fish. Just going out on the water and dropping your line over the side with any old bait in the hope that you will catch something will not produce the best results.

Within territory management we complete the territory analysis… which is just like knowing where to fish. Understanding the vertical market and current issues is like knowing what fish are likely to be about. Developing your solution discussion points is like knowing what bait to use and the skill required to hook the fish is like developing the entry strategy into the account.

Having hooked the fish requires more skill to land it. The bigger the fish the tougher it’s going to be to land… but that’s an analogy for deal management!

If you want to mange your business… know where to fish… know what to fish for… know the best bait to use… and develop the skill to hook the fish… simple!

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