This chapter covers the following topics:
Using self-service territory management, sales managers at the top of the sales hierarchy are assigned territories by territory administrators. The sales managers then distribute the territories to the sales managers who directly report to them, who in turn further distribute the territories down to the individual sales representatives.
At the beginning of a new selling year, your manager distributes named accounts to his directs, including you and other sales managers. Your first action (see Viewing Your Named Accounts and Reviewing Your Account Assignments) is to review the accounts assigned to you and decide how you want to distribute them to your salespeople.
You can use alignments (see Creating a Named Account Territory Alignment) to create what-if territories (see Assigning Named Accounts for an Alignment) and compare them (see Comparing Alignments) until you find the best alignment, and then activate the alignment (see Activating a Territory Alignment) to create the territories and assignments.
You can alternatively distribute named accounts to your directs by adding your directs to the sales team of one or several named accounts at a time (see Assigning the Sales Team to Named Accounts).
After assigning the sales team to named accounts, you review the distribution (see Reviewing Your Account Assignments) and make any necessary adjustments.
To improve productivity, you continue to use alignments to find the best balance of potential and quota for your sales organization. Create alignments periodically throughout the year to make sure territory assignment is fair when named accounts change and when you receive updated information for the named accounts such as annual revenue. Proper alignments produce increased sales revenues.
Geographic territories are defined using postal codes. To speed the process for creating a geographic territory, the administrator can select a large geographic area such as a country or state, and the application includes all postal codes within that geographic region. The administrator assigns one or more sales managers to the territory.
Sales managers then create territories for portions of the geographic area assigned to them and assign salespeople or sales managers to each created territory. The next level of sales management in turn allocate portions of their assigned territories to their salespeople by creating territories.
Use this procedure to view a list of all of your named accounts and the related sales teams.
Prerequisites
Steps
Perform either a simple search or an advanced search.
The list of your named accounts appears including sales team information.
Click the name to see the 360 degree view of the customer provided by Oracle Trading Community Architecture.
The address and sales team information appear.
Use this procedure to search for a named account from the Named Account tab.
Steps
In the simple search, select one of the following search criteria:
Named Account
Site Type
City
State
Postal Code
Territory Group
Enter one or more characters to search on.
Click Go.
A list of named accounts that matches your search criteria appears. The table lists all territory groups and all salespeople for each named account.
Use this procedure to search for a named account using the advanced search.
Steps
In the Named Account page, click Advanced Search.
The Advanced Search page appears.
Enter one or more search criteria in the fields provided.
Click Go.
A list of named accounts that matches your search criteria appears. The table lists all territory groups and all salespeople for each named account.
You can use partial search criteria in fields that do not have drop-down lists or Lists of Values (LOVs).
You can assign a sales team to one or more named accounts at a time. Use this procedure to add or remove salespeople from one or more named accounts.
Prerequisites
Steps
Perform either a simple search or an advanced search.
A list of named accounts appears.
In the Select column, select one or many named accounts to update.
Click Update Sales Team.
The Update Sales Team page lists the selected accounts.
If you want to add a salesperson to the sales team, then perform the following steps in the Add Salesperson section:
Use the LOV to select the salesperson, sales group, and sales role from the LOV. Only sales roles that are associated to the territory that contains the named account appear in the LOV. Managers can select immediate directs or any salesperson rolling up to the manager.
If you want to add another salesperson, then click Add Another Row and repeat from step a.
If you want the salesperson added to subsidiaries of the selected named account, then select Add to Subsidiaries. This only applies to subsidiaries that are named accounts.
If you want to remove a salesperson from the sales team, then perform the following steps in the Remove Salesperson section:
Use the LOV to select the salesperson, sales group, and sales role from the LOV.
If you want the salesperson removed from subsidiaries of the selected named account, then select Remove from Subsidiaries.
If you want to remove another salesperson, then click Add Another Row and repeat from step a.
Click Apply.
Your changes are saved.
In order to remove a salesperson from the sales team you much select the exact salesperson, group, and role combination that is on the sales team.
You can only add salespeople who have the group and role access defined for the territory.
When a salesperson assigned to a territory is removed from a sales group or role, you need to update the territory definition to the new group or role.
You can export named accounts that you own to Microsoft Excel. Sales representatives can print from the spreadsheet. In the spreadsheet, managers can edit the salesperson, group, and role to import back into the customer database.
Note: Do not change the format of any cell in the spreadsheet, for example changing a number to a date. Only update the sales team information: Salesperson, Group, and Role columns. Changes to any other data are ignored.
Prerequisites
Steps
Conduct a search to find the named accounts you want to export. If you want to export all, then do not select criteria.
The search results appear on the Named Account page.
Click Export.
View the Download Messages window for number of records exported and the success of the download.
Switch to your spreadsheet program to view, print, and edit your named accounts.
If you are a proxy user for more than one manager, please note that the Salesperson LOV displays the directs for both managers, even though both do not own the named accounts.
After you edit named account information in the spreadsheet you downloaded, you can then upload the changed information back to your customer database.
Prerequisites
Note: Do not change the format of any cell in the spreadsheet, for example changing a number to a date. Only update the sales team information: Salesperson, Group, and Role columns. Changes to any other data are ignored.
Steps
Open the spreadsheet if you saved it after making your edits in a prior session.
From the Oracle menu, choose Upload.
The Upload window opens.
Make sure you select Pre-Validate when uploading. Click Upload.
The Upload Messages window displays the number of records uploaded and when the upload is successful.
Switch to your Named Account page.
Query again to view your updated information.
The LOVs in the spreadsheet are not as restrictive as when you update information in the application. Therefore, any errors are caught during the upload process and error messages displayed. The LOVs are not available when you work remotely.
Use this procedure to transfer a named account from one salesperson or sales team to another.
Steps
Perform a search for named accounts.
In the Select column, select one or many named accounts to transfer.
Click Update Sales Team.
The Update Sales Team page lists the selected accounts.
Remove the existing salesperson or sales team.
Add the new sales team. If you do not add a new salesperson or sales team and have deleted all of the existing sales team, then you (the sales manager) remain assigned to the named account.
Click Apply.
The transfer is saved.
Alignments are models of proposed named account assignments a manager uses to try different assignment strategies until the best alignment is found that meets the manager's goals. You can compare alignments and fine tune your account assignments before activating the proposed territories, thereby creating fair territory assignments that balance sales potential and quota. Use this procedure to create an alignment.
Prerequisites
Steps
In the named account tab, click Align Territory.
A list of existing alignments appears.
Click Create Alignment.
The Create Alignment page displays proposed territories. The proposed territories are named for each salesperson who reports to you and one proposed territory with your name.
Enter a name for this alignment.
Enter your total quota amount.
Enter proposed quota amounts for each proposed territory.
Click Apply.
The new alignment appears in the list of alignments. You can now fine tune the account assignments and compare two alignments.
You can view all of your named accounts in a spreadsheet, including currently assigned salespeople. Use this procedure to add or change the salespeople assigned to each named account in an alignment.
Prerequisites
Steps
In the Named Account tab, click Align Territory.
A list of existing alignments appears.
Find the alignment in the list that you want to assign, and click Export.
Note: Export only includes named accounts you currently own. In the case of an existing alignment where account assignments were already done, it still exports only named accounts you currently own rather than the named accounts that were previously assigned.
All named accounts that you own as well as their existing salesperson assignments export to spreadsheet. Columns include the following metrics:
DNB Annual Revenue
DNB Number of Employees
Prior Sales (Prior sales is the sum of all the Won opportunities within a period of time for the named account. This period is set in the system profile options Territory Alignment Metric Calculation From Date and Territory Alignment Metric Calculation To Date.)
There are also columns for up to 30 salespeople per named account.
To assign a salesperson to an account, double-click in a salesperson column and select from the LOV. You can also copy and paste the salesperson plus group plus role to other rows.
When you have completed making your salesperson assignments, choose Upload from the Oracle menu. Make sure you select Pre-Validate when uploading.
You can now compare your alignment with another alignment, and activate it if you decide it is correct. When activated, it replaces your current named account territory assignments.
Use the calculations and graphs provided in the alignment comparison to improve your territory planning and to justify your territory assignments. The graphs show the comparison between a salesperson's quota and assigned named accounts, as well as how they compare to other salespeople on the team, using different metrics such as total number of named accounts.
The balance index provides a quick way to judge the fairness and efficiency of your proposed territory alignment by calculating standard deviations for selected metrics. If every salesperson on your team has the same relationship between his quota and the metric for his assigned named accounts, then the standard deviation is zero and the index is 100. If one salesperson in the group has a much higher quota compared to the metric for his assigned named accounts, then the standard deviation is higher and the balance index is lower.
Prerequisites
Steps
Click Align Territory.
A list of existing alignments appears.
Select two alignments and click Compare.
The Compare Alignments: Prioritize Metrics page appears.
Choose how you want to weight the four performance metrics. The four metrics are:
DNB Annual Revenue
DNB Number of Employees
Number of Named Accounts owned by each salesperson
Prior Sales (Prior sales is the sum of all the Won opportunities within a period of time for the named account. This period is set in the system profile options Territory Alignment Metric Calculation From Date and Territory Alignment Metric Calculation To Date.)
The weighting options are:
Unimportant (weighted as 0)
Of Little Importance (weighted as 1)
Moderately Important (weighted as 2)
Important (weighted as 3)
Very Important (weighted as 4)
Click Continue.
The Compare Alignments: Review Comparison page displays a table to compare the two alignments that contains the following columns.
Alignment Balance Index: The calculated index takes into consideration the weighting of each metric and the standard deviation for each metric. An index of 100 is a perfect score, with no standard deviations. The closer to an index of 100 your alignment is, the more balanced it is between your salespeople.
Total Proposed Quota: You can compare the total quota amounts proposed for each alignment.
Percent Quota Overassigned: This is the proposed quota for each alignment divided by your quota, shown as a percentage. For example, you as a manager have a quota of $10M but you allocate $12M to your directs. Your overassignment percentage is 120%.
You can view graphs for each alignment for a single metric by selecting that metric. Your weighting of the metric does not apply. The graph shows the percentage of the total metric that each salesperson owns compared to the percentage of the total proposed quota that he has been assigned.
When you have an alignment that best meets your goals, you are ready to activate it.
The data used for each metric is calculated by running the concurrent program Calculate Territory Alignment Metrics. This concurrent program should be run for a metric whenever the data for that metric changes.
The balance index is the summation of each metric balance times its weighting. The metric balance measures the balance for a particular metric by calculating the standard deviation of the difference between its potential (via the metric) and its quota as percentages. Metric Balance = 100 - Standard Deviation (Potential % - Quota %).
Standard Deviation as a Measure of Balance: The standard deviation is often used by investors to measure the risk of a stock or a stock portfolio. In this case, sales managers can use standard deviation to measure the balance or imbalance of a metric. The basic idea is that the standard deviation is a measure of imbalance: the more a salesperson's territory potential varies from the same salesperson's quota, the more imbalanced territory and quota are.
The calculated metrics for an existing alignment do not change until an export and upload are done. For example, an existing alignment includes account A which is no longer one of your named accounts. When you export the alignment it includes only named accounts your currently own. (See Assigning Named Accounts for an Alignment.) When you upload, the metrics are newly calculated based on current named accounts in the alignment.
When you decide that an alignment is much better than the existing territory assignments, you can activate it and replace the existing named account territory assignments.
Prerequisites
Steps
Click Align Territory.
A list of existing alignments appears.
For the chosen alignment, click Activate.
Existing named account assignments are removed and replaced with the assignments specified in your alignment. You can keep the alignment for comparisons with other alignments, change it, or delete it. Deleting or changing it does not affect the new territory assignments.
Sales managers create territories for portions of the geographic area assigned to them and assign salespeople or sales managers to each created territory. Use this procedure to create a territory for specified postal codes and assign a sales team to it.
Prerequisites
Steps
Click Create Territory.
The Create Territory page appears.
Enter a unique territory name.
The Parent Territory Name LOV displays the names of geographic territories assigned to you by your manager. Select the name of the parent territory that you would like to distribute.
Select the name of the salesperson to whom you are assigning this new territory.
Click Add Another Row to assign additional salespeople to this territory.
Click Apply.
In the Geography page, select Unassigned Postal Codes and click Export.
Your unassigned postal codes appear in a spreadsheet.
For each postal code that you want included in your new territory, enter the territory name in the Territory Name column or double-click and select the name from the LOV. You can use copy and paste to paste the territory name into other rows.
Note: If you are a proxy user for more than one manager, please note that the Salesperson LOV displays the directs for both managers, even though both do not own the named accounts.
In the spreadsheet menu, choose Oracle > Upload. Make sure you select Pre-Validate when uploading.
Only the records that you changed are uploaded. The spreadsheet displays a smiling face in the Messages column of the spreadsheet for every successfully uploaded line. If your territory name did not match an existing territory, then the record fails in the upload and a frowning face appears in the Messages column for that line.
When the Synchronize Territory Assignment Rules (STAR) concurrent program is run, the territories are created.
Only postal codes that belong to the parent territory can be assigned to your territory.
Use this procedure to view a summary of your salespeople and how your named accounts and geographic territories are distributed.
Steps
Select the Salesperson subtab.
The Named Account and Geography Distribution page lists your salespeople and the number of named accounts and geographic territories assigned to each.
The information is updated when the Named Account Post Processing concurrent program is run. The concurrent program refreshes the named account and geography distribution information for the Sales User responsibility.