Terminology For Siebel Territory Management

The following table defines some terms that are used in this book and in Siebel Territory Management’s user interface.

Term	Description
territory	A territory is a collection of accounts, contacts, assets, or a combination thereof that are assigned to an employee. Usually a territory is based on a geographic area: either a collection of postal codes or geo zones. For example, a sales representative in the San Francisco area has a territory consisting of all neurologists (contacts) and teaching clinics (accounts) in ZIP Codes for the city. Also as part of her territory, she has some accounts outside the city where she already has established strong relationships. Territories can be related to each other through the territory hierarchy. Note: The word territory is used in other places in Siebel Business Applications, where it is not related to the Siebel Territory Management feature described in this guide. For example, the Territory field in the Accounts form is unrelated to the Siebel Territory Management feature.
territory hierarchy	The territory hierarchy is a collection of territory nodes. It determines which territories are active and available for assignment. For example, territories can be defined for the whole country, but you can define a territory hierarchy that only contains active territories for the southwest region, so only this region of the country is considered for update when you run the territory alignment for this hierarchy. The territory hierarchy is also used to set up parent-child relationships between territories, and these relationships can be displayed graphically in an explorer view.
territory nodes	A territory node record is created for each territory in the hierarchy. The territory nodes can be linked to each other by specifying parents for nodes. The activation dates associated with territory nodes determine whether the territory is active, that is, available for assignment.
division	In Siebel Territory Management, a division is typically used to represent a sales force. A division might only be associated with one territory hierarchy. However, you can have multiple divisions in one territory hierarchy. For example, the oncology sales force and the neurology sales force can together make up the specialty territory hierarchy.
territory alignment	Territory alignment is the mapping of positions (employees), accounts, contacts, and assets to territories. This mapping is determined through rules. The territory alignment record contains both the rules describing the alignment and the assignments that are made when the rules are applied. When a territory alignment is run, the results of the rules are calculated. However, accounts, contacts, and assets are not actually assigned to employees in the database until the alignment becomes active.
rules	Rules determine how territories are mapped to positions, accounts, contacts, and assets.
geo zones	A geo zone represents a geographic area. Geo zones are used as alternatives to postal codes, for example, where sales data is not available by postal code but is available by some other geographic area. In the pharmaceutical industry, geo zones are often called bricks. Geo zones are only available in Siebel Industry Applications.