What is Sales Territory Planning?
Territory planning divides your market into balanced segments for sales reps. Good territory design ensures fair quota distribution, optimal workload, and maximum coverage. Imbalanced territories lead to burnout, missed quotas, and wasted market potential.
Enterprise
20-50 accounts
Mid-Market
50-150 accounts
SMB
200-500 accounts
Sales Territory Planner
Balance territories by accounts, revenue potential, and workload
Your Market
Emails, calls, meetings combined
Account Segments
Enterprise
$
24 touches/quarter per account
Mid-Market
$
12 touches/quarter per account
SMB
$
6 touches/quarter per account
Capacity Utilization
110%
Near Capacity600 touches over
Per Rep Assignment
Accounts150
Revenue Potential$5.0M
Quarterly Touches1,320
Accounts per Rep by Segment
Enterprise
10
Mid-Market
40
SMB
100
Total Addressable Market
750
Accounts
$25.0M
Revenue
6,600
Touches/Qtr
Frequently Asked Questions
What is sales territory planning?
Territory planning is the process of dividing your total addressable market into segments assigned to individual reps or teams. Good territory design balances workload, revenue potential, and geographic/industry coverage to maximize sales productivity.
How do you balance sales territories?
Balance territories by: (1) Equal revenue potential, (2) Equal account count, (3) Equal workload (touches required), or (4) Weighted combination. Most companies use revenue potential as primary metric, with workload as secondary constraint.
What metrics matter for territory design?
Key metrics: (1) Total Addressable Market (TAM) per territory, (2) Account count, (3) Revenue potential, (4) Required selling activities (touches), (5) Travel/geographic spread, (6) Historical performance. Balance these for fair quota assignment.
How many accounts per sales rep?
Depends on segment: Enterprise AEs: 20-50 named accounts. Mid-Market: 50-150 accounts. SMB: 200-500+ accounts. Key factor is required touches × accounts must fit in available selling time (~1,000-1,500 activities/quarter).
When should you redesign territories?
Redesign when: (1) Adding/losing reps, (2) Entering new markets, (3) >20% variance in rep performance, (4) Major account shifts, (5) Annually for optimization. Avoid mid-year changes unless critical—disrupts relationships and pipeline.
Optifai Research Team
VerifiedSales Operations & Territory Design | 500+ territory plans analyzed | RevOps benchmarks
Last updated: November 26, 2025
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