From a practical standpoint, the sales area is the set of actual and potential customers fall within a given limited area. This area can be understood as a political-administrative division: region, province or municipality, and within these areas, market segments to be assigned to different agents.
After defining the area of operation, the sales person can arrange their work tours, preparing a rough itinerary that allows him to reach the equation:
Minimum effort = maximum performance
This result, however, it can only be achieved through the following phases:
-Determine the actual number of customers;
-Prepare a ‘route to be flown each day to reach customers at the lowest cost programmable effects of time and money;
-Insert into the program of visits to customers even some actual visit to potential customers, and this for two reasons:
- increase the customer base and consequently the turnover;
- Failure to replace a visit to an existing customer with a visit to a potential customer located in the same itinerary. Regarding the number of customers can be managed, you can not tell precisely, since it depends on several factors :
Operating in a market segment with products intended for mass consumption, the number of daily visits can vary from 6 to 10;
When operating in a market segment with products for the industries, the number of daily visits possible range from 4 to 6.
However, you should keep in mind a very important rule: no matter the quantity but the quality of visits. If the agent has in mind to make 12 visits a day at all costs will be forced to constantly watch the clock, the result will be disastrous because they are forced to deal with the issue with the customer thinking about the next visit and not to the satisfaction of customer’s need in front of him.