Planning territory around the season
Seasonal territory planning means deciding in advance how many passes the season allows and reserving time for the second one. Teams that plan only the first pass reach the end with broad, shallow coverage. Front-load the first pass so the second lands while the season still has enough time to convert what it surfaces.
Plan the passes, not the ground
The planning unit that matters is passes over the season, because a single pass leaves most households unmet. A plan expressed only as "cover this area" tends to produce exactly one pass and a lot of unworked value.
The second pass needs runway
A second pass that surfaces callbacks two weeks before the season ends surfaces them too late to convert. Working backwards from the end date is what decides when the first pass has to be finished.
Season end
Outstanding callbacks at season end are the largest recoverable loss in most programmes, and they get abandoned because the rep is leaving and nobody owns them. That is a records and handover problem rather than an effort problem.
Common questions
- How many passes should a season have?
- At least two, and the territory should be sized so that is possible. One pass leaves most households never actually met.
- When should the second pass start?
- Early enough that what it surfaces still has time to convert before the season ends.
- What happens to callbacks at season end?
- They are usually abandoned, which is the largest recoverable loss in most programmes. Someone has to own them after the rep leaves.
More on territory
Turf: how areas get cut, assigned and worked without two reps hitting the same street.