What a territory is, in D2D terms
A sales territory is a geographic area one rep or team is responsible for. In door-to-door it is usually cut by streets rather than by postcode, because a rep walks it. Territories are assigned for a season, worked in smaller areas day to day, and become contested the moment two reps believe the same street belongs to them.
Cut by streets, not by postcode
Territory models borrowed from field sales tend to divide by postcode or region because the rep drives. Door-to-door territory has to respect walkability, so the meaningful boundary is a street rather than an administrative line.
Assigned for a season, worked in pieces
A territory is the season-long allocation. What a rep works on a given day is a smaller area inside it, and what they walk in a session is a route inside that. Conflating the three is where most territory conversations go wrong.
Why it becomes contested
Because it is worth money and the boundary usually lives in somebody's memory. A territory that was never written down precisely will be remembered generously by both reps who want it.
Common questions
- Who assigns territory?
- A manager or team lead in most companies. A solo rep assigns their own, which removes the dispute and none of the planning problem.
- How long does a territory assignment last?
- Commonly a season. Shorter rotations reduce disputes and also reduce the incentive to work an area properly.
- Does KnockMode assign territory?
- The team plan does. Territory gets drawn on the map, assigned to a rep, and enforced from then on. A solo rep has nobody to overlap with and works whatever they choose. Nobody has bought the team plan, because we have not built a way to sell it.
More on territory
Turf: how areas get cut, assigned and worked without two reps hitting the same street.