At its most basic definition, sales territory mapping is a technique for visualizing and analyzing how your customers and prospects are distributed across territories and how those territories are then distributed across sales teams.
Sales territory mapping software facilitates this visualization by integrating sales data with geolocation data. Sales managers and field reps can more effectively design territories according to customers and leads on a map, optimizing routes and increasing productivity in the field.
Let’s compare five popular tools for mapping sales territories based on key features, customizability, integration, UI and UX, data collection, and stats.
Badger Maps
Badger Maps is an automatic territory management solution that uses advanced GIS technology to map sales territories.
Badger Maps is cloud-based with a simple drag-and-drop interface and fairly intuitive navigation. Its data visualization tools such as heat maps and territory reports let sales reps analyze data more effectively. Using the Lasso feature, users can generate routes by circling a group of points on a map; with Route Stats, reps get important insight into routes, such as travel time and mileage.
Users can also customize maps, routes, and other elements using custom fields, forms and lists, set up custom notifications and triggers, create custom reports and routing algorithms.
Integration with popular CRM systems including Salesforce, Pipedrive, and Zoho CRM offers a comprehensive view of sales data, while calendar syncing with Google Calendar, Outlook, and iCal, enables efficient appointment scheduling and route planning. With iOS and Android mobile apps, sales reps can access customer data, update statuses, and navigate routes while on the move.
Badger Maps has a few different pricing options:
- A free seven-day trial for the Business plan, which starts at $49 per month per user billed annually or $59 per month per user per month
- The Enterprise plan, which is $95 per month per user billed annually or $105 per month per user per month
Xactly AlignStar
Xactly AlignStar is a cloud-based sales territory mapping solution that automates and optimizes territory design and planning. Designed specifically for large to medium-size organizations, AlignStar enables sales teams to design sales territories by geographic areas, visualize customer prospects and data, and identify territories with the highest sales potential.
Xactly AlignStar has purpose-built features that allow the sales team to grade the current sales territory alignment based on preset metrics and optimize sales territory alignment according to “what if” scenarios. They can set quotas and use customizable dashboards, fields, and formulas to track performance. Heat maps and bar charts help them discover and understand patterns in data, and custom reports are easy to create with advanced filtering and reporting tools. Xactly’s API enables developers to create custom features and integrate them with existing business systems.
AlignStar integrates with CRM, ERP, and accounting tools like Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, QuickBooks, Marketo, and Power BI to provide a complete view of sales performance in one tool.
AlignStar offers quote-based fixed plans with pricing information available upon request.
AlignMix
The AlignMix sales territory mapping tool is most often used by sales teams in the pharmaceutical industry and related sectors where deep historical analysis is beneficial to accessing changing market dynamics in cases such as patent loss. Key features include:
- Sales territory design
- Territory optimization
- Sales rep assignment
- Data visualization
- Historical data analysis
- Mobile access
- Geocoding
Via its intuitive drag-and-drop interface, AlignMix allows the field sales team to create, manage, and optimize territories and organize geographic areas across teams. With the Touch Align tool, they can create territories with the click and hold of a mouse; just like “digital finger painting,” according to their site.
Integrate AlignMix with Salesforce to create more informed territory models and export data to PDF, PPT, KML or Excel, Google Maps, or Tableau. Thematic maps highlight geographic hotspots and let sales team discover hidden opportunities within a territory. Individual geographic variables are easy to see in the chart view. AlignMix also offers real-time updates and customizable data filters by customer location, sales rep, and date range.
Pricing for AlignMix Professional for in-house use is $1700 per user per year with the consulting license at $5,000 per user per year. A two-week trial of the Pro version is also available.
eSpatial
eSpatial is a sales mapping solution suitable for sales teams of all sizes. It offers several key features for sales territory mapping in three products:
- eMapping is a suite of data visualization tools with advanced styling options and performance analysis.
- eRouting uses algorithms to plan and optimize routes. Sales reps can schedule up to 20 routes per day.
- eTerritory offers geo-analytical territory optimization capabilities that allow sales teams to plan, design, realign and optimize territories.
Another simple drag-and-drop interface, eSpatial enables users to easily upload data and create map layers. eSpatial offers several customization features including:
- The ability to display different types of data in separate layers
- Tools such as distance calculation and proximity analysis for spatial analysis
- The ability to create custom scripts using Python, R, and VBA
eSpatial integrates easily with Salesforce CRM and uses a RESTful API to integrate with other software systems. You can also simply upload data from a variety of sources including Excel spreadsheets, CSV files, and shapefiles.
Pricing starts at $1495 per year for a single user and goes up to $9995 per year for a complete solution with mapping, routing, and territory features. You can add more users, but you need to contact them directly for that pricing.
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Excel is a powerful tool that probably needs no introduction. It allows you to store, organize, analyze, and visualize large amounts of data quickly and easily. Its variety of charting and formatting features allow you to present sales data in a clear and visually appealing way.
Spreadsheets allows users to manage and analyze sales territory, customer, and sales data, while built-in charting and graphing tools lets them create visual representations of the data for identifying trends and patterns. Excel also offers heat map capabilities for visualizing sales data by geographic location and pivot tables for summarizing and analyzing sales data.
Excel’s charting and pivot tables enable sales teams to identify patterns, trends, and outliers in sales data; you can even add geocode geographic coordinates with add-ons such as Excel Geocoder. Customizable templates such as Map Chart let you create maps quickly and easily, and of course, Excel is well-known for its macros and scripts that can automate repetitive tasks.
Excel integrates easily with Microsoft Dynamics 365 and tools such as Power BI and Tableau to offer more advanced visualization and analysis capabilities. Several CRMs—including Salesforce, Hubspot CRM and Zoho CRM—offer Excel add-ins, web connectors, or a any low-code tool (Zapier, Make…) integration that allows you to synchronize data between Excel and the CRM in real-time.
You can import data easily from a wide variety of sources, including other spreadsheets, CSV files, databases, web pages, and external APIs using Excel’s standard import features as well as add-ins such as Power Map, Power Query, and Power BI for creating 3D maps, custom reports, and interactive dashboards. Pivot tables, filters, and conditional formatting allow you to group and summarize data by criteria such as sales territory, customer, or product.
Excel is available as part of the Office 365 Business Subscription. Pricing starts at $22 per user per month for a Premium subscription while Office 365 Enterprise starts at $8 per user per month.
Get Accurate Territory Data with GeoPostcodes
These five sales territory mapping software solutions work best with accurate geolocation data. Yet, they don’t always embed worldwide accurate and up-to-date location data. For example, eSpatial provides location data such as latitude and longitude coordinates for postal codes, and addresses. However, eSpatial focuses on data for the United States. Similarly, AlignStar provides sales-specific data for optimizing territories and sales strategies, but you may not find the right type of location data to accommodate your needs.
In consequence, to fully leverage territory mapping solutions, you’ll need to turn any location assignments you use (like postal codes, counties, or localities) into coordinates before using the tool.
Building an accurate geolocation dataset across multiple countries is time-consuming and costly. It also has to be maintained. Postal codes are updated all the time, so your sales territories will get out of date if you omit to refresh the underlying mapping data.
This is where GeoPostcodes comes in. As the leading provider of postal geo-referenced data, GeoPostcodes offers businesses the largest, most comprehensive, and up-to-date global postal code database with extensions to provide street-level data and postal code and administrative boundaries.
GeoPostcodes’ data offers precise and accurate data for territory mapping, especially if your sales coverage is based on discrete local divisions like postal codes. So if you assign sales reps to cover specific postal codes or counties, you can use GeoPostcodes’ datasets to transform these locations into coordinates or boundary polygons.
Similarly, GeoPostcodes’ data can be used to build accurate heat maps or choropleth maps that you can use in territory maps or other GIS applications. You can use it to verify addresses before sales calls, plan the fastest route between customer visits, or help create better shipping estimates.
Get full access to our data, product updates, and support with GeoPostcodes’ annual license. Request a quote for the perfect fit for your needs!
