Brilliantlysharp profile picture
Brilliantlysharp profile picture

Brilliantlysharp

Account Manager

Contributor
Fire Starter
Good Citizen

On-boarding fights

how do ya'll handle territory / named account disputes when on boarding? I am joining a sales team today with one established sales person who has been there for almost 10 years, so understably she has had the pick of the accounts. When there is conflict over who has what account what strategies have worked best for you all? 
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antiASKHOLE
Tycoon
7
Bravado's Resident Asshole
Don't start with guessing. Get a clear understanding of what is yours and what is theirs. Save yourself time and the ache and get it sorted out now.
poweredbycaffeine
WR Lieutenant
5
☕️
This is the move—the sales leader needs to lay down the law.
RandyLahey
Politicker
3
Account Executive
This is the way. Get it sorted ASAP, set expectations and you'll be thanking yourself later.
CuriousFox
WR Officer
5
🦊
Your manager should have it in writing of what accounts are yours to go after.
TennisandSales
Politicker
4
Head Of Sales
idk why you need a strategy. there needs to be a CLEAR definition on what is in your territory and what isnt.

i would ask you boss to explain it clearly. and if there is an issue i would have the boss figure it out instead of fighting with a teammate.
Maximas
Tycoon
2
Senior Sales Executive
I second this!
braintank
Politicker
4
Enterprise Account Executive
Abundance mindset. How can a company with 2 reps squabble?
Brilliantlysharp
Contributor
2
Account Manager
Thanks, I have my mind set on Iceland ( presidents club location). There are other reps, but without the same tenure!
1nbatopshotfan
Politicker
4
Sales
If there aren’t clear rules of engagement you’ve just been hired to be a de facto sdr and build her pipeline or to challenge her on everything and be a thorn in her side because she’s annoying someone higher up. Lose/lose
Sunbunny31
Politicker
3
Sr Sales Executive 🐰
Surely this is an issue for sales management. The accounts should be divided up and transitioned by someone other than the two of you.
Brilliantlysharp
Contributor
0
Account Manager
Thanks agreed. Territories will be discussed tomorrow.
detectivegibbles
Politicker
3
Sales Director
That'll get messy immediately if not addressed up front.

"What accounts are mine and what can I go after?" Get in writing and make sure you, your teammate and leadership are all agreeing on same plan.
Kosta_Konfucius
Politicker
2
Sales Rep
Is it duplicate accounts or is it 1 rep has way better accounts than everyone else?
Brilliantlysharp
Contributor
1
Account Manager
I think it’ll be one rep has all the juicy accounts
DungeonsNDemos
Big Shot
2
Rolling 20's all day
The trick is to have hard line rules. And try to give the benefit of the doubt if someone steps on your toes unless they do it more than once
Brilliantlysharp
Contributor
1
Account Manager
That’s normally the way I roll but I’ve been screwed over a couple of times. I’m chatting with the sales manager about territories tomorrow.
Space_Ghost20
Valued Contributor
1
Account Executive
Every place I've worked has had clear rules of engagement. If you're assigned a territory, you prospect from that territory. If you're assigned a vertical/industry, it's yours, etc.

In my opinion, even if a rep if very seasoned, and a great salesman, etc., you can't just camp out on accounts. If you're not working on something with them, setting follow ups, etc., then you can't claim it as yours unless it's part of a geographic territory assigned to you, or your assigned vertical, etc.
GDO
Politicker
1
BDM
just 1 thing: clear rules
FoodForSales
Politicker
1
AE
If the account is being ACTIVELY worked, it should remain with the current rep. But the sales manager needs to put in a cut off date.
RandyLahey
Politicker
0
Account Executive
This isn't a fight with other reps, but more with the fraudulent Head of Sales enablement at my least role.
This individual had never worked a direct sales role in their life. We do this "role play" to assess skills in my onboarding cohort.
He talks to us about "Power of the Pause" and "Mirroring". Chris Voss/Mirroring may be the most overused/cited techniques in sales.
He asks "Randy, let's do a mirroring exercise".
I comply, and mirror his last few words with an upward reflection.
To which he states, "that's not mirroring, that's actually power of the pause that you just did".


AnchorPoint
Politicker
0
Business Coach
That should be clearly defined ahead of time - not left for debate.
ZVRK
Politicker
0
Enterprise Account Executive
This is something that needs to be taken care of by management, and it needs to be done properly. the major reason why I left my previous 7-year position was because of ambiguity in this area. It`s super important you are 100% clear from the get co how things work and if you feel like boundaries are not defined exactly, you need to react (to management) now and save yourself the trouble of doing so when things get heated (when you actually have an account "Stolen")

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