Becoming Territorial: Managing Your Territory to Grow Your Market Share – By Dave Fielder
The success of every pest business relies on managing your various territories to maximise your sales and tap into your customer opportunities with the right pest solutions.
Before I wound up as sales representative for Agserv Victoria, I was a Sales Manager for an Automotive Battery Manufacturer. At one point in the life of the business, we decided to evaluate our market in order to uncover further sales prospects.
In this article, I’d like to share with you our “territory management” story and show you how you can calculate some simple metrics to get more out of each area you service.
A Market Share Approach
This is how we approached our territory and market share analysis in the battery industry:
· We began by comparing the overall population to the volume of battery sales in the marketplace
· In the 90s, the Aussie population was around 15,000,000 and the battery market saw around 3,000,000 battery sales per year
· This meant that 1 in 5 people – or 20% of the population – would purchase a new battery each year
· Next, we broke down each of our territories by population, and looked at how many batteries we had sold in each territory vs. the ideal 20% buying rate
· This gave us an idea of our market share per territory, and subsequently told us whether we had exhausted that territory in terms of sales – or whether there were still opportunities available in that area
· We then began marketing and promoting in those areas where sales could still be made, ensuring that everyone knew what we had to offer!
Can This Work For Pest Control? – We Think So!
Pest Control is about a $1 billion industry in Australia. And you can determine your market share and your territory dominance by employing the same methods that we did.
Step 1: Compare the Aussie population (23 million) to the number of pest jobs in Australia. If you don’t have a figure to work with here, simply divide 1 billion by 23 million = approx. $43.50 per person.
Step 2: Next, multiply that figure ($43.50) by the population in your chosen territory. This should give you a rough idea of potential sales that can be made in that area. For example, Bendigo’s population is about 100,000 people = an approx. pest spend of $4,350,000 per year.
Step 3: How do your sales compare? Look at your yearly sales and compare them to the maximum opportunities in your territory. This will give you an idea of your market share in that area. For instance, let’s say that Bob sells about $1,000,000 worth of pest services a year in Bendigo. This means he has about 22.9% of the market share.
Step 4: Once you have a clear idea of your market share in each territory, you can start to figure out what areas you should target to increase your sales. For example, if you have 97% market share in one area, you might be quite pleased; but in another region, you might only have a 35% share.
Step 5: Promote your services and ensure that every business or home in the territory knows about your pest solutions. They will all require pest control at some stage and when they do, they will likely call the last PCO that was in contact with them!
· Tip:The next time you’re visiting an area, look for signs that your pest services may be needed! You should also keep an eye out for competitors and suss out who’s competing with you in that area. For instance, a huge opportunity currently exists in the Fly Control Light market. Are retail eateries in your territory using these? If not, could you sell these? You only need to get your foot in the door with a suggestion like this, and other opportunities to treat rodents, cockroaches and ants will follow!
While this isn’t a fool-proof method, it is a great way to beginunderstanding where and how you can boost your PCO business. By maximising every opportunity in every territory, you’ll grow your market share and ultimately become more successful across a range of regions in Australia.
How are you managing your territories? Do you need further advice on territory management or pesticides and equipment?
Contact Agserv Australia and we’ll do everything we can to help you grow your business!
