How to Set Territory Goals in COVID-19 Recovery
December 15, 2020
Imagining how COVID-19 cases will spike after the holidays presents an ongoing challenge in creating post COVID-19 sales compensation goals. Yet even though setting goals for the first quarter of next year will still be challenging, it will be easier than it was at the start of COVID-19.
At The Marketing Advantage, with our many years of sales incentive compensation experience, we are approaching goal setting differently depending on the product and the impact of COVID-19 on sales. While every product has its own unique attributes, let’s outline three major ways to tackle the approaching uncertainty of territory goal setting post COVID-19.
Three Ways to Approach Territory Goal Setting
Complete Collapse of Sales. Many products and medical devices had almost a complete collapse of sales during the peak of COVID-19. For such products, goals should be set as though time has been reversed to the start of COVID-19. We expect to recover sales similar to the way the fallout had occurred. However, keep in mind that some products, especially buy-and-bill products, may have pent up demand that must be factored into the goal setting.
Uneven Collapse of Sales. This situation occurred for a number of products in which certain parts of the country suffered more than others due to fear and government-imposed restrictions. Setting goals for such products is difficult, but can be done effectively. One way that we are accomplishing goal setting for these products is through our account-level profiling goal setting methodology. Accounts are profiled on various attributes, including pre-COVID-19 sales, location and COVID-19 sales levels. Goals are then set on expected reverse recovery rates for different segments of accounts.
Partial to Minimal Collapse of Sales. The few lucky pharma, biotech and medical device companies experiencing little impact from COVID-19 have fewer challenges to factor into goal setting. For these companies, we are continuing to utilize our various goal setting models that were created prior to COVID-19 (such as goal gap, portfolio growth, goal gain; and others) with high success.
What is especially true in all cases is to ensure that whichever sales compensation plan and goal setting method is employed meets all of our SCOR³ES® criteria—especially the last “S” which stands for safety net. The plan must incorporate what the sales compensation rules will be should something unexpected happen—such as a pandemic.
Conclusion
Although there is still uncertainty when it comes to setting territory goals during COVID-19, there are certain approaches that can be taken depending on the product and the impact COVID-19 has had on sales. These approaches help alleviate some of the challenges companies faced at the beginning of the pandemic. To learn more about the methods discussed here, please feel free to contact us or call directly by phone at (203) 968-8400.
