4 Tactical Ways to Improve Territory Design

This is the first in a four-part series with our friends at BoogieBoard on territory planning for revenue operations pros. Each article stands on its own, so you can jump in anywhere in your process.

Series Overview:

• Article 1: Tactical Groundwork for Territory Design (you’re here)
  
  
• Article 2: Navigating Complex Account Hierarchies (click here to read it!)
  
  
• Article 3: Leveraging AI & Automation in Territory Design (coming soon)
  
  
• Article 4: The Two Major Hurdles: Territory Equity and Change Management (coming soon)
  
  

Ever been in a meeting with a sales leader hell-bent on rolling out a shiny new territory structure they heard about from a peer?

We have, too. And while we’d all love to be the “yes” people in RevOps, sometimes our job is to protect the business from itself. That doesn’t mean the idea is bad—it just means the data and logistics have to match the ambition.

The best RevOps operators play the long game:

1. Understand what’s technically possible today.
   
   
2. Communicate those limits without killing the excitement.
   
   
3. Build the roadmap to get there tomorrow.
   
   

Here’s how.

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1. Take the Time to Determine What’s Possible Today

Before diving into a new territory model, gut-check your data and systems. Ask:

• How certain are we about our ideal customer profile?
  
  
• How technical is our product?
  
  
• How much do use cases vary? Can reps realistically sell across all of them?
  
  
• What regional nuances matter—language, laws, regulations?
  
  
• How fresh and reliable is our intent data?
  
  
• How complete is our data across key categories?
  
  

Data priorities, roughly in order of business value:

1. Customer information: Purchases, renewals, expansions, churn dates.
   
   
2. Firmographics: Location, industry, sub-vertical, sales motion, account hierarchy.
   
   
3. Demographics: Buyer committee makeup and personas.
   
   
4. Technographics: Dependent software or stack components.
   
   
5. Intent data: Third-party and first-party behavioral signals.
   
   

If you can’t reliably answer “Who are our customers?” or “Who just churned?”—you’re not ready for complex, intent-driven territory design.

Start simple. Regional or industry-based territories aren’t the sexiest, but they’re easier to execute when you can trust location and industry data more than intent signals.

Pro Tip: It’s important to measure both how complete your data is (how much the field is filled out) and how accurate the data is. The latter can be an estimate based on how frequently the data type is prone to change - for example, a company’s industry is much less likely to change compared to how frequently a title like VP of Customer Success changes hands.

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2. Build a Roadmap to Best-in-Class Segmentation

CRM data will never be perfect. But if you know there are gaps between what your VP of Sales is asking for and what you can deliver, an answer of “Not yet” is always better than “No.”

Once you’ve determined what your data gaps are, build a data improvement roadmap:

• Outline target improvements for each category (firmographics, intent, technographics).
  
  
• Estimate timelines—but communicate when those estimates shift.
  
  
• Show measurable progress to keep leadership bought in.
  
  

By the time you can trust your intent signals, you’ll be able to support any territory strategy they dream up.

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3. Stay Grounded in What’s Best for Your Sales Team

Territory design shouldn’t just look good in a board deck—it needs to work in the real world.

Signs you’re in trouble:

• Your hiring plan is “Revenue target ÷ aggressive quota = headcount needed.”
  
  
• Your TAM isn’t growing, but leadership wants double the revenue.
  
  

Start with historical productivity data per rep:

• Average revenue produced.
  
  
• Ramp time.
  
  
• Productivity levers (enablement, process improvements, better systems).
  
  

Also, know your product’s sales complexity. Selling a horizontal SaaS product with universal use cases? Your team can likely handle mixed territories. Selling something highly technical with industry-specific nuances? Specialization may be the only way to win.

Suspect equity’s a little off? Check out the RevOps Guide to Territory Equity.

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4. Do Frequent Temperature Checks

Perfect territories don’t exist. Someone will always think they got the short end of the stick.

But those complaints often contain a kernel of truth. Check in with reps and managers regularly:

• Are reps overwhelmed by the variety of industries or use cases?
  
  
• Are regional or population differences creating inequities?
  
  
• Are top accounts accidentally concentrated in one territory?
  
  

Use feedback as both a pulse check and an early-warning system for bigger issues.

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Play the Long Game Without Losing Momentum

RevOps territory design isn’t a “set it and forget it” project—it’s an evolving system that balances what’s possible now with where you need to go.

The winning formula:

1. Ground your strategy in reliable data.
   
   
2. Build a realistic roadmap for future sophistication.
   
   
3. Keep the design seller-friendly.
   
   
4. Stay in constant feedback loops with the field.
   
   

Do this well, and you won’t just roll out territories—you’ll create a system that flexes with your GTM strategy, scales with your business, and earns trust across sales leadership and the field.

Need help that goes beyond a series of articles? Check out BoogieBoard’s resource center or check out their product.

Here are a few of their resources tailored to this topic:

• The Ultimate Guide to Territory Planning
• The Territory Planning Project Hub