Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Territory Sales Representative

🎯 Role Definition

The Territory Sales Representative is an outside-sales professional responsible for driving revenue growth and market share within an assigned geographic territory. This role blends proactive prospecting, consultative selling, territory planning, and account management to achieve and exceed sales quotas. The ideal candidate will use CRM tools, competitive intelligence, and a customer-first approach to build long-term relationships with distributors, retailers, and end customers while collaborating with cross-functional teams (marketing, operations, customer success) to deliver solutions and excellent service.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Inside Sales Representative or Sales Development Representative (SDR)
Retail or Account Manager with strong B2B experience
Field Sales Associate or Route Sales Representative

Advancement To:

Senior Territory Sales Representative / Territory Manager
Key Account Manager or Regional Sales Manager
National Accounts Manager or Director of Sales

Lateral Moves:

Channel/Distributor Manager
Product Specialist / Sales Enablement
Customer Success or Commercial Operations

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Develop and execute a strategic territory plan that targets high-potential accounts and channels to consistently meet or exceed monthly, quarterly, and annual sales quotas.
Prospect, cold-call, cold-email, and follow up with qualified leads to generate new business opportunities and expand the customer base within the assigned territory.
Conduct regular in-person visits and virtual meetings with existing customers and prospects to build relationships, present product solutions, and drive repeat purchases.
Perform consultative selling by diagnosing customer needs, recommending tailored solutions, and positioning product benefits to maximize value and close deals.
Manage and maintain an accurate sales pipeline and opportunity stages in the CRM (e.g., Salesforce), updating forecasts and probabilities to support revenue planning.
Prepare and deliver persuasive product demonstrations, trials, and presentations that clearly connect product features to customer ROI and business outcomes.
Negotiate pricing, payment terms, and contract details to finalize agreements while protecting margin and adhering to company pricing and discounting policies.
Create and deliver territory forecasts, weekly activity reports, and pipeline updates to Sales Management to ensure reliable revenue projections.
Conduct territory business reviews and account segmentation to prioritize high-value customers and allocate time and resources efficiently.
Execute territory pricing, promotions, and promotional merchandising programs in coordination with marketing and channel partners to increase face share and product visibility.
Identify and develop relationships with channel partners, distributors, and retailers to broaden market coverage and accelerate product distribution.
Manage order capture, follow through with order entry, and coordinate with operations/fulfillment to ensure timely delivery and order accuracy.
Monitor competitor activity, pricing, new product introductions, and local market trends to adjust territory strategies and maintain competitive positioning.
Drive upsell and cross-sell motions within installed accounts by identifying additional use cases, product bundles, or higher-tier solutions.
Participate in trade shows, local events, and industry meetings on behalf of the company to generate leads, increase brand awareness, and gather market intelligence.
Implement territory routing and time management practices that maximize face-to-face customer interactions and minimize travel inefficiencies.
Collaborate with marketing to execute local promotional campaigns, trial programs, and account-based marketing activities to accelerate pipeline velocity.
Maintain accurate records of customer interactions, call notes, product feedback, and service issues in CRM to support account continuity and cross-team collaboration.
Resolve customer objections and service escalations promptly by coordinating with customer service, operations, or technical teams to preserve relationships and secure future business.
Train and educate customers, store staff, and distributors on product features, merchandising standards, and ordering processes to improve sell-through.
Execute sample management and demo inventory control—manage distribution, replenishment, and collection of samples and demo units across the territory.
Meet or exceed key performance indicators (KPIs) including quota attainment, new accounts opened, retention rate, call frequency, average deal size, and sales cycle time.
Prepare competitive win/loss analyses and detailed post-sale reviews to continuously improve sales approach, messaging, and product-market fit.
Support seasonal and promotional planning by providing local insights and demand forecasts to product planning and supply chain teams.
Maintain compliance with company policies, contract terms, and regulatory requirements when interacting with customers and partners.

Secondary Functions

Assist sales operations in ad-hoc reporting requests and provide localized data to improve territory-level forecasting accuracy.
Contribute market insights and customer feedback to product management to influence roadmap and feature prioritization.
Participate in monthly sales training, role-plays, and enablement sessions to refine sales skills and product knowledge.
Help mentor and onboard new territory reps or part-time sales associates when requested by leadership.
Support credit and collections activities by following up on overdue invoices and coordinating with finance to resolve billing disputes.
Coordinate with logistics to manage special deliveries, returns, and stock transfers for key accounts.
Contribute to the development and refinement of sales collateral, regional pricing guides, and competitive talking points.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

CRM proficiency (Salesforce, HubSpot, Microsoft Dynamics) — pipeline management, activity logging, forecasting.
Consultative selling and solution-based sales methodology experience.
Territory planning and account segmentation techniques, including route optimization.
Strong proficiency with Microsoft Excel for sales reporting, forecasting models, and data analysis.
Experience with mobile sales tools and field enablement apps (route planners, mobile order entry).
Knowledge of B2B order-to-cash processes, quoting, and contract management.
Familiarity with merchandising standards, POS displays, and retail planogram execution (when applicable).
Basic understanding of pricing strategy, margin optimization, and discount management.
Experience running product demos, samples, and trial programs.
Ability to prepare professional proposals and sales documentation using PowerPoint/Google Slides.

Soft Skills

Exceptional interpersonal and relationship-building abilities with a customer-first orientation.
Strong verbal presentation and persuasive communication skills for in-person and virtual selling.
Excellent time management, planning, and organizational skills for territory scheduling.
Resilience, persistence, and the ability to work independently in a field-based role.
Problem solving and escalation management with a bias for rapid resolution.
High emotional intelligence and ability to manage complex stakeholder relationships.
Adaptability to changing product mixes, territory boundaries, and competitive dynamics.
Collaborative mindset for working with cross-functional internal teams (marketing, operations, finance).
Coachability and eagerness to learn from manager feedback and sales enablement content.
Ethical judgment and professional conduct when representing the company in the field.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

High school diploma or equivalent; demonstrated sales performance can substitute for formal education.

Preferred Education:

Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, Communications, Supply Chain, or related field.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Business Administration
Marketing
Supply Chain / Logistics
Communications

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

2–5 years of field sales, territory management, or outside sales experience (B2B or channel-focused). Entry-level roles may be open to high-performing inside sales reps with 1–2 years of experience.

Preferred:

Experience selling in the same or adjacent industry (e.g., CPG, industrial, medical devices, commercial services).
Demonstrated track record of meeting or exceeding sales quotas, strong pipeline management, and experience using Salesforce or equivalent CRM.
Experience managing distributor/retailer relationships, merchandising, and running local promotional programs.