At xpedx, John Bard says, “the effectiveness of coaching improved when we began providing FLMs with a new sales coverage tool.” The tool allows FLMs to compare performance of their salespeople on key metrics such as territory sales, gross profit, and number of customer. To prepare for coaching sessions, FLMs can drill down into the details of a salesperson’s territory to look at a breakdown of the business by account, product, and industry. “The tool giver FLMs new visibility by providing access to data that measures account potential. Account potential was calculated based on factors such as industry, account size, and past sales,” John says. “For the first time, FLMs have a benchmark for understanding account potential. This facilitates a more balanced discussion with their people about the best tactical territory plans and goals. The data help FLMs point salespeople toward the best prospects and help them coach salespeople on hoe to focus their time and energy against the best opportunities.” Because the sales coverage tool presents information in a concise and visually friendly format, it is a powerful tool for enabling FLMs to communicate with their people and take action to improve performance.