How to create sales territories

Summary

This article walks you through the process of creating and managing Sales Territories in OpenSolar. You'll learn how to define a geographic area, assign team members, and use weighting to manage lead distribution—especially in cases where territories overlap.

Table of Contents:

• Adding a New Sales Territory
• Configuring Your Sales Territory
• Managing Overlapping Territories with Weighting
• Summary of Best Practices

Adding a New Sales Territory

In OpenSolar, a Sales Territory is a predefined geographic area linked to one or more team members. It streamlines lead distribution by automatically routing new leads to the appropriate sales reps based on the customer’s location.

• Navigate to Control > Other > Sales Territories

• Click “Add New Sales Territory”

Configuring Your Sales Territory

1.  Enter Basic Details

• Title: Give the sales territory a meaningful name (e.g., Northern California Sales Zone)

• Assigned Team Member: Select the user responsible for this territory

2. Set Up Address Filters (Optional)

• Use filters to narrow down the area by postal code, city, or state:

• Enter comma-separated values into any of the filter fields

• Leave fields blank if not applicable

• OpenSolar will only consider filled fields when filtering leads

Example: For ZIP codes 90210, 90001, and 90025, enter them as:
90210,90001,90025

3. Define Location Using an Address

If you prefer to define a territory by proximity:

• Click “Set Location Using an Address”

• Input the address (e.g., company office or central hub)

• OpenSolar will automatically detect the longitude and latitude

• Set a radius (in miles or kilometers) to define the area around that location

This method is ideal for circular territories or mobile sales teams.

Managing Overlapping Territories with Weighting

If multiple territories overlap, OpenSolar allows you to control how leads are distributed using the Weighting field.

How Weighting Works:

• Equal Weighting (e.g., 100 / 100) splits lead evenly between the territories

• Proportional Weighting (e.g., 200 / 100) sends twice as many leads to the territory with the higher weighting

Example: If two reps share a region and one has a weighting of 200, and the other 100, the first will receive approximately 66% of the leads, and the second 33%

This is particularly useful when:

• Using a shared Lead Capture Form

• Distributing leads fairly based on experience, availability, or performance

Important:
Do not assign a specific team member in the Lead Capture Form settings if you're using territory-based distribution. Doing so overrides the territory logic and sends all leads to that user—bypassing the weighting setup.

Summary of Best Practices: