Having said that, it is never a good feeling for the sales manager nor the sales executive, to leave an account review with a sense of loss.
To avoid that leaving empty-handed feeling, try awarding poker chips or monopoly money for each surrendered account. Award chips to the account executive proportionate to the potential THEY claim the account could be worth.
For a high level A account give the sales person three chips, for level B give them two, and for a low level C give them one.
Following your account reviews with each rep, facilitate an account bidding session where the account executives bring their chips to the meeting, using them to bid on the accounts that are up for trade.
This process has been very successful with my clients because:
1.) The reps feel like they got something for the accounts they surrendered
2.) The sales manager can not be accused of favoritism in the re-distribution of accounts, and most importantly,
3.) The account executive who is willing to bid the majority of her chips for a particular account has a method to her madness…they usually have a great idea or some knowledge about the account that makes them passionate about following up.
Account bidding meetings can be fun, and you’ll see immediate increased sales activity if you have been aggressive and thorough in your account review.
NOTE: to maximize the productivity of the bidding process, each rep should have 4-5 days to study the list of accounts up for bidding in order to devise their priorities and bidding strategies.