A coverage model means how customers are best covered by the sales organization. The problem being solved is simple: how do you cover all potential customers with the limited sales team you have?

For example, how do you cover 100,000 potential customers with a sales team of 42 people?

A coverage model defines how customers will be covered by:

• segment (enterprise, mid-market, SMB)
• revenue potential / wallet size
• industry or geography
• sales roles (account managers, hunters, SDR/BDR, inside sales, channel partners)
• service levels (high-touch, pooled coverage, digital/self-service)

The goal is to make sure every customer has an appropriate level of attention and that sales effort is applied where it has the best return.

The biggest customers usually get adequate coverage. In fact, I know of a CEO who drove a truck over to a customer’s location on Christmas Eve.

However, it is the mid-size and smaller customers that suffer without a structured coverage model. Businesses without a coverage model tend to have very patchy sales coverage, where some accounts get attention while many accounts get ignored.

Without a coverage model:

• opportunities are missed because follow-up is inconsistent
• customers get treated differently depending on who happens to respond
• sales time is wasted on low-value work while higher-value opportunities are not pursued
• leadership does not have confidence that the market is being covered properly

A good coverage model ensures the sales team focuses on the right customers, uses the right level of effort, and creates a repeatable way to grow revenue across large, mid, and small accounts.