Sales compensation and territory

A compensation plan is the clearest statement a company makes about what it actually wants. Reps will optimize it precisely, including in the ways you did not intend, and that is not a character flaw — it is the plan working.

Size territories on potential, not on the current book

A territory built from existing accounts rewards whoever inherited the good one and guarantees the argument that follows. Build from addressable potential — accounts that fit, weighted by how many of them could plausibly buy — then check that each territory can support the quota you intend to put on it.

A quota a territory mathematically cannot carry is not a stretch goal, it is a resignation on a delay. Do that arithmetic before assigning, and expect to find one or two territories that fail it.

Rebalance on a known cadence, so it is a process rather than a punishment, and account for in-flight pipeline when accounts move.