Standard Geographies hierarchy data
To allow you to plan at a global level, we have included standard Geographies hierarchy data in our product. Rather than creating and importing a file that contains information about the countries your organization sells to, simply select your required countries from a list. Once you've selected your countries, we'll automatically add hierarchy data for them. As part of this process, you can select the geographic level that you want to plan at for each of your selected countries. The geographic level refers to region boundaries, such as zip codes, postal codes, provinces, states, or whole countries. For example, you may plan your territories at the zip code level in the US, at the province level in Canada, and at the country level in France. We add hierarchy members based on your selected geographic region, so if you add hierarchy data for the US and select zip codes as your geographic level, we'll add hierarchy members for each US zip code. If you selected states as the geographic level instead, we would add hierarchy members for each state.
Whichever geographic level you choose, it should match the type of data you plan to use in your activity files. For example, if you track sales activities by US zip code, you would choose zip codes as the geographic level for your US hierarchy data, rather than just states or country.
Not all geographic levels are available for all countries. The geographic levels available depend on the region boundaries used by each country and on the level of support available in Varicent Sales Planning.
Note
If you require a more granular geographic level for a country your organization sells to, speak to your Varicent Sales Planning Services consultant.
Choosing a geographic level
Varicent Sales Planning provides standard geographies hierarchy data for supported countries. When you select countries to add data for, you must also select a corresponding geographic level to use for each country. The geographic level refers to region boundaries, such as zip codes, postal codes, provinces, states, or whole countries. The levels available change based on the country you select and how those countries break up their regions. For example, the US has states and Canada has provinces. Your hierarchy data is based on your geographic level selection. If you select country, we add one hierarchy member for the country, if you select states, we add a hierarchy member for each state within that country. It also impacts how we break up geographic regions on the map.
Note
You can select a different geographic level for each country.
When choosing which geographic level to use, consider how you plan to break up your territories. Your hierarchy members are based on your geographic level, meaning that when you create territories, you will be including or excluding zip or postal codes, states or provinces, or whole countries in your territory rules. For example, if you add hierarchy data for the USA, depending on your geographic level, your rules may look like this:
Zip code: Geographies = "10001", "10002", "10003"
This territory includes a selection of New York City zip codes.
Counties: Geographies = "Bronx County"
This territory includes the entire Bronx county.
State: Geographies = "New York"
This territory includes the entire New York state.
Country: Geographies = "USA"
This territory includes the entire country of the USA.
You must also consider how you plan to track sales data in your activity files. If you plan territories at the zip code level, your activity data should match this. These choices will then determine your geographic level, for example, choose:
Zip code - if you track sales activities at the zip code level and plan to break up your territories to match this.
Counties - if you track sales and activities at the county level and plan to break up your territories to match this.
State - if you track sales activities at the state level and plan to break up your territories to match this.
Country - if you track sales activities at the country level and plan to break up your territories to match this. This is the default selection. We only support some countries at the country level.
Note
These examples are based on the geographic levels available for the USA. Other countries will have different options available, but the idea is the same.
The map view changes based on your selection. For each country you added, you will be able to see individual geographic regions on the map. The level of granularity that you see depends on the geographic level you selected for that country.
Adding standard Geographies hierarchy data
The Geographies hierarchy is included as an out-of-the-box hierarchy in Varicent Sales Planning. It contains all the geographic regions your organization sells to. Add standard Geographies hierarchy data for each country your organization sells to or plans to sell to. You will reference this hierarchy data when you create your territories and define your territory rules.
On the Planning cycles home page, click the planning cycle to open.
Click the Command center icon
.Click the Geographies hierarchy.
On the Standard geographies panel, click the Add hierarchy icon
.Select the countries you want to add hierarchy data for.
Tip
Use the search bar to filter the list of countries. Select the check box next to a country to select it. You can select as many as needed.
In the table, under the Geographic level column, use the drop-down to select a geographic level for each country you added. The default is Country.
Note
The geographic level refers to region boundaries, such as zip codes, postal codes, provinces, states, or whole countries. Notice how the Number of geographic regions field changes based on your selection.
Your hierarchy data is based on this selection. If you select country, we add one hierarchy member for the country, if you select states, we add a hierarchy member for each state within that country. It also impacts how we break up geographic regions on the map. When making your selection, think about how you plan to break up your territories, what level of granularity do you need? Also think about how you track sales activity data. Do you track sales at the zip or postal code level? Your geographic level should align with that.
For more information about choosing a geographic level, see Choosing a geographic level.
Click Add.
Editing Geographies hierarchy data
Once you've added your standard Geographies hierarchy data, you can edit it to add more countries, remove countries, or change the geographic level for countries as required.
On the Planning cycles home page, click the planning cycle to open.
Click the Command center icon
.Click the Geographies hierarchy.
On the Standard geographies panel, click the Add hierarchy icon
.Make changes to your hierarchy data, as required:
Option
Steps
Add countries
Select the countries you want to add hierarchy data for.
Tip
Use the search bar to filter the list of countries. Select the check box next to a country to select it. You can select as many as needed.
In the table, under the Geographic level column, use the drop-down to select a geographic level for each country you added. The default is Country.
Remove countries
Click Remove x next to the country you want to remove.
Note
If you've already created territory rules that reference the hierarchy data for a country, you won't be able to delete that country.
Change the geographic level
In the table, under the Geographic level column, use the drop-down to select a different geographic level for your country.
Note
If you've already created territory rules that reference the hierarchy data for a country, you won't be able to change the geographic level unless you're changing it to a deeper granularity. For example, if you have territory rules that reference US state hierarchy members, you can't change the geographic level to country, but you can change it to zip codes.
Click Update.
Viewing Geographies hierarchy keys
When creating your territory rules and activity files, you need to reference the key (unique ID) of your Geographies hierarchy members. We automatically generate this key when we load your standard Geographies data for your selected countries. You can view this key from the user interface, which will give you the information you need to create your files.
On the Planning cycles home page, click the planning cycle to open.
Click the Command center icon
.Click the Geographies hierarchy.
On the Standard geographies panel, click the More options menu
next to the hierarchy member you want to view.Click View.
Under Details, you see the name and key for your selected geographies hierarchy member.