# Should we split territories by geography, vertical, or product?

By whatever your buying process actually varies on. Vertical carves win where the sales motion genuinely differs by industry; geographic carves win where meetings and time zones matter; product carves win where expertise is the constraint. Most companies end up with a hybrid, which is fine if the cut order is explicit.

Whatever you choose, normalise the account values before balancing, and never cut below the metro — splitting a city between reps generates disputes that outlast the plan. Publish every rule before the map is announced, including how holdouts and named accounts are handled.

## Sources

- **Method** — [Sales Territory Design playbook — The cut order](https://www.leanscale.team/knowledge/playbooks/sales-territory-design-playbook/)

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Cluster: Territory · https://www.leanscale.team/knowledge/answers/territory-carve-methods/