Navigation

There are several ways to zoom in and zoom out in AlignMix. If you use a external mouse with a scroll wheel then you can use that scroll wheel to zoom in and out. Simply push the scroll wheel forward and the map will zoom in. You can be any map view or have any tool enabled and the scroll wheel will zoom you into the map. If you pull the scroll wheel toward you then you will zoom back out of the map. There is also the zoom in tool. The zoom in tool when selected will allow you to click and zoom into a selected area on the map. Just click anywhere on the map and the map will zoom towards that area. the more you click the more you will zoom in. You can also use the zoom in tool to zoom into a selected square/rectangle. Click and hold the zoom in button and drag it outwards. This will create a rectangle. As soon as you let go of the mouse button, AlignMix will zoom into that rectangle that you just created with the zoom tool. The zoom out tool will zoom you out with each click. You can also click the zoom 100% button which will zoom you all the way out to center the country in the middle of the screen.

The AlignMix options allows you to customize the appearance of your maps and what terms are used for each level of hierarchy. The options can also be used to set AlignMix to low resource mode which will allow slower computers to use the software for mapping and creating sales territories. There are currently four sections found in the options section: View, geography, project, and tools.

The view section allows you to change the display of the latitude and longitude. This is shown in the bottom left of the main AlignMix screen. In the options you can change it from signed decimals (Latitude +54.65478, longitude -1.32664789) to Degrees, minutes and seconds (54, 29”, 27’N, 45’E).

The only place you will see these changes take place is in the bottom left of your AlignMix screen when you are using the mouse to float around on the screen. In the view section you can also change the display of the map on the screen. You change the color scheme and color accents by using the first two drop-downs.

Then you can also change the color of the land and sea by clicking on the color boxes. Many users leave this as default but there are a few that change both of these to white so that you only see the Colored sales territories and no other land or water on the map. By default, you should leave the resolution to what you see set.

The one thing you can change is the low resource mode check box. Only check this box if you are using a slower computer that you have noticed a lag when using the AlignMix software. By clicking this check box, you will be able to tell the software to only redraw what you see on the screen and not what you do not see. This will help prevent lag on older computers.

The second section of the options is the Geography section. Here you can change the default settings for your geography. This will not impact the file you are currently working on. It will only change what map you will see when you start a brand new AlignMix file.

The third section is split into two sections; general and naming convention. The general section you can choose to have the rep name as also the ID, or when not checked you can have a different ID and different name for each sales rep. The second option when checked will ignore the gender of the sales reps.

The reason the gender option exists is so that you can have to separate icons for sales reps. The icons can be customized in configure layers. Some of our Pro users use this option to map sales reps as one icon, and then the second gender can show locations of distribution centers.

The second portion of the project section allows you to change the terms used to describe the different levels of hierarchy and the naming of those mangers. This can also be customized when you start a new project. There are two parts for each level that can be edited, the singular form and the plural form.

If your lowest form of territories is called an “Area” ‘then you would rename this row to Area and Areas. If you sales reps call on “clients” you would then rename Account to Client and then do the same for the plural form. The next part of this section allows you to edit the names of the hierarchy.

The Pro version allows you to have three total levels. By default, those three levels are territories, districts, and regions. If your organization uses different terms for these levels; this is where you would make those changes. Always make sure to rename the singular form and also the plural form of each term. If you do make changes to these terms make sure to also change the names of the first line and second line mangers to match the hierarchy that they are assigned to. You wouldn’t want to have a district manager assigned to a region. You would make sure to rename that level of manager to District Manager.

If you do not have “sales Reps” but you have territory managers or franchisees then this is where you would make this edit, but make sure to change both the singular and plural form for each of the terms. The fourth and final section of the AlignMix options covers the zoom wheel. By default the scroll wheel on your mouse will zoom in and out by 2 levels of zoom. If you move the chevron to the right, it will zoom in and out by one zoom level with every click of the scroll wheel. Moving it to the left will do the opposite.

The alignment tools are the tools that will allow you to create new territories and modify existing sales territories. 

There are five alignment tools:

1. Touch Align Tool
2. Lasso Zip Code Tool
3. Circle Zip Code Tool
4. Territory Lasso Tool
5. Circle Territory Tool

The touch align tool is just like finger painting. You simply click, hold, and move to create and expand sales territories. The touch align tool can be used on a blank map or in an existing sales territory map. 

The lasso zip code tool will lasso an entire zip code and the accounts that are found in that zip code (if the alignment scope is set to zips and accounts). When you let go of the lasso tool a summary will appear showing all the data/accounts that are found in the lassoed area. Clicking on next you can then assign the lassoed area to a new territory, existing territory, un-assign the area, and delete the lassoed accounts.

The circle zip code tool operates very similar to the lasso zip code tool with one major difference. The lasso zip code allows you to create a custom shapes when lassoing. With the circle zip code tool you are able to create only a circle shape as you drag the tool outwards. When you let go of the tool you will see the same summary that appears when you use the lasso zip code tool. 

The lasso territory tool will lasso an entire territory as soon as a portion of it is lassoed. This tool is used if you want to select all the zip codes and accounts that are found in the sales territory. When you let go of the territory lasso tool a summary will appear showing all the territories that have been lassoed including any data sets that are found in the lassoed territories. You can then click on the other tabs to view a list of the zip codes found in the lassoed area, and a list of all the accounts found in the lassoed area.Clicking on next you will be able to assign these lassoed territories to a new district, an existing district, merge the territories into one territory, and delete the lassoed territories. 

The circle territory operates like a combination of the circle zip code tool and the lasso territory tool. As you drag the circle territory tool outward you will capture territories that fall into the circle that is being created. When you let go of the circle territory you will see the same exact options that you receive when using the territory lasso tool.

The alignment scope is a setting that you can toggle that allows you to lasso zip codes and accounts, only accounts, and only zip codes. The alignment scope is set to Zip codes and accounts be default. This means that when you use the lasso tools or the touch align tool to make changes you will be moving zip codes and accounts from one territory to another. You can switch the scope to Accounts only, or zip codes only. The touch align tool will not work if the scope is set to accounts only, the lasso tools will be the only tools that operate under the accounts only scope setting. With the scope set to only accounts you can lasso just accounts and then assign those accounts to a new territory or an existing sales territory without moving the zip codes.

Keyboard shortcuts allow users to navigate and use AlignMix faster and more efficiently. In the video above you will learn how to use keyboard shortcuts to:

• Access the Alignmix shortcuts list
• Use the Recolor tool
• Use the Pan tool
• Use the Touch align tool to hug state boundaries
• Use the Touch Align tool to skip over an area
• Zoom in and out
• Expand the size of the touch align circle
• Access Territory properties
• Lock/Unlock Territories

Adding these shortcuts to your sales territory design skills will allow you to create sales territories faster and with more ease.

In this AlignMix video you will learn how to change the colors of your territories.

There are five ways that you can change the color of a sales territory:

1. Recolor Tool
2. Color Palette
3. Radial Tool
4. Territory Properties
5. Territory Table View

You can even change the color palette so that those who have a color impairment can use and see the entire sales territory alignment with ease.

The recolor tool is found on the home menu. With this tool you simply click on a territory and the color of that territory will change. The colors will cycle through the default color palette. If you would like to change the color palette then click on the map tab and then select a different color scheme from the drop-down. You can also toggle on the recolor tool while using any other tool by simply clicking and holding the R button on your keyboard. 

You can also use the radial tool to change the territory color to a custom color that is not found in the pre selected color palette. Right click on the territory and then click on the color option in the radial tool menu. From here you can select a custom color or type in the rgb numbers of a true custom color for this sales territory.

The territory properties is another way you can change the colors of your sales territories. To open up the properties you can either use the radial tool or skip the radial tool by holding CTRL on the keyboard and click on the territory. In the properties you can change the color of the sales territory and also change the color of the lock that appears on the territory when you lock that territory. 

The final way to change sales territory colors is by using the table view. In the table view on the far left, to the left of the territory ID you will see a small color box. Clicking this box will allow you to change the color of the territory. The one limitation when using this view is that you will not be able to see the changes until you toggle back to the territory map view. 

All of these methods for changing sales territory colors can be used at the district and/or region level if you have created a hierarchy in your AlignMix file.

The lock tool is used to prevent changes from being made to completed sales territories and also to track your progress when balancing and optimizing sales territories. When you lock a territory, AlignMix will place a lock in the center of that territory. When this lock is placed inside of a territory that means you will not be able to make changes to any part of that territory including the zip to terr assignments and account assignments that are assigned to that locked sales territory. 

The easiest way to lock a sales territory is to right click on the territory you want to lock. This will pull up the radial tool. Then you click on the Lock button. This will lock that sales territory. You can also use a keyboard shortcut to lock the territory and bypass the radial tool. All you have to do is hold the “L” button on your keyboard and then left click on a sales territory. This will lock the sales territory and prevent any accidental changes that may occur while redesigning the rest of your sales territories. To unlock the territory you can use the same keyboard shortcut and hold “L” on the keyboard and click that territory, or you can right click to pull up the radial tool and then click the unlock option.

You can also use the territory table view to lock your sales territories. You simply click the checkbox for each territory you would like to lock. You can also lock every sales territory by clicking the checkbox in the column title section.

If you open up a District table and lock an entire district, then all of those territories that are assigned to that same district will be locked as well. The same applies at the region level. If you lock a region then all the districts in that region will be locked and so will all the territories that are assigned to those districts.

You can now use the Zip Code Search tool to locate Zip Codes in your sales territory maps. Simply type [ctrl+f] to pull up the search box, then type in the zip you are searching for. You can also click on the “Find Zip Code” button on the home menu. The search tool will automatically zoom to the zip code you are searching for and center it on your screen.

This is a very useful tool when you are confirming that zip codes have been properly assigned to the correct sales rep/sales territory during you sales territory planning/realignment process.

There are now two ways to open new tabs/views. The first way is to click the plus button to open up a new view. From here you can choose to view your hierarchy maps, thematic maps, Charts, or table views. The second way to access these new tabs/views is from the home menu. Simply click the add view button on the far left and you will see a drop-down appear. From here you can select all of the same options that we discussed above.

If you have several tabs/views open you can easily toggle between the open tabs with a simple keyboard shortcut. Ctrl + Tab. Just hold down the Ctrl key and then click tab to move to the next open tab in your open AlignMix file.

In AlignMix you can easily change the default settings to match what your company uses in house. If you don’t have sales territories but do have sales areas then you can make that change with a few clicks. You can also change what you call sales reps, customers, districts, and regions.

When you start a new project (File, New) you will be presented with a few set up windows where you can choose the base country and geography plus set up all the terms for the new file. By default AlignMix will be set to the USA, 5 digit zip codes. If you have purchased additional countries and shapes then you will be able to select them from the drop-down menu. To set the new shapes as default for future projects make sure to click the “Default” button in the bottom left of that window. As you click through the set up screens you will be able to change the terms for sales territories, sales reps, accounts/clients, and the hierarchy settings. By default you will have sales territories assigned to districts and districts assigned to regions. You can change all of these terms during this set up process and also set them as default settings for future projects.

The new project set up window selections can be changed at any time. Simply click on file, then select the AlignMix Options. From here you can change all of the same settings you have already customized during the new project set up. When changing the terms in the options make sure to also change the singular and plural terms for each level of assignment. If you plan of having District and Region managers make sure that those terms match the three levels of hierarchy. 

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