Another question about custom territories

I know this has been asked before, but I was hoping for an answer with a little more detail. I have territories that are arbitrary - they are not on zip code or any other boundaries - I just have a map that shows me where they are. I need to show things like completed and pending jobs, KPI performance, etc, on a map, with each territory and its values shown.

I understand that the built in territory functions only work with the built-in geographies, and that there is some other way I might accomplish this. However, I don't know what that method would be, and how much work it would be. I have a C# programmer with some basic knowledge of MP, he has already added some mapping to our application (It is a specialized work management system for field services work in a particular industry). Where do I look to start to do this? What mechanism will we use to define the territories (or areas, or whatever they are called)? Once the territories are defined, how easy is it to use them when displaying data?

We got some basic mapping stuff done really quickly with MP, but I hope the hard stuff isn't too hard or impossible, and I hope going with MP instead of ESRI was a good move.

Any help, or general direction, would be appreciated.

Hi there

Sorry, this isn’t a solution to your problem because I don't think you can sensibly use MapPoint for custom territories that don't align with a built-in geography. My observation would be....I do a lot of sales territory work in the UK and often have to start with territories that don’t follow any marketing-type geography. In that situation I can normally “add value” right away by aligning the territories with postcode geography, normally postcode sectors which I guess are the closest we have to zips. Normally this geography is sufficently fine to mean you can get a pretty good correspondence. Then, as well as being able to use MapPoint’s (limited) sales territory resources with no hassle other advantages include:
-easily assigning new prospects to field staff based on postcode
-more effective use of prospect lists generated from directories
-linking with demographics and demand-side measures
So I was wondering if you might consider aligning your sales territories with zip codes.

If I could align the territories, I certainly would. However, that is not possible in this case. These are service territories, with service centers for each, and individual staff for each territory. It would take an act of God (or someone even more important) to change the boundaries.