Start with eligibility, then consider volume
List the states and locations your agency is authorized to serve. Review current carrier appetite through your agency’s normal channels. Geography alone does not tell you whether a specific home can be quoted, and a lead provider’s targeting filters do not replace underwriting.
Homefield can use property criteria such as estimated home value, home age, ownership length, and owner-occupancy when planning outreach. Confirm the available fields and how they are estimated before treating them as hard requirements.
Build a territory worksheet
Use one row per proposed ZIP or practical group of neighboring ZIPs. Keep the worksheet small enough for a producer and campaign manager to review together.
- Service fit: licensing, carrier availability, and any known geographic restrictions.
- Property fit: the kinds of homes the agency can realistically quote.
- Team fit: who owns replies and how much quoting capacity is available.
- Supply questions: the provider’s estimate of eligible records after filters and suppression.
- Review date: when to reassess results or update criteria.
A ZIP count is not a volume forecast. Two territories with the same number of ZIPs may have very different numbers of relevant homeowners. Ask for the assumptions behind any estimate, including which records are excluded.
Understand the scope of exclusive territory
Homefield reserves a ZIP for one active home insurance agency within its network. For home insurance, that means it does not run campaigns for another Homefield home insurance agency in your assigned ZIPs while your account is active and in good standing.
This does not prevent a homeowner from contacting another agent, seeing another company’s advertising, or shopping elsewhere. Read the territory terms and confirm availability before planning around a specific region.
Expand when the workflow supports it
Begin with a coherent group of locations that meets your criteria and the program’s supply requirements. Watch how many replies become quoteable opportunities, whether the team responds consistently, and how long quotes remain open.
If the team is behind, a bigger territory can increase unfinished work. If the team is keeping up but property fit is poor, refine criteria first. Expand only after identifying a useful constraint to remove.
Too many unworked replies: reduce volume or add a responsible producer.
Too many homes outside carrier appetite: review targeting and qualification expectations.
Good fit and spare capacity: discuss additional available territory.
Review results at the right level
Small ZIP-level samples can be misleading. Track each location, but combine comparable areas when individual counts are too small to interpret. Record carrier or pricing changes that might explain differences. Keep the same outcome definition and follow-up window across groups. For the fields to record, track results from first reply to written policy; for what to compare between groups, see how to judge reply quality by ZIP group.
Bring your proposed service area and property criteria to a territory check. The goal is a workable campaign, not simply the largest map.