Territory Data Export and Backup for Roofing Operations

The day a rep quits is the day you learn whether your territory data was actually backed up. If it lives only in the CRM and only the departing rep knows the exact boundaries, you are about to lose 6 months of work. Export habits built in advance prevent that disaster.

Why Territory Data Matters

A territory is not just a shape on a map. It is a historical record of:

• Which doors have been knocked
• Which homeowners said yes, no, or not yet
• Which referrals came from which customers
• Which streets are company-generated vs rep-generated
• Which areas have Do Not Knock flags and why

Losing any of this is expensive. Losing all of it because the rep left with their phone is catastrophic.

What to Back Up

The Geometry

Territory boundaries in GeoJSON or KML format. Every polygon, every subdivision of a polygon, every special zone. This is the map itself.

The Assignment History

Which rep was assigned to which territory, when, and for how long. A CSV table of rep, territory, start_date, end_date.

The Knock Log

Every door knock with GPS coordinates, timestamp, rep, and outcome. This is the largest dataset and the most important one. A 5-rep team will generate 40,000 to 60,000 knock records per year.

The Customer Records

Leads, appointments, inspections, signed contingencies, and closed jobs. Tied to territories and to reps.

The Notes

Free-text rep notes on each door and each homeowner. Often overlooked, but where half the value lives.

Export Formats

FormatWhat it isUse case GeoJSONJSON with geographic shapesTerritory geometry, portable to any GIS tool KMLGoogle Earth formatQuick visual inspection, internal sharing CSVTab/comma-separated textKnock logs, customer records, analytics ShapefileESRI GIS formatHeavy GIS analysis, mapping firms

For most roofing ops, GeoJSON for geometry and CSV for everything else is enough. Shapefile if your marketing team uses ArcGIS. KML for quick sharing.

Backup Schedule

At minimum:

• Daily automated backup of knock logs and customer records
• Weekly full export of all territory geometry
• Monthly archive to offsite storage (not just a second folder on the same drive)
• Before any major change (territory reassignment, rep departure, CRM migration): full manual backup

Store backups in three places: the cloud platform, a second cloud drive, and a local copy on the owner's machine. The 3-2-1 backup rule applies to roofing data just like IT data.

Rep Transition Checklist

When a rep gives notice or is terminated, run this within 24 hours:

1. Export the full knock log for their territory (CSV)
2. Export the customer records for every lead they touched (CSV)
3. Export the territory geometry (GeoJSON)
4. Export all notes and photos from the CRM
5. Revoke their CRM access and mobile app login
6. Change any shared passwords they had access to
7. Assign the territory to the new rep
8. Import the knock log into the new rep's view so they see the history

Steps 1 through 4 should be automatic in any serious CRM. RoofKnockers has a one-click rep transition export that bundles all four into a zip file.

What the Contract Should Say

Your rep employment agreement should specify that all territory data, customer records, and knock logs are company property. The rep has no personal ownership of the data, even if they generated it. Include non-solicitation language that prevents the rep from contacting company customers for at least 12 months after departure.

This is standard contract language. If your contract does not have it, you will learn the hard way when a rep leaves and takes half your customer book to a competitor.

CRM Switching Scenarios

Most roofing companies switch CRMs every 3 to 5 years. Export-friendly data is what makes the switch survivable. If you are locked into a CRM that does not export polygon geometry or knock history, you are trapped. You cannot leave without losing years of data.

Before signing with any CRM, test the export. Create a test territory, add a few knocks, then try to export everything to GeoJSON and CSV. If the export is incomplete or only available on an enterprise tier, walk away.

See also: roofing CRM buyers guide.

FAQ

How large are typical export files?

For a 5-rep team: GeoJSON geometry around 200 KB. CSV knock log for a year around 4 to 8 MB. Customer records around 20 to 50 MB with notes and photos.

Should we back up to personal cloud accounts?

No. Backups go to company-controlled cloud accounts only. Personal Dropbox accounts are where data leaks happen.

What if our current CRM does not support polygon export?

Switch CRMs. Seriously. The export issue is a symptom of a CRM that does not take data ownership seriously, and that failure will show up in other areas.