How Dara Optimized his Sales Outlet Coverage using Beat-O-Meter?

Beat plan and Sales Beat Optimization are two terms that lay down the foundation of a robust sales distribution system for any consumer goods company. It is a sales route plan designed for field sales agents for a particular day, for a selected beat. This plan suggests to the sales agent- which route to follow? How many outlets to cover within the Beat, during the day? On average, every Beat comprises the coverage of around 30-40 local outlets in a day. 

Earlier when Dara’s manager, like most in the industry, still using conventional tactics to identify and prioritize crucial outlets, manually created beat plan based on Order History and the personal relationship they have with the retailers. But this had various limitations, as even the manager assigning beats manually, can’t possibly take into account all the parameters and create an ideal Beat Plan that optimizes sales achieved per Beat while enhancing Outlet Reach and not missing any key accounts. 

One of the most effective Sales Beat Optimization feature he used – Identifying Active and Dormant stores/outlets, real-time.

1. Each outlet tagged under the sales front liner is color-coded based on the last three months order placement history. This helped Dara and his other colleagues in identifying Active and Dormant outlets and get a clear picture of the market.
2. The feature in the app-enabled Dara to identify the top outlets, which give most business and shouldn’t be ignored; the outlets which need quick visit and order fulfillment and outlets that are at the risk of turning dormant soon and should be prioritized. 
3. The analytics app helped the managers track the status of different outlets ( from active to inactive stage ) under every front liner and accordingly help the team to plan the market visits.
4. The app also helped the manager keep track of Month to Date (MTD) visits and Month to Date (Sales) – visits covered and sales made from the first day of the month till date (excluding the ongoing day), that empowers the sales team to plan for future demand. 

Using the Beat – O – Meter, Dara