At 1Channel, we recognize every activity of a business is important, and route planning is one of them. This is why we are going to explain to you how route planning works, and why you should have this feature in your sales force team.
Whether you have a business like our clients ACC Cement, Parijat, Pigeon, JSW Steel, and so on, or you belong to any other business that requires field force engagement to accelerate sales, the route management and planning system is the most important feature for you.
Needs of Route Planning Software & System
Every option of any software has a story of development asper the needs of market demand and business challenges.
So, first you should understand why this feature of salesforce automation is so crucial for your business, and after the integration of this software, what challenges you are going to resolve.
Software: Best Sales Force Automation Software
Lack of Customer Visiting Routine
Customer is like a plant, and visiting them is like watering them. Regular visits keep them active and engaged, which in return gives you the fruit of sales and keeps your business revenue flowing like oxygen.
The visiting part is the most important. It is necessary to visit your customer locations so that you can maintain business relationships with them.
The lack of customer visits makes customers lose interest, and the business may not get sufficient orders from them. So, it creates a huge demand for businesses to maintain this visiting process, and they need this software.
With route planning software, your field force can generate a plan according to the customer location and cover more customers in a single day.
Lack of Location Selection Ability
Location selection as per the needs of customers is necessary. If you give more time to a location from where you may not get good orders, it will definitely hurt your business in the long run.
On the other hand, if you cover more locations from where there are high chances of getting more and more orders, then you can easily achieve your goals.
To solve this, the software comes with a feature where managers can assign their field force to visit location-specific outlets, ensuring efforts are focused on the right areas and more orders are collected.
Lack of Employees Communication
It is seen that many field force employees sometimes clash at the outlets they are visiting. For example, Person A visits an outlet in the morning, and due to the lack of communication, another field force member namedPerson B also visits the same outlet in the evening.
This lack of communication leads to the need for route planning software. So, the 1Channel development team added a feature to tackle this issue and provide an interface where everyone can check and see what locations are already visited and how many remain to visit.
Lack of Reporting from Field Force
This is also a basic thing which is often missed in daily reporting. A manager or company owner can never fully understand the reports through which they can evaluate which employee is valuable and who is not working at the highest potential.
So, to resolve these reporting issues, route planning software contains a feature where every field force member has to click a live picture in the assigned outlet and update remarks related to the order, demand, and future requirements of the customers.
Software: Customer Relationship Management Software
Route Planning Software Working Procedure
Here’s how route planning software actually works in a business:
- In the app, every user will be registered (every field force manager, employee, and the business management team).
- Then, the user can share the plan for a month, week, or a day (as per business nature). This plan will be approved by their manager, and then they can start customer visiting.
- On every visit, the user must share the report such as customer demand, order value, or future possible demands. This process also includes proof, as users have to upload an image or some document to support their reports.
- After all this, you (manager) can check their reports with the AI-powered dashboards and leaderboards.
This is how this software works and helps you to operate your business with 100% efficiency.
We have also received feedback from our clients for our Sales Force Automation with stats like 22% increase in average order value.
Read Also: How Attendance & Tracking Tool Improves Your Sales?
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. Why is route planning important for sales teams?
Route planning is important because it ensures field force employees can cover maximum customer visits in a day, avoid duplication of visits, and improve order collection efficiency.
Q2. How does route planning software help in customer visits?
It creates a structured plan based on customer locations, ensuring timely visits, stronger relationships, and more consistent orders.
Q3. Can managers control which locations employees visit?
Yes, managers can assign location-specific outlets to their field force, focusing efforts on high-potential areas for better sales results.
Read Also: How Geo Location Fencing Increases Employee Productivity?
Q4. How does the software solve employee communication gaps?
It provides a shared interface where employees can see visited and pending locations, preventing duplication and clashes.
Q5. What kind of reporting is available in route planning software?
Employees upload live pictures, remarks, and order details from outlets, which managers can view in AI-powered dashboards and leaderboards.
Q6. What are the results businesses see after using it?
Our clients have reported measurable improvements, such as a22% increase in average order value after adopting Sales Force Automation with route planning.
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