6 Points to Consider Before Choosing a Field Sales App

Field Sales App refers to a tool or software which is used by the sales teams to automate their daily field sales processes. It generally involves tasks like order capturing, route optimization, stock monitoring, sales forecast, etc. It captures field sales or service information in real-time using mobile phones which can be tended to almost immediately at the receivers end. If the field sales apps deployment is successful, the FMCG/CPG company experiences growth not only in sales revenue terms but also in overall productivity of the sales team working on ground.

Let’s have a look at 6 key points growing FMCG/CPG brand can  consider before implementing a field sales app; 

1) Key Business Goals & Growth Levers  

The first step towards a successful Sales Force App implementation is defining a company’s business goals/growth levers and whether the application to be deployed enables the same. Some of the typical business goals that enterprise FMCG/CPG companies consider beforehand are listed as follows;

• Streamline the sales processes.
• Increasing sales per outlet/sales rep.
• Market Expansion
• Decreasing cost to service territories.
• Better utilization of available manpower and financial resources.
• Increase sales in general trade, modern trade, etc.

Goals are important when executing a sales automation app. Companies should not just focus on automation or digitization alone, instead, they should analyze whether the Field Sales App is helping them to realize  their business goals on ground.

2) Expected Impact on Field Sales Team’s Output

Ideally decision makers have a checklist of the functionalities (Intelligent Store Profiling, Order Capturing, VM Audit, Lead Management, Route Optimization etc.) they want in a field sales app respective to their business requirements in general trade, modern trade or B2B/Horeca. Higher importance should be given to an application which is able to create rigor among distributed teams around achieving company goals on ground, an Field Sales App with loads of features but no visible impact on sales is of no use to a retail driven company.

3) Returns on Investment Analysis

Rather than blindly automating, a business leader should analyze whether the Field Sales App is going to give a desired return on investment, along with the scope of  business impact to be created  by the deployment. 

Business impact refers to the impact on sales of your company, based on the business goals and  expected timelines set to achieve those goals. One must also consider how much of an increase/decrease in sales, expenditure or  efficiency will impact the overall business.

4) Configurability of the Tool

An important factor for a successful Field sales App deployment is the configurability of the tool. If it is easily configurable then the company will not have to burn its resources to deploy the Field Sales App or make adjustments according to the changing needs in future. Also, the turnaround time will be quick if the SFA tool is easily configurable.

Imagine an Field Sales tool that needs self coding will require more time to be onboarded than an easily configurable Zero Code platform like BeatRoute which can be deployed in weeks’ time. Hence, more time will be required to fetch the business returns, since 5-6 month will be spent on deployment and onboarding  the new Field Sales App.

5) Ease of Usability of the Field Sales App

Research shows that only about 50-60% of sales reps use all the features of their SFA app on a given day and often companies suffer from adoption issues when deploying a new Field sales App, which impacts the overall productivity of a FMCG/CPG company.

If the Field Sales Tool is robust and easy to use, more employees will use all the features resulting increased engagement thus overall productivity of the company.

6) Consider Google Play Store reviews

In today’s day and age, every 360-degree analysis of the digital product is available online. Make wise use of it! Check on how the sales executives of other FMCG companies have rated and reviewed it on the Google play store. This will give you a fair idea of the usability of the Field Sales App you want to implement in your business.

If deploying a Field Sales App is just for the sake of automation and not helping you achieve your business goals then the company is not running a successful project. There is no use of an Field Sales Tool which does not provide the right returns. 

In this competitive world, the difference between a successful FMCG company and the ordinary ones is very minute, and deciding the right Field Sales App plays an important role in the overall success of your FMCG company.

BeatRoute is industry’s first & only Goal Driven CRM SFA platform, i.e. the platform puts your business goals first, and then ensures that those goals are achieved on ground month after month. It perfectly aligns with the business goals of your company and enables your business growth. BeatRoute’s Field Sales App is easily configurable without any coding requirements and can fetch you the best returns on investment. It is user friendly and is available for Android and iOS mobile platforms.

Click here to book a free online demo & learn how how you can increase your sales through BeatRoute’s Easy to Use CRM SFA Platform.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to analyze the returns on a Field Sales App?

The business returns(revenue) should be compared with the investment that you make, investment may be the initial subscription charges of the Field Sales App or any other set up costs spent by the company. The investments also include the costs of other resources like the tech team and the cost of the team your company might deploy to run the project.

How to define goals in Field Sales App?

While defining the goals of the Field Sales App, longevity must be considered. Whatever goals decided, should serve the long term vision of the company and not a short team periodic aim. Typical long term goals include Increasing sales per outlet. Increasing sales per sales rep, Increasing sales per territory, Better utilization of available manpower and financial resources. 

How to judge the configurability of the Field Sales App?

Field Sales App must be zero-code software, it should assist in adding simple processes to the software without any complex coding or configuration required. While there should be ease in adding the new sales processes the Field Sales App must also be open to open-end configuration like the collaboration of people within the software. These simple processes should be easy to add to the SFA CRM software.

What Question should you ask before implementing the Field Sales App?

There are a lot of questions that you can ask before implementing a Field Sales Application but the three very significant questions you should ask are; 

1) Is it possible for the Field Sales Application to capture real-time information when the sales rep visits the customer? 

2) How long does it take the Field Sales Application to add a simple process to the software? 

3) How long does it take to achieve the collaboration of people within the software?