Beat Planning Software for Sales Teams in Africa
Plan which duka, kiosk, spaza or wholesaler each rep visits each day, and make sure the visits and orders that matter happen.
Beat Planning
Scheduling AI Agent
Route Optimization
⊢Trusted by category leaders worldwide⊣
What is beat planning software?
Beat planning software, or beat plan software, decides which outlets each rep visits and when, then checks each visit against the plan.
A beat is the group of outlets one rep covers in a day. A beat plan repeats them weekly or monthly, and Kenyan and Nigerian teams often call it the PJP.
Ask reps only for a call count and the easy ones get done. The roadside kiosk is visited often while the busy wholesaler waits. So BeatRoute sets visits by outlet value: a big stockist with an order due comes before a small shop that bought yesterday.
Measure the share of each rep's outlets that were visited as planned. The total number of calls hides the gaps.
Three ways teams handle sales visit planning, and who each one fits:
Excel or paper beat list
Same shops, same day, every week
Costs nothing to start. It goes out of date when a shop closes or a new one opens, and no one checks it against real visits.
Good for a few reps and a short list.
Route-only apps
The quickest way through today's stops
Route planning saves fuel and time once the stops are chosen. They do not say which outlets deserve a call or how often.
Good when every rep already has a fixed list.
Value-based beat planning
Which outlets, how often, which day
Sets visit frequency from outlet value, builds beats and updates them as the market moves. This is what BeatRoute does.
Made for brands that sell through distributors and run many reps.
1. Build the beat plan
Start with the outlets. Grade them, decide how often each one is visited, and hand each rep a plan that fits the week.
Grade outlets A, B and C
Grade outlets by sales and potential. A supermarket or big wholesaler then earns more calls than a roadside kiosk.
Give each grade a call cycle
A outlets weekly, B every two weeks, C monthly. The plan then knows each rep's calls.
Size each beat to one working day
Group close outlets by visit time. In Lagos or Nairobi traffic, a beat that spills into tomorrow is too big.
Hand out beats as the rep's PJP
Each rep gets an even load, with space left for urgent calls. Any outlet not on a beat is flagged as a gap in coverage.
2. Run the day in the field
The rep opens the app to a list, checks in at the shop and does the one job that matters most there.
A list waiting at the start of the day
Today's beat is in order, with a job per outlet: an order, a payment or an issue. It syncs when signal returns.
Check in at the shop
The check-in records the place and the time. You can choose to count a visit only when the rep is at the outlet's saved location.
Reorder the day when an outlet slips
If a shop's orders fall or its payment is late, the Scheduling AI Agent lifts it up the list. With the agent, productive visits rose from 45% to 78%.
Cut road time with route planning
Route optimization finds the shortest way round, so fewer planned outlets are dropped.
3. Check planned vs actual visits
Look at who was visited and who was not, then correct the plan while there is time.
Planned visits against actual visits
Compare visits made with visits planned, and which ended in an order, by rep and beat. A missed outlet shows within the week.
Hold each grade to its call cycle
Follow PJP adherence, how many A outlets were reached and which outlets were missed. A grade that lags gets pushed up the schedule.
Redraw beats when the ground shifts
Shops open, shops close and reps change territory. Redo the beats, and estimate the reps a territory needs from its outlets, call cycles and time per call.
How AAVA Brands keeps its Nigerian outlets selling
AAVA Brands grew store-level sellouts 25-30% in Nigeria with BeatRoute.
For us, the platform's configurability and smooth ERP integration have been key to scaling fast. BeatRoute has truly proven itself as a future-proof, game-changing solution.
Relevant resources
Journey plans, beat plans and coverage, for teams working long distances.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Which software tracks how often reps visit each shop?
Beat planning software does, as does a sales force automation app with beat planning inside. In BeatRoute you set a call cycle for each outlet grade. Each geo-tagged check-in counts toward it. A report shows which outlets are behind plan, by rep and by beat.
How many outlets should one beat have?
Only as many as a rep can serve well in one day. Add the time spent in each outlet to the travel between them. A large store with an order and a shelf check takes longer. If the total is more than the rep's day, split the beat. Dense market areas in Nairobi or Lagos hold more outlets per beat than long rural routes, where distance eats the day. The beat planning guide shows how to build one step by step.
What is the difference between a beat plan and a route plan?
The beat plan chooses which outlets a rep covers, how often and on which day. Route optimization then finds the shortest way through one day's stops. You need both: the beat plan sets the cycle, and the route plan saves the travel time.
What should a beat plan app have?
Outlet grades with a call cycle for each, and beats built from location and time per visit. Look for geo-tagged check-ins and planned vs actual reports by rep, beat and grade. It should lift an outlet up the list when its orders or payments slip, as the Scheduling AI Agent does. It must also run where the signal is weak, since many outlets sit there.
Can visits fit a rep's hours or a shop's trading time?
Yes. Set each rep's working hours for each day and BeatRoute fits the visits into that time. You can also fix a visit to a day and hour, for example market day, or before a shop closes at noon.