Technology is essentially changing the way we do our business and why shouldn't it? With the growth of any business that has a field force, it becomes a pressing need to have a closer eye on each activity; robust GPS tracking could be a possibility here. Handling a field force without technology is not only beyond the bounds of possibilities but unintelligent as well. No matter how big or small your team is, managing and monitoring it, effectively, is difficult. And helping them do their job better is undoubtedly a big challenge. One of the key things about managing Continue Reading →
Winning customers at the Point Of Sale – Product Promoter Enablement
Winning customers at the Point Of Sale - Product Promoter Enablement Are you concerned about your product getting lost amongst similar products and not getting the set of eyes that it actually deserves? It is quintessential in today’s world to get the attention of potential customers. Winning it at the point of sale is one thing that can never go wrong. Deploying Product Promoter at the POS can not only help increase your sales but it also helps you avoid stock-outs and ensure compliance with visual merchandising campaigns and get competitor insights. For you as a Sales Manager, Continue Reading →
Order Maximization – A game changer
Maximising orders by retailers is critical to any sales driven business, especially for FMCG and Consumer Durable product companies. This lever worked on effectively with the sales team, can have a major impact on the top line of the FMCG and Consumer Durable product companies. However, this isn’t a cakewalk - as anyone who’s been in sales knows - and the challenge only multiplies when trying to drive this across an entire field sales team. Just a few challenges and pitfalls can drastically hamper order maximisation efforts and sales. A key aspect that can hinder a sales rep is visibility Continue Reading →
Treading through BFSI the smart way!
The retail banking and consumer financial services (BFSI) involve a lot of hard work on part of the field reps and agents - whether it be attending to customer calls, door to door selling, lead funnel tracking and what not. The ability to nail execution on this aspect is what also becomes an immense differentiator amongst firms - and if you want to win - you have absolutely got to get this right. In BFSI, field sales and marketing comes with its own set of predicaments, not limited to … Capturing relevant leads through multiple sources. Ensure scientific allocation of Continue Reading →
Visual Merchandising – The ‘BeatRoute’ Retail Route
When it comes to sales - whether for FMCG or Consumer Durables or other consumer products companies, meticulous strategy and planning go into remaining on top of the game. Amongst the practices commonplace, yet differentiated and effective, in the retail industry, visual merchandising is right there at the top of the list. Well executed floor plans, attractive, three-dimensional displays, special packaging and posters, and right product placement - all to pique customer interest and maximize their sales. Companies are vying against one another to grab the same set of eyeballs to drive their sales at retailers up and get the Continue Reading →
Retail Store Engagement : Secret Weapon for Brands to Influence Sales
Retail - store engagement with the best retailer app. There are 12 million kirana stores in India translating into 10 stores per 1000 Indians. These stores often act as key influencers in consumer’s purchase decision and are rich source of market intelligence. Engaging with this large and diverse kirana store network arguably forms most important element of brand’s strategy. Brands have traditionally leveraged (and built) distribution network of distributors, wholesalers, semi-wholesalers, super stockist, stockist, and suppliers to get their products placed at kirana stores. Seamless communication channel with kirana stores cutting across a large channel of distribution partners remains a Continue Reading →
Deep Assets of Consumer Products Industry – Product Promoters
Deep Assets of Consumer Durables Products Industry - Product Promoters Deep assets of Consumer Durables; because they are out there in the field where action is. Because they influence decisions in a very localized and intimate environment of point of sales. And lastly because we believe they are unsung Hero in the battlefield. Let’s look at top 4 reasons why we thought it was so important for BeatRoute to devote a fair mindshare to this role for all our customers across industry in consumer electronics, consumer durables, FMCG in general and cosmetics and apparel and footwear industry in particular – Advocacy Continue Reading →
5 Technology Tests for your Sales Force Mobile App
5 Technology Tests for your SalesForce Mobile App Offline and Low Network (Salesforce) It’s not the lack of network that is biggest enemy. Most app vendors should at least support offline capability. It’s the poor network that is the biggest enemy. It’s easy to sense when there is no network, but a badly designed app keeps fighting (shall I say buffering !) with low network. >> Easy way to test this is switch of data connection. Use wi-fi to connect to another phone’s data connection through hot spot. Now switch off data on the other phone. Try your app. Data Continue Reading →
Government Subsidies and FMCG Secondary Schemes have Same Problems
Truth is only part of the secondary schemes actually translate into your product reaching the retail shelf. That’s no different from Government subsidies. They both actually suffer from same issues - • End beneficiaries are unknown in number. For even most organized companies, there is no guarantee on the exact number of stores and duplicate/fake ones. • For lack of qualitative profile of the end beneficiaries, providers do not know which subsidy will benefit which category of target. • Waste of considerable money. Only a portion of the benefit actually flows to the intended target Story is same in any Continue Reading →
10 times more effective distributor visits…
They are running driverless cars now by relying on software intelligence. My focus in this blog is a much lesser possibility, however highlights significantly impactful of use technology to make distributor field visits more meaningful in FMCG and Consumer durables industry. Consider this when your goal is get maximum bang from the buck you spend on travelling around the county as a sales manager – Integrated Primary and Secondary Performance While primary sales, outstanding credit resides in your ERP system, secondary sales and fulfilment data either resides in papers or resides in another system these days. It’s important to get Continue Reading →