Beat Planning Software for Field Sales Teams
For retail brands: software that plans which outlets each sales rep visits each day, with a beat planning app that tracks store visit frequency.
Beat Planning
Scheduling AI Agent
Route Optimization
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What is beat planning software?
Beat planning software, also called beat plan software, decides which outlets each rep visits, how often and on which day. Then it tracks visit frequency and counts each store visit against the plan.
A beat is a fixed set of outlets that one sales rep visits on a set day. A beat plan, or sales beat plan, is the cycle that repeats those beats each week or month. A rep's fixed schedule of beats is called a permanent journey plan, or PJP.
Give reps only a visit count, and they hit it with easy stops while the big store waits. So BeatRoute sets each outlet's visits by what it is worth. A big outlet with an order due comes before a small one that ordered yesterday. The number to watch is the share of each rep's outlets that got their visits, not the visit total.
Three ways teams handle sales visit planning, and who each one suits:
Fixed beats in a spreadsheet
Same outlets, same day, every week
Cheap to start, but nothing checks it against real visits, and it goes stale as outlets open and close.
Fine for a small team with few outlets.
Route-only tools
The fastest order for today's stops
Route planning cuts travel once you know where to go, but it does not decide which outlets matter or how often.
Right when reps already have a fixed list.
Value-based beat planning
Which outlets, how often, on which day
Sets visit frequency by outlet value, builds the beats and adjusts them as outlets change. This is what BeatRoute does.
Built for retail brands with distributors and large field teams.
Build the beat plan
Sales visit planning starts with outlets: sort them, set how often each is visited and give every rep a plan they can finish.
Classify outlets by value
Sort outlets into A, B and C classes by sales and potential, so a big supermarket gets more visits than a corner shop.
Set visit frequency for each class
Visit top outlets weekly, the middle every two weeks and the rest monthly. The plan then knows the visits each rep owes.
Build beats that fit a working day
Group nearby outlets by distance and visit time, because a beat a rep cannot finish in a day is too long.
Assign beats as a permanent journey plan
Give each rep a fair weekly or monthly plan with room for urgent visits. An outlet with no beat shows up as a coverage gap.
Run the day in the beat plan app
Field sales reps open the app to a ready list and check in at the store.
Start the day with a ready visit list
Each rep sees today's beat in order, with the task for every outlet: an order, a payment, an issue or a new promotion.
Check in with a geo-tagged visit
A check-in records where and when the rep was. It can be set to count a visit only when it matches the outlet's saved location.
Move visits when priorities change
When an outlet's orders drop or a payment slips, the Scheduling AI Agent raises its priority on the day's list. With the agent, productive visits rose from 45% to 78%.
Cut travel with route planning
Route optimization orders each day's stops for the least driving, cutting daily travel time.
Check planned vs actual visits
See which outlets got their visits and fix the beat plan before month end.
Track planned vs actual visits
See visits made against the plan, and which ended in an order, by rep and by beat, so a missed outlet shows up the same week.
Keep each class on its visit frequency
Watch beat compliance (also called PJP adherence), top-outlet coverage and missed outlets. When a class falls behind, its outlets move up the schedule.
Redraw beats as the market changes
Rebalance beats as outlets open and reps move on. Work out how many reps a territory needs from outlet count, visit frequency and visit time.
How Valvoline Cummins sees every outlet visit
With BeatRoute, Valvoline Cummins reps went from reaching 25–30% of their assigned customers to more than 70%.
BeatRoute gave us exact visibility of which outlets are visited, when, and what happens during those visits. It aligned our ground team with senior management's philosophy, with exceptional help desk support and flexibility.
Beat planning resources
Customer stories and product notes on beat planning.
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The Scheduling AI Agent now plans the journey as well as the visits, grouping nearby customers into a practical day plan and recommending the most…
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Read moreSee how BeatRoute's beat planning software plans beats and visits for your sales teams.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which software tracks retail store visit frequency?
Beat planning software, or a sales force automation app with beat planning built in, tracks it. In BeatRoute you set a visit frequency for each outlet class. Every geo-tagged check-in counts against it. A report shows which outlets are behind plan by rep and by beat.
How many outlets should one beat have?
As many as one rep can visit properly in a day. Add up each visit's time and the travel between stops; a big store with an order and a shelf check takes longer. If the total runs past the rep's day, split the beat. Dense city areas fit more outlets than spread-out routes, where distance and traffic eat the day. Our beat planning guide walks through building a beat plan step by step.
How is beat planning different from route optimization?
Beat planning decides which outlets each rep covers, how often and on which day. Route optimization sets the sequence of one day's stops. Sales visit planning needs both: the beat plan sets the cycle, and route optimization cuts daily travel time.
What should I look for in beat planning software?
Look for outlet classes with a visit frequency for each, and beats built from location and visit time. You need geo-tagged check-ins and planned vs actual reports by rep, beat and class. Visits should fit each rep's hours and a shop's order window. It should also move an outlet up the day's list when its orders or payments slip, as the Scheduling AI Agent does. The beat plan app should work offline, because many outlets sit where the signal is weak.