From food and beverage manufacturers to home appliances and toys, it’s not uncommon for consumer product manufacturers to spend months and millions of dollars planning and creating retail marketing and trade promotion campaigns. However, the success of the best go-to-market plan depends on effective implementation at the retail or store level, as well as the ability to meet the demands of different geographic or demographic markets and specific store environments.
As a result, consumer product companies are turning to mobile sales force automation solutions to streamline communications throughout the supply chain, ultimately increasing sales for consumer product companies, merchandisers, and retailers. retailers alike.
New technology captures the moment
Robust mobile sales force automation software can go a long way in supporting field reps, sales managers, and corporate executives. These solutions add value by providing real-time information such as store profiles, product availability, competitive data, merchandising goals, schedules, and tasks. And they do it all on a handheld PDA or tablet. This creates excitement in the field because reported store conditions and merchandising results provide a snapshot of what is happening right now at the retail level. Additionally, this eliminates the need to wait for weekly or monthly sales reports and analysis, which can be cumbersome for the field force or come too late for management to make adjustments. By using mobile technology solutions, the entire supply chain knows what’s happening in real time, streamlining communications and helping improve results.
Developed specifically to link the field sales force with the corporate office, mobile systems can be run independently as a complete field operations system for a sales or marketing organization. For larger corporations, mobile systems can be modularly integrated with existing IT systems such as Siebel, Oracle, SAP, or proprietary in-house applications. The result is a complete end-to-end technology solution for the consumer products company’s supply chain, including mobile field organizations and their management.
The benefits are many
Mobile, portable, intelligent and easy-to-use sales force automation solutions close the loop for planning, execution and real results. Field staff can operate more efficiently and effectively, and management has a complete, day-to-day picture of field activity and retail conditions. They can streamline routine activities like retail call scheduling and order processing to improve productivity. And all parties involved—manufacturers and distributors alike—can cost-effectively capture information to help make critical business decisions regarding distribution, pricing, product placement, fulfillment, and out-of-stocks. More advanced systems can integrate retail POS data and modeling applications that indicate at the store and SKU level where stock-outs are occurring or about to occur, enabling proactive field organization deployment. In general, the entire supply chain has the advantage of accessing business-critical information and insights in real time, such as:
- Where can my field organization be implemented most effectively?
- Which promotions are working and which are not?
- How do actual store conditions compare to head office assumptions?
- Where is the competition winning and losing?
By implementing next-generation mobile sales force automation solutions, consumer products companies can ensure that field organizations, whether direct or outsourced, are focused on top priorities and that retail strategies are executed according to expectations. the planned.
Expand your capabilities
When choosing a mobile solution, there are certain capabilities you should look for to ensure your sales teams can take advantage of all the enhanced field efficiency and communications benefits this technology has to offer. The most robust solution should allow reps to select menu options to check product availability and delivery dates, request more stock or promotional materials, or even plan an itinerary based on POS-based alerts for potential out-of-stocks or loss. of distribution. Field managers must be able to track the immediate impact of a promotion or new item introduction based on reported data to appropriately direct their efforts to meet program goals and objectives. In addition, the system must effectively monitor the representative activities and results of the field, thus measuring productivity.
As important as the above capabilities are, one of the keys to a successful system is its inherent ability to be easy to use. Ease of use will increase the likelihood that the technology will be adopted by the field and ensure reps use all of its features to be more effective in their jobs, increasing the number of calls made, orders received, and streamlining information to and from the field. . Keep in mind, however, that the notion of a “one size fits all” system is a myth. The best field sales system accommodates each customer’s unique business processes and different global approaches to merchandising ranging from merchandising to DSD/van sales, high-frequency store ordering and on-site sales, all in one. a single platform.
Information flow that plays a fundamental role
In today’s competitive retail world, each and every part of the supply chain plays an integral role in how products are brought to market and maximize sales. Mobile field operations solutions enable lightning-fast response, giving manufacturers, distributors, dealers and retailers a new measurable advantage. It’s a benefit that results in improved communications, more efficient workflow processes, and most importantly, profits flowing to your bottom line.