Optimizing Sales Force Mobility

8/7/2019 Optimizing Sales Force Mobility

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Optimizing sales orce mobility - White Paper


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Optimizing movements, beore, during and ater they are undertaken, remains without

a shadow o a doubt one o the main levers or improving mobile sales orce operations.

The stakes are high, knowing that mobile workers requently spend more than a third

o their time on the road. Beyond the simple matter o time saving and transport costs,

the stakes relate to other eects such as improving the companys carbon ootprint,

improving management eciency, reducing stress at work, reducing team turnover

This white paper provides a global perspective on this problem, a perspective that

goes ar beyond merely looking or the best route between two appointments or even

taking it to the next level o the best visit schedule.

In the process, it aims to identiy the chain o operations involved and establish the

broad principles o the solutions that make it possible to optimize mobile sales orce

eciency by better managing the territorial aspects o movements and business

organizations.

Presentation


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Presentation....................................................................................... 3

Sales orce mobility........................................................................... 5

Beore, during and ater the business relationship...........................5

- One process, our phases ..................................................................5

- The role o geography........................................................................6

Practice and organization o mobile sales ........................................7

- Customer infuence ...........................................................................7

- The three main types o organization...................................................9

Optimizing mobility ......................................................................... 10

The potential benets o geo-optimization.....................................10

- Improve customer satisaction..........................................................10

- Increase the companys business eciency .......................................10

- Ensure the companys economic, environmental and

social objectives .............................................................................11

The two principles o geo-optimization..........................................11

- Incorporating the geographical dimension into the veryheart o the system ..........................................................................11

- Going beyond geolocalization ..........................................................12

Geo-optimization o mobility solutions............................................13

Feedback ......................................................................................... 14

Success actors in an optimization project....................................14

Sectorization: the key to an ecient business organization..........14

Agenda

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Sales force mobility

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- Operations management is the phase o actually making the calls. It calls or the

previously established schedule to be revisited in real time. It is the responsibilityo the sales sta themselves.

- Call monitoring and analysis is essentially down to the sales managers, the aim

being to highlight areas or improving the process and its tools.

The role o geography

Geography is a very important dimension in the eciency o the mobile sales orce call

process. Its role can be highlighted in each phase o the process:

Sectorization

Balanced territories in terms o the

number o customers, prospects or

call locations and realistic in terms o

the travel capacity combine to ensureoperational eciency.

Geo-optimization o itineraries

Based on an organization which

makes it possible, generating call

schedules that minimize travel and

maximize productive time cultivating

the customer relationship delivers an

unquestionable competitive advantage.

Mobile assistance

On the ground, access to inormation

on calls and itineraries and real time

movement routing using geolocalization

tools provide organizational andplanning activities with a seamless

logic.

Geo-reporting

Analyzing operations as they unold

and their compliance with the work

as it was planned makes it possible

to identiy problem territories and

movements and dene process

improvements, which may extend to

changing the organization itsel.

Mobile worker

organization

Call

Planning

Operations

management

Monitoring and

analysis


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Practice and organization o mobile sales

Reality, both as it is experienced by organizations and in the running o mobile sales

orces, diers markedly rom one company to another and rom one market to another.

It is strongly infuenced by the market itsel, namely how the customers operate and

the way in which they interact with the sales personnel, but also by the companys

history and type o management.

Customer infuence

The types o practices customers generate

are dened by two variables: their ability

(or desire) to plan calls in advance and their

ability (or desire) to adhere to scheduled

appointments.

These variables generate our types o

practices associated with the customers

proles:

RigidFlexible

MethodicalAnarchic

Call planning

Schedule

adherence

strong

strong

weak

weak


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When it comes down to detail, these proles requently correspond to identiable

types o company and organization:- Anarchic: the call is not really planned. The customer is generally present and

available and has no predetermined agenda to which he adheres, apart rom a

number o red lines (opening hours, delivery hours, peaks in activity). This is,

or example, requently the case or certain small businesses.

- Flexible: calls have to be planned but they are however airly requently

modied. They can thereore cause signicant waiting time or time overruns.

The salesperson must be able to adapt. This is the case, or example, o small

and medium enterprises that avour operational reactivity. This practice is also

requently as a result o a company culture.

- Methodical: the time and date is o minor importance just as long as it is

scheduled and adhered. In this case, planning is possible, along with any

adjustments provided they are thought o suciently in advance. The level o

planning is low inasmuch as there is no recurrence. Examples are to be ound in

large companies and administrative organizations.

- Rigid: here, sticking to a schedule requently imposed by the customer is an

important condition o his satisaction. This case is to be ound in companies

with a strong process culture. It also occurs when the call is a highly committing

act or the customer. This is especially the case with appointments associated

with an end to end business transaction: taking an order and merchandising in

the retailing sector, signing a contract or installing a service in the home.

Sales force mobility


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The three main types o organization

The way in which mobile sales orces are organized can dier greatly rom one

company to another. This dierence is driven by two actors: the reedom o action

granted to the sales people and, correspondingly, the level o support provided by

associated tools or services (telesales or customer relationship, or example).

Ultimately, three types o organization can be distinguished depending on the share o

the overall process or which the sales orces are responsible:

The less the responsibility, the greater the number o assistance and management

tools required, in particular with a view to acilitating communication to do with call

scheduling. In the most restrictive case (the operators), the organization is thereore

handed over to the operations managers and support services (planners and call

centre, or example).

Depending on the situation, the sales persons mobility and thus his ability to cover

the territory to best eect - will thereore be his responsibility or entrusted to operators

upstream or down. By the same token, depending on the type o customer he is up

against, his ability to organize himsel to best eect is greater or lesser. In all such

cases geographical optimization tools that enable journeys optimized, calls ina logical sequence, optimizing itineraries, adapting the organization and their

perormance monitored are proving to be powerul drivers o economic efciency.

independents

look after the market approach in its entirety

locals

look after a territory

operators

look after the contact

Mobile worker

organization

Call

Planning

Operations

management

Monitoring and

analysis


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The potential beneits o geo-optimization

Geo-optimization o the way mobile sales orces are organized and operate consists

in using techniques and tools that make it possible to optimize the geographical

dimension evident in each phase o the commercial process. Specically, the benets

accruing to companies that have developed this type o approach all into three

categories.

Improve customer satisaction

This issue is now the main priority o companies concerned with enhancing their value

through greater leveraging o their customer portolio.

The resulting options are as ollows:

complete the task on time, rst time, every time ;

ensure the best t between the prole o the parties and the customers or

prospects needs ;

reduce and adhere to appointment time windows ;

cut times, delays and missed service levels ;

cut the time between the appointment request and the appointment itsel.

Increase the companys business eciency

This internal objective is directly within the mobile sales process area o responsibility.

It corresponds to the ollowing options:

increase the number o appointments per mobile worker within a given time slot ;

reduce unproductive time and time

spent in vehicles ;

increase turnover by sales person ;

invoice customers earlier by aster call

planning ;

improve the working conditions or the

parties involved.

Optimizing mobility


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Ensure the companys economic, environmental and social objectivesFinally, and in a broader context, geo-optimization makes it possible to address a

whole array o company objectives, such as:

reducing mileage and time spent in vehicles (a gain o at least 30% or companies

that have adopted this approach) or a given number o appointments ;

reducing penalties resulting rom ailure to meet service levels ;

reducing the time spent scheduling and conrming appointments ;

the best sizing o the mobile workorce by means o variable hours contracts and

subcontractors ;

simulating planning in order to be able to optimize headcount, making it possible

to deliver a given number o appointments ;

reducing CO emissions ;

reducing stress and the accidents that go with it ;

reducing turn-over.

The two principles o geo-optimization

Incorporating the geographical dimension into the very heart o the

system

To derive the greatest possible benet rom the capacity or geographical optimization,

work on this dimension must not be in isolation but at the very heart o the decision-

making and operational business system.

Very simply: each customer and prospect must be assigned a geographical territory

that allows analysis o market coverage, creation o an optimal sectorization concept

and the execution o perectly designed call schedules. This geographical dimension

can then be turned to advantage throughout the process and by all those involved in

the debate. The telesales operator who will be able to locate appointments near to one

another, the managers who are going to tailor territories to ensure realism and balance

in the number o customers and prospects, the sales people who are going to be able

to reschedule their itineraries in real time.


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Going beyond geolocalization

The key principle o geo-optimization is to integrate the geographical dimension into

the process and put it at the very heart o the system.

Many companies have improved their mobility by providing their sales orces with

tools enabling them to optimize sometimes in real time their movements or

even itineraries. In these instances, however, the geographical dimension is edited

downstream and without reerence to the dimensions o time (the appointment diary)

and customers (the customers attributes and value, explaining in particular the priority

he has been given in the diary).

Conversely, geo-optimization aims to consider the three key dimensions o the sales

process simultaneously: time, customers, geography.

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From geolocalization to geo-optimization

Optimizing mobility

The journeys geographical dimen-

sion is oten not really optimized until

ater the journey (the sales and ope-

rations directors oer GPS devices

to their mobile orces).

Ideally, the geographical dimension

is optimized concurrently with the

journey decision. The improvement

is greatly enhanced, inasmuch as

the appointments are arranged rom

the outset in the order that acilitates

geographical proximity.

Contact Contact

Mobility

MobilityDiary

Diary

Inormation

Inormation

customer /prospect

customer /prospect


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Geo-optimization o mobility solutions

Geomarketing solutions allow the potential o an area to be

studied, current perormance to be measured and to look at the

required sectorization and organization to address the market in

the best possible way.

Combining the concepts o balanced potential, drive time between

customers and prospects, history or even contiguous territories,

automatic sectorization tools acilitate the generation o an ideal

sales map.

Combining diary, customer

value and geography, geo-

scheduling systems make it

possible to create and modiy

itineraries while incorporating

geographical considerationsar upstream, rom the moment

the appointments are made

Whether they eature geolocalization components or not, mobile

assistance systems provide all the necessary inormation or

managing the geographical dimension in operation: directing

movements, dynamic rerouting, searching or nearby customers/

prospects

Reerred to as geographical Business Intelligence, reporting

systems eaturing a geographical unction provide an ideal view

o the geographical eectiveness o the way in which its activity is

organized.

Mobileworker

organization

Call

Planning

Operations

management

Monitoringand

analysis


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Success actors in an optimization project

Optimizing mobile activities requires true integration o the geographical dimension into

processes and business systems.

Users and experts present the major phases in acilitating this integration.

Their experience: BHV, Atos Origin, JPGo and GeoConcept.

Watch the video: http://www.geoconcept.com/optimization-success.html

Sectorization : the key to an eicient business

organization

Out o balance, unrealisticsales territories are usually unsuited to eective coverage

o the market. Decision makers and experts present and discuss the critical actors in

building and maintaining an ecient organization.

Their experience: BERNER, IMS Health and GeoConcept.

Watch the video (only available in rench): http://www.geoconcept.com/

Sectorisation-commerciale.html

Each proession has its own problems and solutions.

See the eedback rom my sector: http://v2.geoconcept.com/-Feedback-.html

Feedback


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Geoptimization & Geomarketing

Knowing and analyzing its territory means taking the best advantage o it. Installation,

targeting, sales development, delivery, customer loyalty Geomarketing puts the

geographic intelligence at the heart o the processes and inormation systems.

GeoConcept designs a complete range o expert solutions, rich o unctionalities and webapplications making easier exchanges between the parties involved within the enterprise.

Geoptimization & Mobility

The eciency o the mobile orces is mainly based on the way they manage their space:

balanced and realistic sectoring, eective rounds, and optimized allocation o

resources to sites. GeoConcept develops solutions which generate an important source o

value, productivity and savings, and adapted to meet the dierent businesses and problems

related to mobility.

For 20 years, GeoConcept has been creating and deploying solutions or optimizing the

geographical dimension o companies and organizations.

GeoConcept SAs solutions have attracted more than 10,000 customers spanning very

dierent sectors: Point P, Lyreco, Dell China, Systme U, Socit Gnrale, IMS Health,

Berner, Osaka City Hall, Geneva Industrial Services, Paris Fire and Rescue Department,

Darty, Pizza Hut, Citron, BMW, LOral, Orange

Contact us or a presentation on implementing real lie mobile sales orce solutions:

www.geoconcept.comCration:CitronAile

Documents

Optimizing Sales Force Mobility