SALES FORCE MANAGEMENT- HOW TO OPTIMIZE THE WORKING TIMES OF A SALES REPRESENTATIVE?

Optimization of sales representative’s working time almost always translates into better sales results of the company, hence it is worth knowing how to strive for the said optimization. Contrary to appearances, it is not so difficult because today’s knowledge and technology give tools whose implementation will bring about more effective time management. How can the organization of working time be simple and give the best results?

Being a sales representative is not an easy job. Most people associate it with someone whose task is to acquire new customers, and thus sell goods and services. In practice, there are many other tasks, which include reaching a given recipient, and maintaining good relations later. This position is quite stressful due to many possible problems. It is not without reason that it is believed that a salesperson should have nerves of steel as thanks to this they can cope faster in difficult situations, which, in turn, translates into the said organization of time. There are some features that a good sales representative should have. Features which are difficult to learn, so some people are simply more suitable for this profession than others.

Let’s assume, however, that a given sales representative has good coping skills. In this case, another important feature is the ability to plan your work day. An inefficient salesperson can, for example, go from one customer to another tens of kilometres away, bypassing those who were on the way. This increases not only the working time, but also the costs associated with the utilization of the car.

SUPERVISION OF WORK AS THE KEY TO TIMING OPTIMIZATION

If there are many sales representatives working for the company, it is good to choose honestly the people who will supervise their work. Sales team management requires having accurate knowledge about customers, as it happens that a person can be visited only on Wednesdays between 13:00 and 16:00, and so on. The effects of the work of sales representatives should be included in the detailed reports on the basis of which analyses are carried out. A sales representative with a pre-planned day and a delivered work plan can focus only on how to approach the customer efficiently, which not only saves time, but can bring about better earnings for both the employee and the company. Thanks to this, the salesperson will actively work for 8 hours without wasting time on planning routes on their own.

There are numerous techniques that make time management more effective. One of them is planning routes in such a way that they concern customers as close as possible to the place of residence of the sales representative, which will result in shorter travel times. The other is sending employees to specialized training, however, we live in a highly computerized society and this profession can also draw on modern tools, such as CRM systems for sales people.

BET ON ROUTE.PLUS

In this case, CRM is a program for sales representatives that deals with the optimization of working time by itself. Such management system can be expanded with a very efficient tool – route.plus, which is prepared for a specific company and works based on its own calculations and data entered by the system administrator. This data relates primarily to customer addresses that will be mapped. Thanks to this, the route of the sales representative will be optimized, and the time spent in the car will be kept to a minimum.

Route.plus can be particularly helpful for companies that employ a big sales force. Managing sales representatives using this tool is particularly simple due to its ability to generate accurate reports. It turns out that thanks to this tool you can give up many tasks that the supervisor has previously performed. Route.plus also offers the possibility of including such issues as the preferred visit dates, etc. in route planning. On the map the program creates a territory intended for a specific sales person in such a way that they have as close as possible to a specific area of residence.

The organization of working time applies to all sales representatives at once. This means that in the event of a possible bump or other incident preventing one employee from working, the program will entrust the area of its activities to other sales representatives, thanks to which the company will save time related to the fact that a given person would later have to make up for visits to customers.

This program for sales representatives means that the sales representative will reach a greater number of customers in a shorter time, they will work in greater comfort, and the company they work with will gain greater insight and control over the employee’s activities. In addition, both sides will be able to enjoy higher incomes.