Category: General

Upcoming Trends in Field Force Automation to look forward in 2021 – 2026
Field force automation is a resource still not fully understood by most companies. Fairly explained, it is a new enterprise entity capable of aiding field service businesses in enhancing their efficiency and productivity, capturing more data than in the past. Understanding the basics of FFA can help businesses escalate their customer experiences, generate more revenue, and empower their field workforce.

FFA is a revolution to the working framework of the 21st century, introducing the use of Field force tracking software to bring solutions to the workforce and the managerial positions, turning their field service operations into an automated and mechanized machine.

The exponential increase in penetration of the Internet and digital tools, the urgency in automating repetitive tasks, the growing adoption of advanced technologies like Artificial intelligence or cloud computing are the major drivers of the growth of the global Field force automation industry.

The soaring need for sales force automation considerably influences market expansion, assisting sales representatives in many tasks via software like Sales force tracker. Adoption of such solutions brings an enhanced customer experience, streamlined sales, and improved workforce efficiency.

The Global Field force automation forecast of the growth trends from 2021 to 2026 offers insightful data for business strategists, providing an overview of the growth factors, futuristic cost expectations, revenue, supply data, and demand dynamics, besides elaborately describing the value chain and distributor analysis.

Market statistics:

Amidst the global pandemic crisis, the global market of FFA may reach USD 1251.33 million in 2020, which can rise to an estimated USD 1477.79 million in the year 2021. The market expects to reach USD 3453.51 million by 2026, growing at 18.43% CAGR.

The global report provides the market sizing and the forecast of the major currencies- USD, AUD, EUR, JPY, and GBP. The forecast allows the business leaders to make better decisions, particularly when the currency exchange data is available at their fingertips.

The report considers 2018 and 2019 as historical years, 2020, the base year with 2021 as the estimated year, further considering 2022 to 2026 as the forecast period.

The Field force automation US market is estimated to reach USD 371.8 million in 2020. China is projected to reach s size of USD 985 million by 2027, with a CAGR of 22.1% along the period 2020 – 27.

Notable markets also include Japan and Canada, forecasted to grow at a CAGR of 12.3% and 15.2%, respectively, with Germany estimated to grow at 13.6% CAGR.

Impact of the pandemic on the economy and how FFA helps work around it:

The COVID-19 pandemic has been one of the biggest crises to the human race, impacting people of all races, effectively visible in the global economies’ negative GDP growth and a rise of unemployment in developing countries.

There are only a few exceptions among global industries that didn’t face the Covid adversities, and the struggle may continue for some time. However, the 2021 overviews of economic dynamics have been consistently positive, with expectations of improvements in the forthcoming months.

Technology can play a vital role in curbing pandemic distress to a large extent. Companies deploy large and innovative Field force tracking solutions to manage the sales operations. The field force management effectively provides real-time solutions to the most critical challenges of businesses amidst the pandemic.
- We are ensuring the wellbeing of the workforce by the use of advanced sales force automation solutions.
- We create a well-established connection with the field team via the Sales force tracker.
- The field force automation solutions are effective in providing automation during order placement or fulfillment without manual attention.
- The sales force automation solutions provide integration of cutting-edge data analytics platforms, measuring the COVID impact.
Market Segments:

The global forecast of the Field force automation solution market categorizes the growth trends and revenue based on the following submarkets-
- The global market across large, medium and small enterprises can overlap organizational size.
- Based on deployment, the market use On-premises and On-cloud.
- On a vertical basis, the market runs across Real Estate, Energy Sectors, Healthcare, IT, Manufacturing, and Transportation.
- Based on geography, the global market across the nations of America (Canada, Brazil, Mexico, US, and Argentina), Europe (UK, Italy, Germany, and France), Asia-Pacific (India, Australia, China, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, and Taiwan), Middle East (Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and UAE) & Africa.
Growth Trends:
- Inventory Management – Deployment of inventory management solutions can aid service to offer cost-effectiveness to customers, simplify management services for technicians in several V2B operations, and ease operations in the healthcare sector. The introduction of AI in cloud-based solutions may aid small and large firms in managing their field workforce.
- Significant Growth Rate – The Asia-Pacific region can rise due to many SMEs adopting field service management solutions. The global expansion is s major driver for adopting Field force automation solutions, inducing the growth of such solutions’ requirements.
- Competitive Landscape – The market landscape of sales force management is quite fragmented, with existing prepackaged solutions but no sole vendor dominating the market. There exist several mergers and collaborations in the market.
Conclusion:

The Field service management firms are witnessing immense pressure to effectively lead teams, ensure their safety, and comply with the regulations of the pandemic. Such a situation cannot get burdened with miscommunication or distrust.

It is a high time of distress and crisis, exacerbating fear and distrust, a critical period that calls for emphasizing confidence development within organizations. In the current wake of the Covid pandemic, the estimated growth of Field force automation may further rise, with the pandemic restricting the effective management of remote fieldwork.

The pandemic has led to limitations in field services, a substantial boost to the adoption of FSM solutions. Such deployment offers better service experiences, including automation in customer communications and feedback capabilities to the current workflow that can elevate your business. Do check out our blogs for more valuable insights.
November 1, 2021
How does field force automation help with order management?
Generally speaking, a sales order is created by a seller in response to a purchase request from the buyer that contains information about a product, as well as price, quantity, and buyer information such as shipping and billing addresses, payment methods, and other T&C. Inventory and order management systems rely heavily on sales orders. Doing this manually has its disadvantages but using field force automation can bring in huge benefits!

Read on to know more

The order management cycle

The order management cycle is a step-by-step procedure that begins when a consumer orders a product and ends with delivery and, in certain cases, returns. To offer a consistent consumer experience, numerous moving elements, typically controlled by various companies, must work together. The cycle is as follows:

1. Order Receipt – When an order is placed, the information is sent to the fulfilment centre, where the order is processed.

2. Order Processing – Once the order is received, it is picked, sorted, and packaged.

3. Order Allocation – After the order is processed, it is allocated to the shipping company by whom it is shipped to the end customer.

4. Delivery- The products are then delivered to the final consumer. You may feel confident that the order arrived at its designated location if order management was on point the entire time. One of the most crucial characteristics of a successful logistics company is the ability to assure on-time delivery regardless of the circumstances. The use of field sales mobile app software would help to simplify the process.

Inventory management

For small units, manual inventory tracking may be sufficient. However, because of the numerous stages required between acquiring raw materials and delivering completed items in a fast-paced business, this becomes a laborious task. Furthermore, firms that rely on manual procedures to manage, track, and stock items are more likely to have stock-outs or overstocks, as manually updating data across all departments might be hampered by human inefficiencies such as delayed updating, late follow-ups, and so on. Inventory management is limited to basic reordering and stock monitoring when manual databases and formulae are used.

Upgrading to inventory management systems that include everything from end-to-end manufacturing to lead time and demand forecasts to metrics and accounting is a great option.

Furthermore, field service management software keeps all client information in one location, as opposed to manual entries that may be scattered across several files.

How Field Force Automation helps

Automation of field force management involves the use of technology and processes to expedite the processing of orders by removing the need for manual labour. Order processing automation may assist decrease human error, increasing operational efficiency, and speeding up the fulfilment and shipping process. Some of the benefits include:
- Better customer service
- Do away with manual entry
- Eliminate order processing mistakes
- Lessen Accounting expenses
- Increase control over data
- Track information in real-time
- Order processing from any location
- Keep your staff happy!
Now that you are fairly aware of field service software, you sure would be keen on implementing this for your business. Schedule a call with us today and see how your business improves manifold!
October 26, 2021
Advantages of Deploying Cloud-based Field service software

Field service management, at its most basic level, is a system that maintains track of all aspects of a company’s field activities. Field service management may contain additional key components, depending on the industry. The objective of field service management is to efficiently integrate field activities with invoicing, accounting, and other systems in the office.

Customers are coming to anticipate this field service management software as a standard component of their service as it becomes more widely available. According to studies, 89% of clients want contemporary technology, such as that used in on-demand ride-sharing services, applied to technician scheduling, and almost as many are ready to pay a premium for it.

What is cloud based field service software?

Field force automation is the online management of processes or corporate assets outside of the office. Remote customer service, inspections, maintenance, logistics, and quality assurance are some examples of field service types.

Cloud based field service software enables field workers to carry out their responsibilities more quickly. Employees may check in with the office remotely, access customer data, and more thanks to the field service management software‘s mobility. The software is used by a variety of sectors to track and manage many aspects of their processes.

A good field force automation software takes advantage of technology advancements in mobile connectivity and automation to solve problems in the field.

Advantages of deploying one

The most noteworthy benefit of using a sales employee tracking app is greater efficiency. For example, when your sales agent in the field is sent out to do a specific task, recording location, client details, and other related data by hand can take up a startlingly large amount of time. If that data is recorded manually, you can find yourself having to deal with issues of data loss caused by ink smears/smudges, water spots, or even having to handle the loss of the hardcopies. This can prevent data from being used or analyzed in any way. Field service companies can take advantage of combining customizing their field service management software to suit their needs. Using multiple features in concert helps create a unified and consistent workflow that is more efficient and provides better data for more intelligent business decisions and insights without relying on team members from multiple departments exporting information into an obsolete system.

Field service management is critical to the business operations of organizations. With a field service software like Happisales, it becomes easier to handle everything. Learn more about our offerings by scheduling a free demo today!

October 18, 2021
Can a field scheduling software help mitigate business risk?
Business enterprises confront a slew of risks that must be managed properly at virtually every stage of their operations. Traditionally, many of these risks have been handled by making changes to the planning, sourcing, and manufacturing execution processes. The selling process is one area where there is a lot of room for mitigation in this respect. A field force automation tool can help greatly in working on activities that are counter-productive on a daily basis. From expensive communication lapses to out-and-out theft, a field service management solution can save your business from heavy expenses. With every success, there are innumerable risks that threaten since the beginning. Risks are so common in every business activity that they’ve become an inherent part of the corporate landscape. Companies big and small are equally concerned with risks and are actively searching for ways to mitigate as well as minimize the frequency of risks in business.

Choosing the best solution for your sector, in terms of security measures and features, is critical. Read further to find out how field service software can help you mitigate business risk

What is field service software?

Field service software is designed to help an organisation manage staff activities and work schedules. Also referred to as sales tracking software, this solution is quite popular among field service firms. It can assist in decreasing expenses and increasing efficiency. Furthermore, the software can help with asset tracking, resource dispatch, staff safety, inventory support and integration, and back-end solutions. Businesses may use such a system to access consumer data, manage orders efficiently, and execute route planning and review at a low cost.

How can sales tracking software help?

It can help you identify the risks – this is basically the first step towards providing any remedies for the various risks.

The next step is to analyse. This is critical to understand the nature of the problem

Subsequently, you can respond to the risk identified and analysed with measures to mitigate and minimize future occurrences.

The final step is to monitor and control. This is done via regular reports on task progress to comprehensively alleviate risk.
- Effective and Smooth Scheduling
Scheduling may be one of the most time-consuming activities for a manager, whether you’re seeking to cover shifts at a restaurant or aligning your field service personnel with a week’s client demands. The fact that many individuals try to handle this process using basic spreadsheets makes it much more laborious and leaves more potential for error.

When you select a tool that does not track field sales reporting automatically to construct your timetable, you may encounter issues. Visual signals and drag-and-drop capabilities in the field service management software lets you rapidly construct realistic schedules without typical mistakes like duplicate booking.
- Skill-based task assignment
To make scheduling even more efficient, sales tracking software allows you to create rule sets. These rulesets decrease the chances of scheduling the wrong person for a task or having someone manage an installation before the proper equipment arrives. You can also use filters and tags to assist managers in swiftly selecting the best resources for a project. You may, for example, send a plumber with shower and tub installation knowledge, someone who you may have previously categorised as good with fearful or fussy customers. Assigning tasks based on your personnel’s skill will help mitigate any customer complaints you may get, you can be assured of the personnel doing a great job at the task assigned.
- Real-time data tracking
A field service management software tool can notify you if the team is involved in a new task in the coming days. Field sales reporting solutions minimise overall friction in all of your processes by bringing teams together so that everyone is on the same page about priorities and scheduling. Employees know they’ll get updates on new priorities as quickly as possible, allowing them to focus on their task without worrying about surprises at work or if they’re going to the correct client next. It’s typical for field reps and others who don’t work in the main office to feel disconnected from communications, which can diminish their value.
- Transparency across departments
Thanks to the availability of data on the sales tracking software system, every department has access to all the data in real-time and your managers and superiors can assess where a specific task is at, at any given point in time. The centralization of the system makes this possible – data access anytime anywhere thereby bringing transparency across different departments that are involved in the same project.

A field service software surely can, in a nutshell, identify risks, assess their likelihood and effect, link them to mitigating measures, and follow their resolution. If you are keen on alleviating the risks to your business and would like to know more about this solution, visit Happisales and schedule a demo today!
October 11, 2021
Top upcoming trends in field service automation that can transform a business!

Heading a field service company can be a challenging task. Especially when your major goal is to offer rapid, efficient, and effective repairs to your clients, but owing to COVID-19, the traditional manner of conducting business took an unexpected turn in 2020.

In a flash, firms were forced to limit — or even stop — in-person field service trips. The pandemic wreaked havoc on the field service sector, and every field service firm has likely reevaluated its business model in some manner since then. One such change that has been brought about is the implementation of automation in this sector.

Impact of automation trends on business

Sales force automation software automates the time-consuming but important processes of selling, freeing sales crew from mindless, repetitive behind-the-scenes work and allowing them to focus on what they do best: selling. Sales force automation, unlike other business solutions(that cater to certain zones), applies to all sizes of organizations. Consequently, whether you are a one-man operation operating out of your garage or an employee of a large corporation with hundreds of items, Such software assists in shortening sales cycles, thereby improving sales and thus increasing productivity.

What to expect in the new decade

With changes happening by the minute in today’s world, we can expect a lot of changes in the field of field force automation. Some of them are elucidated below:

Integration of AR and VR

Customers may have regarded remote service visits in the past as a waste of time, believing that it was quicker for a professional to come to their location. Customers are already accepting new technologies as a result of COVID-19, allowing businesses to assess new processes and procedures with the long-term objective of making them permanent.

A technician, for example, can utilize augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR)-based applications and tools to get information about the item they’ve been assigned to services, such as maintenance history and diagnostics, without having to disassemble it. Instead of dispatching a second team, your firm may utilize augmented glasses to connect the initial technician with a secondary team working at a central location in cases when a technician has been deployed but runs into difficulties or requires a second opinion.

AI-run business processes

Customers benefit from digital tools, and technicians benefit from them as well. Subsets of claims are still addressed by dispatching employees to make in-person service visits, but customer-technician communication is still required from the first maintenance report through repair. Field technicians should have excellent mobile applications to connect with consumers within the Field service management software, according to providers. Only 30% of field service firms will be prepared to implement AI-based decision assistance in their field service management platforms by 2022. This capacity gives you a huge competitive edge, and as the field service team becomes more mobile, you’ll need better mobile apps to connect with customers and track their status.

Inclusive workforce

A mixed workforce is defined as a workforce that is made up of both employee technicians and independent or third-party contractors. It gives field service companies the flexibility and capacity they need to provide high-quality service. Service providers may easily scale and develop to the needed capacity or area by combining field employees, saving time and money on hiring and training. Field service businesses can send the appropriate expert to the right task at the right time thanks to the flexibility of a mixed workforce paired with intelligent management solutions, resulting in enhanced customer satisfaction and improved operational efficiency.

Network tracing

Network tracing can be quite a broad term, but it would be best simmered down to the topic of discussion here – Business networking. Every business and the people concerned with one would have a vast connection of networks. Such can be either professional connections or a cluster of conglomerates that can help run a business smoothly. A field network can be as vast in the vertical scheme of a business process. A manufacturing company can have different entities working for them across various processes. Packaging – Transit, – delivery – each of the legs can be handled by a different business entity under a contract. Such is a network of the manufacturing entity. Though the field service trackers have a minimalist tracking of such a notion, it is still combined as a single arm of the service provided. This might change in the upcoming years and can help the customers understand the level of proficiency that each of the contracted businesses brings to the parent company.

Field service for Home needs?

AI-aided home utilities have come a long way in today’s world. Right from apps running home music to intelligent cooling technologies in your home refrigerator – things look rather progressive in the home automation scene. But there are certain limitations to them at this point. What if a field force automation solution can step in ways that can change the way we shop groceries and fill up our everyday needs at home? Imagine this – What if a sales force tracker app can keep tabs on the quantity of food required for the household and can order a said amount of rice for the month on its own? We do agree there are plenty of applications in the play store or the apple store to track your edible stocks at home, but we do not have one yet that can plan and keep the inventory going. Imagine your app being able to book a can of water or a pack of vegetables based on the balance between the dwindling stock and the household requirements?

The future’s uncertain and full of surprises. As a wise turtle once said – “Tomorrow is a mystery”. The aforementioned points may be a predicament of where the field force automation ideas are heading towards, but a slight deviation can result in something bigger or better! Change is constant and the biggest investment today is the investment in the future. Are you looking to bring about transformation in your business? Connect with Happisales for a demo today!

October 4, 2021
Can sales force automation help the Pharma industry in the pandemic?

The Pandemic has hit every industry in the country. The second wave was ruthless and the pharmaceutical industry wasn’t left either. As the country shows resilience in the face of the third way, industries have adapted to new ways of life and have shown significant changes in the way they operate. The pharmaceutical industry is touted to rise again from the ashes to become one of the leaders in the economic charts. Industries have taken to the idea of sales force automation widely and the pharma industry has quickly stepped into it too

When it comes to the pharmaceutical industry, sales is a big deal. Even as an outsider, one could find pharma reps in clinics and small health care institutions trying to win over the prescriptions of a doctor. Back in the pre-internet era, one could find a rep waiting for hours just to gather a day’s appointment of the doctor.

Although things have changed dramatically over the last few decades, sales in the pharma industry have been quite a challenge and take a day’s time from the sales team. A Mobile Sales App helps the sales crew manage multiple prospective clients where he could schedule appointments and meet more than two people rather than warming the waiting bench. If you are from the pharma industry, you would know better, but if you would want to know how sales force automation can help during these dire and testing times, here are a few things that can help you with.

Streamline the Sales team

Any sales force automation system implemented in any business has its priority set straight. The app’s primary gift to a business would be to manage, operate and execute sales in a very structured way. It’s not the first time we have spoken about this particular point. Try reading one of our blogs here to help you understand (in detail) how automation can help better your sales team more.

Reduce cost through digitalisation

One of the most traditional ways of keeping track of business transactions is filling up the filing cabinet. A look at the combined yearly expenses spent on files and papers could put a frown on your finance team’s face. What if you could cut down on such expenses, or find a way around it. This is where sales force automation lends a helping hand.

Adopting a sales force tracker app in your establishment can do a lot more than your average filing cabinet. The app can store every data that you would need to pull out in the near future under any circumstances. Bills received, invoices raised, new client agreements, date of purchases, credit periods, customer disputes – everything and anything that happens between the business and its customers are noted with fine precision and in real-time. Apart from reducing your expense on papers and petty cash needs, it also organises your files automatically and can help you look out for information based on time or customers whenever and wherever needed. If this doesn’t put a smile on your finance team, we can help you with more!

Spotless order & inventory management

Let’s be honest. The pandemic was and still prevails to be a hard-hitting punch to the guts of many businesses around the world. The worst part of it was the inability of the business to have its manpower restored to its optimal levels. Such cases had overworked crew, chaos on the sheets and numbers that mismatched with the actuals.

It is no surprise that small scale businesses adopted salesforce automation to tackle such a dire consequence. A sales force tracker app tracks the inward and the outward movement of goods with zero errors. The user-friendly UI makes the user understand the details on screen more than on paper. Keeping track of the orders that come in along with the location of the order and the expected time of delivery, and matching it with the available goods in the inventory/warehouse gives for proper planning and execution. This way your orders can be executed with precision and eradicates any chance of inventory mismanagement

Tasks & reports automation

Managing a team of more than 5 would be a handful while working remotely, and to think of getting updates and providing them with their tasks is horrific. The pandemic has pushed the management to think out of the box and sales force automation has made it easier than ever.

Forget spending time on conference or status calls, the sales force tracker app helps you manage your team without having to move from your couch. Assigning tasks and tracking your team’s whereabouts are now possible with the GPS tracking modules and real-time data inputs. This way, you would know what Vinodh was doing at 12:46 PM last Monday! No more spending time on calls, you can now use all that extra hours to usher a new age of sales vibes into your sales reports! Forget keeping up the team’s sales standards, It might even help your team get an extra client or two than be

Workaround pandemic restrictions

The restrictions have been severe in the last few months and businesses were forced to surrender their operations. As businesses were forced to operate with closed doors, and their employees working from home, the major network of the sales team was disrupted and possibly left alone to rot.

An Sales Employee Tracking App helps manage such situations. It helps the management team to understand the best possible way to cater to the needs of new leads. It helps find people of the sales team closer to a possible lead and can let them connect with them from the comfort of their geographic location. Even more, with the help of an automated sales force, people could get things done with ease.

Let us just put a thought into your mind as we end this long essay. With a workforce management app giving you the benefit of cutting down costs and comforting you sales team, one could use the saved up costs to sponsor them the covid shield vaccine without a second thought.- Give it a thought, but if you are thinking about getting your industry automated, visit us at happisales and we would love to give you a demo!

September 6, 2021
Top 4 benefits of field force automation in the logistics industry
The modern world is automated in many ways and the Indian logistics sector is no different. Location intelligence utilities like the field service management software have taken the sector to new heights. Cutting short the costs incurred and maximising the profit margins, one is certain of its ability to put a smile on the upper-level management.

The Indian logistics industry is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the country today. Despite the discomforts caused by the relentless pandemic, the industry still manages to function to its full potential. One of the primary reasons for the sector’s independence is the dependence of the other sectors over it. Be it agriculture, manufacturing, e-commerce, or retail – logistics is one sector that gets its work done.

LOCATION INTELLIGENCE FOR THE WIN! – THE OTHER SIDE OF THE INDUSTRY

But with great power, comes greater responsibility or so to speak. With such a noble sector working its wonders in the economy, certain challenges can prove to be constant troublemakers. On-time delivery is the essence of a logistics business and its major goal would be to strive towards it no matter the consequences.

The success of such a business is measured by its ability to manage and deliver its shipments without damage and at the right time. This might be a heft task considering the vast landmass, such a business covered with such little manpower to take. This is where sales force automation through location intelligence helps move boulders and mountains. But what exactly is Location Intelligence?

Location Intelligence (LI) is putting together the information collected – Geographical visuals, and business numbers from a particular location or a select area. Location intelligence plays a key role in understanding the various aspects of the logistics business at an in-depth level and helps plan better. Here are a few ways how sales force automation through location intelligence can help take the cake in the business.

On-time delivery

One of the most important traits of a successful logistics business is its ability to ensure on-time delivery given any state of odds. An implementation of a field service management software would make things more streamlined. While serving a country as vast as India, it would need more effort to keep track of all the deliveries to be made.

Field force automation gives an added leverage to the crew to understand the flow pipeline better and prepare themselves better for spotless on-time delivery. This is possible due to the information picked up by the field service management software.

Information such as
- date of order placed
- pickup location
- transit route
- warehouse check-in,
- regional transportation
- local mobility
can all be streamlined together to calculate the right delivery time, ensuring the management to focus on working towards it. Choosing a closer warehouse to the delivery location, or choosing an alternate route to make things quicker can all be perfected via field force automation. A perfect example of this would be tracker apps used on Myntra or Amazon.

Finding the best possible route

Let us all be transparent here. Apart from agriculture, logistics is the next business that can be affected by an act of god. An unforeseen downpour, a tropical storm, or border politics can hamper the business to great extents. Although field force automation can neither change the weather nor ease up political ties, it does help the management and the crew to find alternate routes to circumvent the difficulties that lay ahead. A shipment that was to reach Bengaluru can either be routed through Mumbai or Hyderabad. Picking the best possible route considering the current scenario between the two can help either fasten delivery or go around an inevitable hurdle. The ability to have ready-to use plans on the field force management software can give the team and the crew to jolt down the best possible route without any hassle.

Optimization of fixed costs

As mentioned earlier, one of the biggest contributors to such a business’s expenses is its fixed costs. The fixed costs in a logistics business are its Depreciation, Driver salary, Fuel, Toll charges, Maintenance and services. Even though field force automation cannot eradicate it, but can help the management keep tabs on its expenses. Taking a deep dive into the information provided on the field force service software can help find the best possible ways to cut down the costs. An example would be to take a shorter route and reduce the cost of fuel, and average it out through other means of movement so that the combined expenses of these two would still be lesser than what it was earlier. In a way, such use of field service software can help make informed decisions keeping in mind the essence of on-time delivery of the establishment.

Care for your people

The best business is run by its people. Some of the successful businesses around the globe understand the importance of their contributors. With that in mind, the most important people in the logistics business are its front end workers. Drivers and delivery agents working around the clock to keep that brand identity alive are one of the prime concerns for the business. The field force management software helps keep track of the company’s agents anywhere and anytime. This would help send aid in times of need. A vehicle breakdown or an unforeseen accident on perilous roads could catch the eyes of the management very quickly. This would in turn help them dispatch aid swiftly and might save lives in such dire circumstances.

We at happisales strive to be the forerunners of GPS tracking software and sales tracking software. We live in the modern world and we believe it is time for businesses around the globe to take giant strides in the phase of evolution. If you are looking for a sales force tracker app or a field force management software, we would be glad to help with a demo of our product. Feel free to contact us at Happisales, you are one step closer to the new world of automation.
August 23, 2021
Top 7 ways to improve sales productivity to improve productivity
Every sales head in any company dreams of skyrocketing sales just like how it happens in renowned movies like The Wolf of Wall Street or Rocket Singh, Salesman of the Year. But, what matters the most is how productive your sales reps are for you to achieve your sales target as a team. Do you measure your sales reps’ work with tracking software? Then, this would interest you even more.

The effectiveness of sales reps is measured by the number of successful face-to-face meetings they had with the prospects which is followed by signups or follow up meetings. It looks like a lot of time is involved here.

Having said that, how do sales reps spend their time? Has automation been any good for the sales force so that productivity is boosted?

YES!

How do Salesmen spend their time?

Have you ever passed by the inbound sales team bay where there is a lot of pandemonium throughout the day? Believe it or not, a lot of conversions can begin or end here. As surveyed by Sales Insights Lab, 42% of the sales people say that the phone is the most prudent sales tool. But how does this impact sales?

The quality of the data received is the pivotal factor that determines sales productivity in any organization. Void fields and redundant entries block the sales reps way further.

Followed by the first one, the sales reps are left with spending a lot of time to research about the prospects as there is insufficient data for them to proceed.

With accurate data, the task to-do by each salesman can be easily automated into a workflow. A lot of companies today do it through Field Service management Software.

Believing that sales is the revenue avenue, a handful of globally renowned companies have been capitalizing on sales and marketing every year. Here’s a sneak peek to it.

On the other hand, intuitive CRMs and automation have eased Salesmen’s jobs that eventually contribute to revenue. Are you thinking of a sales force automation anytime sooner?Then this is all you should be knowing.

7 Ways to Improve Sales Productivity

1. Power of Sales Tools

A bunch of sales tools have proved effective and efficient, enabling sales reps to perform without wasting their time. A mobile CRM is one good example of a powerful sales tool which can also be a Field Service Software. How does this route help?

Territory specific customer management – You get to organize your customers based on their territories and keep a track of customer interactions in a timeline.

Sales activity management – You can manage the activities of your sales reps like customer visits, calls and orders. This can help them achieve their monthly targets.

Order management – You can collect orders on the go, manage customer orders, provide discounts and a lot more.

Collect payments -. Enables your sales reps to collect payments from customers with subtle reminders.

Customer complaint management – Your customers are your advocates. Resolve complaints with a seamless workflow before it impacts your business.

Impressive isn’t it? We provide all of these features and even more that can lead to a productivity spike in your sales team”. Check out Happisales, a Sales Tracking Software that could level up your business. It is a cutting-edge mobile tool developed exclusively for sales that gives you an edge over other applications.

Preparing your sales team to get upgraded to such a mobile sales tool would be your first step towards being productive as a Sales Team.

2. Capitalizing on Training of Sales Representatives / Sales Team

When you are prepared to upscale your sales team with Field Force Automation Tool, you are also set to invest in training them to use the product. Apart from technical training, as an organization you are also bound to train them on how to face customers and answer their queries.

Experts also recommend another strategy called individual sales training or one-on-one sales training that has actually worked wonders with productivity improvement .

3. Task Automation & Time Management

Automation is a time-saver in disguise. Speaking of it, there goes a list of tasks that can be automated when you are in sales. It is made possible using a tech savvy sales employee tracking app. Some of the time-consuming tasks that can be automated are:
1. Customer Data Entry
2. Daily tasks for sales reps
3. Follow up emails
4. Reminders to customers for payments
For instance: With a field sales executive in the finance industry – (Non-banking sector per se) the maximum amount of time goes into collection of data, documents and payment dues. Automating this using a Field Force Help app saves his time therefore enabling him to be more productive.

4. Lead Scoring

The sales teams have always been ambitious to close the leads faster. Through Lead Scoring, you can easily evaluate potential leads. This can further avoid time consumption by your field sales executives with non-buyers.

Sales teams use traits, characteristics, demographics and historical data to evaluate and score leads. Most companies have this feature in their field assist application. It has helped sales teams make judicious decisions with prospects, understand their buyer persona and convert them based on the data provided.

5. Incentivizing Reps

Employees in the sales team tend to earn more than the ones in the other teams. Sounds like a corporate myth? Ideally, sales employees get the perks of being incentivized. Rewards and recognitions help gain momentum and motivate them to perform better.

Gamification is a technique leveraged by big-league companies to empower sales employees and make them productive.

Try it and see your sales team perform better.

6. Referral

Your existing customers are your brand ambassadors. Get vouched to have your brand name spread among their peers through traditional word of mouth. Leads that come through word of mouth would be more open to knowing what you offer. The possibilities of converting leads from referrals are higher compared to the ones that come from other channels.

With this, you can also put a smile on your existing customers’ faces by providing them with referral coupons and offers. This is another tried-and-tested method of improving sales productivity.

7. Alignment of Sales and Marketing

Sales and Marketing teams in every company have always been rivals for the methods and approaches that are believed and practiced by each team.

Here are some tips to get the teams aligned and see them perform better.

To quote an example, the MQL or (Marketing Qualified Lead) is one that is considered by the marketing team through behavior and analytics who is likely to become a customer. This lead is sent to the sales team for them to pay more attention to the process of conversion.

The Sales Qualified Lead (SQL) is a qualified lead and a potential buyer / customer displaying interest towards the product or service.

Mostly, the difference of opinion between marketing and sales teams tends to arise when the sales team considers some of the MQL as low quality leads. In order to avoid the drift between the two and produce quality leads, you should have regular touch points with the teams.

If you are already trying these methods at your organization and looking for a technology change, then try Happisales, a software to aid you with tracking field service as a sale begins there.

Happi-Selling!
August 11, 2021
Using an avant-garde Software For Tracking Sales is Planning or Spying?
A few years ago, salesmen breaking-into a house used to be a threat to the public. The advent of technology has given birth to softwares for tracking sales people and field force employees across diverse industries – FMCG, Ecommerce, Health Care & Pharma, Finance and Local Services. A source from SalesForce states that 71% of Sales Reps / Field Sales Employees spend ample time on data entry. The field sales management found the automation process expedient to both team management and customer experience. Organizations have been deploying online real-time GPS trackers to administer the field force employees’. The method has been effective resulting in happy customers and a productive team.

When we say real-time employee tracking, it leaves any field sales executive with a fear of doubt that he/she is spied upon by the application from their management.

So, let’s probe into the details of employee location tracking – planning or spying?

Industries that demand employee / sales force tracking

Considering the present COVID situation, customer safety has been paramount to all businesses offering door-to-door delivery services. Thereby, a sales tracking software or system has become the need of the hour for such service providers. Some of the industries that are getting benefited from this are:

-FMCG

-Ecommerce

-Healthcare & Pharma

-Financial services

-Local Services

Are they spying on their sales or field force employees or the management is seeing this as an act of resource planning? To answer this question, let’s try to understand what a Field Service Management Software can do.

Realtime Location for Customer Visits

A sales personnel who belongs to the field force is provided with an online real-time location/GPS tracking application to understand his customers are demarcated based on territories.

By implementing this:

-The job of a sales person becomes easier in locating the customer.

-He/she gets visibility to nearby customers so that their focus is shifted to more new customers to expand their company’s business.

-The number of customer visits done by a salesperson contributes to the monthly target that measures their performance.

-The performance of each field force / salesperson is being monitored by this application.

-The application can also track where the salesperson is spending his working hours. This can help the management in cross-validation in case of any discrepancies.

Would a sales force tracker that can do all of the above interest you?

It doesn’t stop here and there’s more to it.

Attendance Tracking

What if a field sales person claims that he was present on a particular day at the customer’s place but he was not? How does a conventional attendance tracking system help in boosting your sales team’s productivity?

If these have been your pain points with field sales or sales force management, then your eye-opener is here!

While there are numerous employee tracking systems and android applications available in the market, what are the features you can expect from one such software to upgrade your sales team?

-Login and Logout time Administration

Enabled with an online real-time GPS tracker, Sales Employee Tracking App should be capable of tracking both logins and logouts times of an employee seamlessly. Apart from this, an attendance tracking application should also be able to clock the number of hours spent by each sales employee. This shall aid the management in measuring the productivity of the employee, and analyze the time that goes into each activity carried out by the employee throughout his working hours.

In cases where the employee has lost possession of his mobile phone, the application should still be able to track the last login or logout time so that tracking the employee’s working hours is not affected.

-Leave Management

Do it with ease by both managers and employees – a leave management module in any online employee tracking app can benefit both in terms of planning and management of resources across the organization.

Workflow and Task Management

The best Field Service Software gives you the ease of usability with workflow and task management. While choosing one such application for your sales, the following features can save time and increase the productivity of the team as a whole.

-Creation of Tasks

-Assignment of Tasks

-Delegation of Pending Tasks and Responsibilities

-Data collection of completed tasks like customer visits and documents.

-Supporting features like chat and voice notes to ease inter-team communication

If you are looking for a tool for your local services business, then there are some of the features that can help you in field force management. Read on to get an understanding of how this can work!
- A field force employee is mapped to a particular territory (a locality in this case).
- He takes charge of customer visits and service with this particular territory. When (s)he completes their day’s target with this territory, the pending visits in the nearby territory can be allocated to the employee.
- Further, the employee can also store the customer documents – photographs of a particular complaint with a local service availed by them and share it with the management. The management can take immediate responsibility and help the customer resolve the problem.
- In case of any issues, chat and voice note options are available for the employee to communicate the customer issues to the management.
By doing this, you increase the chances of customer satisfaction, retention and service.

Document Upload and Data Security

What would a customer fear for when your organization is using such employee tracking applications? With no second thoughts, it’s their data.

All your customer data is in the hands of your field sales. To quote an example, a field force employee who works with a financial institution has access to customer data like Bank Statements, Aadhar Card, PAN Card and Signatures when there is a customer request for a Loan Account. This data requires a secured spot to be uploaded and stored.

Choose an online employee tracking application that can be compatible with both android and IOS mobiles offering complete security to your customer data.

Added to this, the customer data misuse could be easily tracked if it happens when you deploy cutting-edge field tracking software which is best in the market.

Happisales promises utmost secrecy of data and is trusted by 100+ businesses and customers for data security. Read more about the app here!

Leaderboard for Performance Measurement

Sales appraisals can never happen without a performance measurement system. A leaderboard module in field force management is not only advantageous for performance analysis but also motivates the peers with achieving targets. Of the teams in an organization, the sales teams are said to have the most remunerative benefits in the form of bonuses. In some organizations, this happens frictionlessly with managers not being partial towards their team members.

Are you encountering such situations in your organization? It’s high time you switch to a software for tracking your sales team and their performance.

Summing up: The features like real time location tracking and attendance tracking might throw an impression that an employee is being spied on by the managers. But, deriving benefits from a sales tracking software for your teams testifies the following.

-Happenings in the field

-Cross-validate the field sales team in case of any discrepancies

-Areas where the sales personnel spend most of their time – Time spent with existing and new customers.

This can help the management team to plan the activities of the field sales, instructing them to spend more time with the new customers in order to increase sales and revenue. Therefore, an employee tracking app used by the field sales personnel is righteously being used by the management for planning and not spying.
July 26, 2021
Is Your Current Sales Force Automation Failing? Here’s Why!
We all know that sales force automation is the usage of software for automating sales-related tasks, including sales activities, customer management, sales force management, and information sharing. This is frequently a component of a system that connects and integrates sales activities with the rest of the organization’s operations. So the success of the sales force as well as the overall organization depends on it. Upon implementation, these systems are seen to fail to deliver the expected benefits and can be attributed to several factors. Let us delve into the reasons as to why the current sales force automation is failing. Here are 13 reasons.
1. Lack of long term vision
The reason for implementing field sales reporting should be well and clearly defined, with a clear objective and vision of what it should achieve in the short and long term. One cannot create a technology roadmap simply because everyone else is doing it. Your teams may be doing well with manual processes and meeting your targets, but the automation of the process should be made clear to everyone, right from the top management to the employees, on how it can help you further optimize your sales processes and team performance.
1. Lack of commitment from management
Even if management decides to implement a field sales reporting system and commit significant resources to the effort, the system may not be successfully marketed internally. This is frequently misinterpreted by the sales force as a lack of support from the management for the system to be implemented. This can lead to a careless attitude among salespeople. Senior management commitment is thus critical to the success of any software implementation project.
1. Non-alignment of expectations between management and salespeople
When implementing field service software, we can see two types of expectations – one for effort and the other for performance. Effort represents the user’s view of the amount of work required to use the system effectively. The perceived cost of using the system rises as effort expectancy rises. Performance expectancy, on the other hand, represents how the system’s benefits are perceived. If the imagined costs outweigh the benefits, the system is far less likely to be used. Compared to salespeople, the management tends to underestimate the effort required for a salesperson to use the system and overestimate the performance benefits. This brings about a mismatch in expectations.
1. Setting unrealistic goals/objectives
Adoption and implementation of field sales reporting in existing business modules serve specific goals. Deployment of an automation process does not necessarily mean that it is not a complete one-size-fits-all solution. A module integrated with CRM has specific goals and should not be expected to generate exponential results or perform micromanagement on its own. For example, the automation software can assist you in improving team performance by engaging them, providing real-time performance visibility, public recognition, and rewarding them for their efforts. However, you cannot control attrition because there are numerous other intangible factors at play.
1. Implementing field sales reporting but without delegating the responsibilities
The automation journey cannot begin without defining the roles and responsibilities – Who will be the eventual users, who will be reviewing the data, the role of MIS teams, training and abidance of sales teams. All of these questions are extremely important. Otherwise, you’ll just be circling the wagons without actually implementing and adopting sales force automation. The well-communicated value proposition provides a sense of ease of work, improved output, and, most importantly, more time to explore more productive opportunities.
1. . Lack of proper training
The system’s complexity results from a lack of information/training or from only having theoretical knowledge of the subject. Companies must recognize the value of investing time in end-user training. More interactive, on-the-job, case-based, practical, and inclusive training is required. Ascertain that your end-users and sales representatives understand the fundamental concepts of automation and automated factors. The training goal should be to change the way people think and not be afraid to use it.
1. Improper implementation of multiple workflows
It is a known fact that improper implementation of anything will affect all workflows. So, when implementing Field Service Management Software, it should be carefully planned and scheduled – steps such as installation, training, and go-live date can be worked out. Adequate time should be allowed for each stage of implementation. This saves all participants from the hassles of deployment and network integration, among other things. It will be a good idea to get help from experts for deployment of the automation process with minimal hitches.
1. Poor data management
Sales Force Tracker is entirely data-driven. It has been found that more than 50% of implementation failures were because of poor data quality. The master data must be structured and sorted per the KPIs and parameters (product hierarchy, attributes, retailer data, contract dates, etc.). This data must be clean, correct, and relevant. It is also necessary to have a thorough understanding of business processes, customers, distributors, etc, to integrate functionalities into your solution. Poor quality data also leads to a loss in revenue.
1. Poor customer service
Lousy customer service results in an irate customer, thus losing them. Regardless of your process/business size, ensure that you provide exceptional customer service at any point in time – be it before or during or after deployment. A 24/7 customer service line has become a prominent and undeniable differentiator for almost every product/service and should never be overlooked.
1. Complex functionalities
Most automation systems attempt to be jacks of all trades, which leads to increased complexity. Instead of assisting sales representatives in entering meaningful data and making reporting tasks easier, these feature complexities make reporting difficult. Adoption becomes difficult if reporting, planning, and other basic functionalities are not intuitive. Excessive data fields and repetitive entries also add to the complexity.
1. Unnecessary inconvenient additional functions
Sales force automation systems have become more multifunctional in recent years, and there are some that include marketing functions and integrated analysis tools. However, if these functions do not match the objectives of your system, even if there are many of them, they will be useless for your company, and you will end up with a difficult-to-use system.
1. System integrations
A sales tracking software solution is not a stand-alone system. It must be integrated with existing platforms such as CRM, ERPs, accounting software, and legacy systems. When it is not financially or technically feasible to integrate into these systems, it becomes difficult to utilize the solution’s potential fully. Keeping data and operations separate is not the best way to maximize its benefits. The success of the solution is also determined by the training provided to its users.
1. Lack of end-user interest
What good is a sales force automation solution if its intended users are unwilling to use it? No matter how much money you invest in it, getting the actual users on board is critical. User acceptance determines the success or failure of a setup. User resistance can be overcome by training and knowledge sharing. It is also a good idea to learn about their challenges before implementation to address them through automation.

If you are interested in exploring implementing field force automation for your business, do get in touch with us today. Click here to get all your queries related to automation answered. Happisales is all set to implement sales force software in your field.
July 16, 2021