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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
The Impact of Internet of Things (IoT) in Field Services
Internet of Things is a vast network of electronic devices that are connected to the internet. These digital and mechanical smart devices operate and transfer data without any human intervention. Such devices use Artificial Intelligence and machine learning to collect and transfer data collection more responsively.

Renowned consulting firm McKinsey has predicted that with the advent of time, the worldwide number of IoT-connected devices is estimated to be 43 billion by 2023, three times the number in 2018.

Usually, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning is used by IoT devices to make data collection and transfer more agile.

Impact of IoT in the modern world

With the advent of time, IoT has helped us to work and live smarter. It has greatly assisted in gaining complete control over our lives and supported us in taking care of our wellbeing and ourselves.

Has it not only revolutionized our homes but also helped businesses and industries. It provides a real-time glimpse of their companies systems. IoT provides understandings and insights ranging from machine performance to supply chain and logistics operations.

IoT encourages establishments to automate practices and processes. This saves expenditure on labour thus economizing. It has significantly contributed to waste reduction. The delivery of goods and services has improved, making it cost-effective for the manufactures and transparent for the customer during transactions.

How IoT impacts the field services

Earlier the field service technicians would repeatedly struggle with unknown specifications, mysterious malfunctions, and interruptions due to wrong analysis.

However, with Field Service software, companies have been able to facilitate inventory, plan, and track all the field operations using GPS tracker leading to field force automation. IoT is transforming field service by significantly improving the delivery and execution of services as well as sales force and field force automation.

It generates a continuous association between field force operations and customer engagement. Time-consuming field service activities such as scheduling maintenance or locating vehicles are transferred by business by such a field management system as all the devices are interconnected. GPS tracker, remote diagnosis, and sales force automation are now available easily providing a competitive edge in the market.

Organizations are now able to save valuable time because of such integrated technologies that diagnose the problem and notify the right technician to resolve it, saving valuable time.

Here we have listed out a few benefits to getting a better understanding of the impact of IoT on your field service process.

Benefits of IoT in field services

Increase in Productivity

IoT devices are proficient enough to diagnose issues. Technicians would no longer be required to conduct frequent initial inspections. With the increase in correct first-time analysis, technicians can now execute a proper procedural approach to maintenance and complete more jobs.

Remote access and Management

The field service professionals can considerably cut the time for each service. They can now focus on improving their skillset. IoT technologies are usually dependent on good GPS (Global Positioning System) to track and trace field service technicians. GPS trackers in our mobiles are used for mapping and are based on the satellite-based navigation system. This can help you in remote access and management in the following way:
- Accurate, real-time data on maintenance works
- Keeps employees safe
- Improved customer service
Proactive customer query management

IoT has helped in continuously monitoring; collecting device data for more accurate analytics. This will thus assist in proactive repair services for your clients. The field service professionals act in response to issues due to uninterrupted monitoring before the issues disrupt the field. Since the field service management industry was founded on a culture of reactivity, technicians tend to resolve problems once they appear. Leveraging IoT infrastructures is changing this. IoT devices can monitor development by using sensors in hardware. Furthermore, they can alert maintenance managers so that they are ready to act before they lead to breakdowns.

Increased efficiency

One of the important advantages of an IoT-enabled field sales mobile app is an increase in revenue by sales force automation. The optimization of the problem-solving methods will lessen the time taken by technicians on each job resulting in more efficient completion of work.

Reduced cost operations

By using the field sales app, which uses the field management system, businesses will be able to save money. Managers will now be able to manage demand, optimize supply and reduce operating costs.

The Final take

Field service companies are evolving in providing service to their customers with the help of new IoT technologies. This technological trend has boosted field force automation as well as sales force automation using the field management systems software and apps. IoT devices are becoming more predominant and widespread compared to previous years.

A Field service organization must start accepting IoT technology as soon as possible. This can help them to leverage the benefits of field service management software that facilitates predictive maintenance and remote service management. The numerous benefits of IoT technology in the field service industry can be utilized by refining their customer experience and increasing their profitability. Contact us at Happisales and we would be happy to help you more on your sales force automation that your business needs!
September 29, 2021
A list of 7 business problems that sales force automation can help resolve
Before we go to the real deal, one must understand the importance of a sales team to a business, more importantly, the process behind it. A business is a business when it can reach a point which works out the term “doing business”. Regardless of its funding, ideology, innovation, essence, team, players and probably a sales force automation system in place – it could still be considered an establishment.

Sales are when an establishment turns into a business!

With that said, one of the most diligent works of a business is to convert its idea into a sale. Be it a B2B or a B2C, setting up a proper sales team – field sales and behind the desk support is an essential part of any working business model. But it does not come easy. Managing a team of 100 for a generic product or maybe even 10 while dealing with a niche market can be tricky.

Team Morale

Attrition levels

Management ideologies

Transparency

Are all a part of the deal. The aforementioned are just the upper layers for the management to take note of while there are certain intricate points that would make the pillar foundations.

Here are a few of them and how they could be managed effectively with a sales force automation system!

Planning & Execution

One of the most important processes in a running business is the sales and revenue forecast for the upcoming financial year. One can often find businesses taking to the last quarter of the present year to take a dive into predicting the fortunes of the upcoming year. With all due respect to the marketing team, it is with no doubt that the entire team would have their hands full and put in the extra time needed to complete the sales part of the upcoming year. This is quite an important part, as the entire process of the business – be in production, procurement, distribution and so on highly depend on the charts to plan for their challenges ahead.

The sales force tracker app is arguably the most helpful tool for the management team during this time period. The information collected such as –
1. Orders received
2. Credit period,
3. Customers requirements,
4. New leads,
5. Production units to match requirements
6. Raw materials procurement quantity., etc.
can all be mapped with utmost precision. Even though it may not bring 100% surety on the realised papers, it could still be better and more efficient than manual charting.

Say no to manual inputs

No more manual inputs. Any business and its transactions have been dependent on the ink and pen of the employees since the days of the kings. In such cases, the numbers and details are bound to have a few human errors. Even if not, it is without doubt time-consuming. Sales force automation takes this challenge very seriously.

Sales force automation can help eradicate such fallacies on a larger scale. Everything right from orders/sales coming in, personnel handling the order/sales, and cash flow received through such sales are tracked in real-time by the sales force tracker apps. This helps in providing in-depth high-quality information in automated real-time and avoid any possibilities of human error. With the inputs being automated and filed in lieu of the “order tree”, the need for any manual input is minimised if not eradicated completely(depending on the feature of your app).

Manage your sales crew

A Field Sales Mobile App can double down as a workforce management app as well. Assigning everyday tasks, tracking their status and having to understand the EOD status day in and day out can be done in a jiffy. Say no to status calls and morning meets. Manage your team on the go anywhere and anytime. 10 or 100, no matter the size of your crew, automation software got your back!

Interdepartmental connect

Running a successful business is a team effort. By team, it is not only the employees that matter but also the various departments pulling the core together in the same direction.

Imagine a production department having no idea what the marketing team has just sold for an order. Even worse would be when the production department had no means of power to match the new order. Such a scenario would be a disaster to the brand image.

Sales force automation brings a sense of transparency between all departments. The production team would have the exact number of commodities that they would need to produce for a said customer right on the day of the order. This would help them prioritise their schedules in advance rather than panic at a brief moment’s notice. Such a process would ensure a smooth running of the business line and could help deliver orders more swiftly.

Real-time salesperson tracking

Have no idea where your crew are?

Are you uncertain about your team’s location?

Worried if they are okay?

The sales force tracker app has it covered for you. The GPS tracking utility enabled in the app helps you track your team members effortlessly. Consider it more like tracking your Swiggy order, but a little more to track your team members. Before you go sceptical about the privacy concerns – we would like to share a few words to help you ease it out.

“It’s not stalking if they know”

Lead Generation, Client management and automated reports

If you are here having made it through this essay, it would not be much of a surprise that everything right from procuring a lead to the invoice raised on the first billing would be tracked in the automation process. Even customer queries can fall right into the concerned RM’s task directly. This helps attend to customer needs and generate quick reports then and there. The next time your team tries to procrastinate his sales report, you would know what to do!

And that’s that for starters. If you are really interested in reading more about the impact of sales force automation, try choosing a few more from our blog page. And if you are already interested in getting your sales team fully automated and reap its benefits, feel free to contact us at happisales – Your one-stop shop for all your automation needs!
September 20, 2021
How much can the work force management software help the e-commerce industry

E-commerce in India has changed the ways of shopping. With hot debates making rounds about it bringing an end to the retail market, the industry was a pioneer in making full use of sales force automation techniques even before the concept deepened its roots in the Indian market.

What was once seen as a sceptical chain of business has reinvented ways to cater to the needs of the open public. Although it had its inception in the mid 90’s it wasn’t until the industry started focusing more on the B2C markets. Players such as Myntra (est.2007), Flipkart (est.2007) and Amazon India (est. 2012) focused more on tapping the inclusive market of the country’s population. Households had more access to high-speed internet and the business quickly emerged as one of the key players in the Indian Economy.

Apart from the giants, business chains that were once exclusive retail only establishments have jumped onto the bandwagon citing opportunities to vast coverage than to restrict their clientele in and around their establishments.

Challenges in the Industry & workforce management

India is a huge market with a population of 1.3 billion with almost 25% of the population preferring to shop online. With ISP providers like Jio penetrating the rural consumer market, the E-commerce market in India is touted to grow as much as 51% in the upcoming years. But operating in a competitive market of the world’s seventh-largest country would be no easy task.

It would take a great deal of management, workforce and financial resources to make things work. Here is where workforce management software takes its high stand. Here are a few ways by which the e-commerce industries can make things work through such a utility.

Cut down expenditure

Every e-commerce industry in the country has its very own sales force automation today – be it a single business line, or an establishment like Amazon dealing as a one-stop window for all. One of the biggest plus sides of having workforce management software is arguably its ability to track expenses in real-time. This would reduce human errors such as duplication, input errors etc.

For example, any and every expense in the daily operations can be tagged to a QR code or have an existing data log – Wages per hour for the field sales team can be 40 INR while wages per hour for management crew could be 45 INR. Any personnel tagging into the quota would be paid a precise amount for his time logged through the tracking system. This would cut down any possibilities of manual errors that would reflect hugely on the financial reports. This may not sound like a big deal, but any E-com establishments serving such a vast landmass as India would benefit from such a system.

Adaptable operational process

As its name suggests, workforce management software is ideally suited to manage your workforce. As lame as the definition sounds, its utility as an embedded operating system in your e-commerce establishment can make the difference between a successful business and a total train wreck.

The E-commerce industry in India is one of the biggest employers of the country. People from various educational and skill backgrounds work under one big roof to scale the business in various forms. Managing such a crew manually would be a tiring task considering the magnitude of both the manpower and business goals in hand. A workforce management software helps track the employees and keeps tabs on all their information from their respective resumes. This way you could filter out a management guy from a field delivery guy and use their skills with more respect and responsibility.

Improved productivity

This would be more of a result of a butterfly effect. A Field Service software implemented business establishment, would have excellent productivity and a higher efficiency rate. How you may ask!

Inefficiency from the workforce is usually a sign of uninterested employees. This may predominantly prevail due to the reason that an employee has been put into a task that doesn’t quite fill up his day.

Here is where workforce management software helps you with it. As mentioned in the point above, the software helps find the right people in the employed unions and match them with the right JD. This would not only reduce their induction time but would also get the department up and running swiftly. The upper management can also keep track of the task completed and the hours of work put in by every employee in the organisation. The best part about it is that the management could shuffle around their resources (without having to hire or fire) until they feel that the units are working to their full potential. Thanks to the management app, this could now be done smarter and faster than ever before.

Happy customers

Happy customers are a happy profit sheet. If you were a user of an e-commerce website like Amazon or Myntra, you would surely adapt to their heavy backend support. Serving a country with a pop of 1.3 Billion would be a huge task and attending to every one of the customers is what makes the business capture the Indian E-commerce market.

The field sales mobile app makes this possible. With every query guided automatically to any free back end officer, customer queries are handled almost instantly. The entire data such as the order date, delivery date, of the good purchases is right in front of the attending officer. This would help reduce the time spent in addressing a customer query and increase the number of customer queries attended. One more loyal customer in the shopping bag!

These are just a few of the many good things that can come out of implementing a workforce management system in your E-commerce business. But there is much more than where such an app came from. If you are an establishment looking to automate your business, we are here to help! – Happisales

September 13, 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
5 Ways How Sales Force Automation is Helping FMCG Companies
Fast-Moving Consumer Goods or FMCG companies produce relatively low priced items that are manufactured in large quantities. These products make up almost half of all consumer spending but they sell on low-profit margins.

The production and distribution of FMCG goods involve several processes including manufacturing, warehousing, order management, logistics and finance. For the businesses to run methodically and on profitable terms, the above-mentioned processes need to be handled with utmost caution and supervision at every step as even a small error can cost the company in terms of labour, time and money.

Sales force automation is a smart solution that is being adopted by companies – both big and small, to run businesses to their maximum operational efficiency and profitability. Tailoring the automation processes through cutting-edge technologies minimizes the risk of internal inaccuracies while enabling sales employee tracking apps for field executives reduces the time spent by the sales force in non-revenue generating activities.

Here’s a detailed account of how sales force automation is turning out to be a game-changer for FMCG companies:
1. Eliminates manual errors
The Fast-Moving Consumer Goods or FMCG supply chain works with an abundance of labour at every stage of processing. However, with more human intervention comes more errors. When the supply chain resorts to manually handling every process, there is a greater risk of inaccuracies. This can lead to additional hours and effort spent to fix the problem.

For example, lead nurture emails, auto-filling product names and prices, calculating the cost of acquiring new customers, lead prioritization of existing data etc are common to most FMCGs. When the company resorts to manual labour for these tasks, errors like missing data and information, incorrect values and names, inaccurate financials etc are bound to happen.

Field force automation significantly increases the overall efficiency by running the processes nearly error-free. Using the field force automation app is easy as it requires just a few people to handle the process as opposed to a large number of manual involvement, otherwise.

Further, sales and production information are logged in real-time which reduces the last minute monthly check-ins of the goods. This gives the company an added leverage to involve the skilled workforce in more critical processes like development and strategic planning.
1. Inventory visibility that prevents stock-out situations
Manual inventory tracking may work for small units. But for a fast-paced FMCG unit, this becomes a tedious task owing to the number of steps involved between procuring the raw materials and delivering the finished goods. In addition, businesses that rely on manual processes to manage, track and stock products, are bound to run into stock out or overstock situations, as manually updating data across all the departments, may get affected by human inefficiencies like slow updating, late follow-ups etc.

From the storage location to the transportation and movement of inventory, inventory visibility ensures proper delivery of orders. In addition, being accountable for a product also reduces the risk of lost inventory and incorrect financials.

A Sales force tracker app stores information such as procurement of materials, logistics and tracking of goods across all centres of inventory. This helps the decision-makers to be up-to-date and aware of every inventory including those that are in transit or a warehouse. Further, the quantity of SKUs, their location and details about restocking helps the company avoid order cancellations or increased costs due to expedited shipping.

It is also worth mentioning that inventory visibility comes with the added benefit of tracking specific products/orders from point to point.
1. Better management of inventory
In-depth knowledge regarding existing inventory helps managers and decision-makers make informed decisions. A thorough understanding of inventory is a systematic approach to sourcing, storing and selling, raw materials and finished goods. However, relying on manual databases and formulas limits inventory management to basic reordering and stock monitoring alone.

An ideal solution to this is upgrading to inventory management apps that are not just restricted to basic accounting but also encompass everything from end-to-end production to lead time and demand forecasting to metrics and accounting.

In addition, automation stores all the information with regards to the customer in one place as opposed to manual entries that may be available in different files. Sales tracking software thus enables a deeper understanding of customer behaviour and interests. The process will also help the management find the best transportation and inventory practices, thus helping to better rotate inventories.

Further, automating the logistics process ensures timely delivery of the finished products at the right time. This helps in the smooth functioning of the FMCG companies and in turn, ensures customer satisfaction as well.
1. Better after-sales service
A company that has a good after-sales reputation is more likely to retain customer loyalty and also draw in more customers through word of mouth. If prompt customer services are not available 24*7 and if the customer faces a delay in getting his concerns addressed, he might think twice before selecting the brand again.

Attending customer queries and being accessible to the customers, even after product delivery lays the foundation for strong long-term relationships. An excellent example in this context is the automated bots in food delivery services like Swiggy and Zomato. Smaller queries like tracking the order, the precise delivery time, etc are handled by the bot while for advanced complaints, the app lets you connect with an internal sales executive. Sales force automation keeps the queries tabbed in with the customer ID and allows the executive handling the client to access relevant information regarding the customer. This gives them a proper insight into the situation and helps them find a solution more quickly. In addition, automating simple queries helps support teams to attend to high-priority tasks and saves time as well.
1. Increased savings
Sales force automation comes with the added benefit of increased savings for FMCG companies. Further, tasks that involve several processes are bound for human errors at different stages. Automating simple and repetitive tasks ascertain the quality of output while also giving monetary benefits to the company in the long run.

When it comes to fieldwork, implementing sales employee tracking apps is ideal for optimal resource utilization and profitability as well. For example, when a field sales executive is on his way to meet a particular client, the app also notifies other prospective leads in the locality. This means with proper planning, he can cover a few more clients on the same day. This indirectly leads to proper utilization of resources and saves money that he may have used another day to cover the same region. In addition, features like route optimization in the GPS trackers reduces the travel time for the executive and helps him spend more time on his main job – sales.

Ascertaining this fact, surveys suggest that organizations that make use of sales employee tracking apps have been able to save both time and distance by up to 47%.

As mentioned above, sales force automation comes with numerous benefits for businesses. It not only helps in the meticulous planning of tasks but also provides savings in terms of effort and time. If you run an FMCG business and are looking for ways to efficiently and effectively run the business through automation, try out Happisales! Contact us now to get a customized plan that will be unique to your requirements.
August 31, 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
5 Ways How Field Force Automation Is Benefitting The FMCG industry
The Fast-Moving Consumer Goods or FMCG industry is a wide and dense one. Its distribution networks are so widespread that they need to be managed meticulously. This can be done perfectly well with the help of field force automation. Inventory control and monitoring, lead generation, customer management, order processing, and so many other important processes necessitate extensive monitoring. Carrying out these activities manually can be time consuming, tedious, and cause wastage of resources and revenue.

It is widely known that the FMCG business creates low-profit-margin, fast-moving items. Thus it is only natural that the business’s processes and operations be exactly as swift in order to maximize production and profitability. One popular name in the FMCG sector that has already successfully implemented the automation and reaping the benefits – none other than Unilever!

Automation is no longer simply about digitalization, as many companies have come to recognize. A company’s performance and profitability need to be improved with the help of innovative solutions. Being able to establish KPI improvements, drive and monitor them via something like a sales employee tracking app could be (and are) a game changer for organizations that are hungry for profits and compete in hyper-competitive industries. Some of the major drivers for distribution organizations are sales and distribution metrics such as salesman productivity, category management of brands and credit management. Being able to watch these metrics in real-time and steer them in the proper direction leads to sales and distribution excellence.

Field force automation is a boon that has changed the face of several industries- and the effect has been much more significant in the case of the FMCG industry. Field sales app related software generally utilized by companies has not only improved visibility of operations, but the benefits of such software, if utilized appropriately, can extend itself to a wide range of benefits. Some of the changes brought about in the industry are discussed here –
1. Improved Productivity & Efficiency
Field force automation applications and software help FMCG businesses monitor, evaluate, and optimize a wide range of activities. With the automation being done in a way that has never been done before, it is possible to decrease wastage and theft, improve operations, and save money. It is therefore possible to avoid the time, effort and cost of manually recording data, as well as the possibility of inaccuracy. As a result, the procedure is made tremendously simpler and more efficient.

It has been noted that deploying the field sales app has upped the productivity by 25% in FMCG companies. There has not only been an improved productivity, the quality of the output has also gotten better with sales employee tracking app deployment. Better productivity and efficiency lead to higher number of deal closures/sales (discussed below) thereby adding to employee satisfaction which we discuss a little later in the article.
1. Better sales
One feature that stands out in the sales employee tracking app is that it provides straightforward access to comprehensive and astute analytical data for all operations. With the help of such software, it becomes very easy to understand what is selling, what is not, and why. This gives companies the freedom to promote popular products further in the market, and/or maybe discontinue products that are not popular in the market. We live in an era where consumer preferences determine how business is done, and a tool like this can be extremely beneficial to companies when it comes to making decisions.

With a data-driven approach, companies have the ability to work on the pain points and make changes to their approaches as necessary, thereby improving sales of products. As mentioned in the previous point, better productivity enables better sales.
1. Optimum usage of resources
Implementation of field sales mobile app software enables optimum use of resources. Let us check out this example – in the FMCG industry, a feature known as route optimization within the sales automation software aids in determining the most cost-effective path for sales people to serve their area.

This type of route optimization system calculates the most logistically efficient method for covering stores in a region, as well as the amount of resources needed to cover all routes in a streamlined form for more face time than journey time – this ensures that sales professionals can visit as many locations as possible while getting enough facetime with merchants on a given day.

Some of the leading organizations that have implemented this software are said to have experienced time and distance saving of up to 47% – this automatically saves a lot on the distribution cost.
1. Problem solving gets easier and speedy
The primary goal of sales employee tracking app software is to connect managers with their field personnel smoothly and in real-time. This implies that if any emergency or issue arises on the field, it can be monitored and resolved promptly without the need for layers of needless and time-consuming red tape. This is a feature that is already widely utilized in pharmaceutical sales automation software – the FMCG industry could gain tremendously if there is widespread adoption in the industry.

Consider the following scenario: there has been a decline in sales of a specific product at a shop location. With the help of the sales employee tracking app, the store in-charge and their superior would be notified of the issue and both can resolve the problem in a proper way.

If we look at the daily schedule of a sales manager, he or she would rarely have the time to sit and study charts and dashboards. There are specific solutions that notify the senior management of possible issues and enable them to find solutions to the problems. This permits better handling of issues on the field so employees can engage better with their customers as well as the team members. There are several players in the automation market who can customize the tool to suit your needs and purposes.
1. Employee satisfaction
The biggest plus of field service software, by default, is the fact that it brings down the workload of the agents on the field thereby saving precious man-hours. Obsolete and tedious practices such as double-logging entries, passing through layers of red tape, having to report the same things multiple times etc., has become a thing of the past. Cutting these redundant processes out ensures that employees remain energetic, keeping them in high spirits, content, and ultimately more fruitful at their jobs. A happy employee keeps the customers happy and that is what as a business owner you would want, right? We have discussed this point in the preceding points – one thing leads to another and who wouldn’t want to have a win-win factor in their hands!

As mentioned above, there are numerous field force automation software in the market today. All you need to do is find the one that fits your needs and that which can be customized to suit the requirements of your business.

Are you running an FMCG business? Want to improve the efficiency and productivity while making best use of resources? Try out Happisales! Get in touch with us to know how you can get one such system tailor made for your business!
August 17, 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