Field Sales Software has blended into the business process of FMCG & consumer goods industry as a powerful technology that aids sales and marketing operation. As there are thousands of field representatives working in a company spread over different cities and states, it is the Field Sales software that binds all the data about ground activity in a centralized system enabling insights that help companies make quicker and informed decisions about the sales and marketing processes. While a business leader starts his venture in building up a brand especially in the FMCG and CPG industry, he needs to invest a hefty amount in different spheres such as infrastructure, recruitment, supply chain management, sales, marketing etc. Therefore, allocation of funds is a tricky and essential task.
Choosing a cheap field sales software to cut down cost is a trap that some business leaders fall into. While it has the power of optimizing and enhancing a company’s sales process, a cheap software can hardly meet the standards of basic FMCG distribution operations. If you have been oblivious of the cost a cheap field sales software can lead to, here’s an unbiased discussion on the subject.
What should you Expect from an Ideal Field Sales Software?
Leading FMCG & Consumer Goods companies in the market have relied on efficient field sales application to achieve optimal efficiency and productivity in their sales and marketing operation. A good field sales app not only provides automation of mundane sales tasks but also provides insights about any underlying problems in sales execution and helps field managers solve them.
An efficient field sales app provides the following perks to a FMCG business.
- Bridges communication gap among company, sales managers and sales reps
- Helps the company to get complete visibility of ground sales execution
- Route optimization to help sales reps
- Problem Identification and alerts to ensure follow ups on time
- Analysis & report to help companies strategize
- Expand their business in a cost effective manner
A FMCG company needs to ensure seamless sales and marketing processes by automation of some sales tasks and using other features to add value to the process.
PROS: How far a Cheap Field Sales Software can take you?
While it saves some money when you invest in a cheap field software, it has very few effective features that can aid the sales and marketing operations. Let’s look into the ways how a cheap field software can help your business.
- Automation of sales tasks such as assigning leads, updating backend data entry.
- Tracking attendance of employees and store visits
- Location tracking of sales reps through geofencing
- Integration of data into a centralized system
Apart from saving some money, a cheap software may or may not work efficiently to deliver the basic functions of a field sales management.
CONS: What Compromises you make by Opting for a Cheap Field Sales Software?
While a cheaper solution may help you digitize the attendance and some field activities, it fails to serve as a solution to better field sales management. A cheap field sales software comes with downfalls in your business in the following ways:
- Risk of data security: Cheap products often bring in several vulnerabilities. In this case, a cheap field sales software may lack enough protection from cyber threats. As data is the most prized possession of every company, a cheap field sales raises the risks of losing essential data as well as it may lead to data security breaches that can harm your business in the long run.
- Low or zero customer support: The digital transformation is a new movement and most companies lack a separate IT department to aid them in case of any technical issue. A field sales app may have issues while running and it is the responsibility of the service provider to support the company under such circumstances. Unfortunately, a cheaper solution may not provide required customer support at the right time leading to great losses for the company.
- Lack of essential features: A cheap field sales app hardly provides the basic field management features for their clients. While you may just be happy to pay a lower price, a cheaper solution can drag you down in the competitive market. You cannot expect a cheap field sales software to provide you with features like route optimization, visual merchandising audit, distributor management system, gamification etc.
- Lack of efficiency: A cheap software solution may make it easier to track down your sales reps. However, there is a very low chance of driving efficiency. The lack of adequate features and seamless performance of a low cost sales software, it may not be able to aid the productivity of field reps or improve sales behavior. In short, it may not add any value to your business.
The Bottom Line
A cheap field sales software may seem to be a tempting option, but rest assured it will cost you more than you save. If you are looking out for an effective software solution for field sales management, you must always opt for paid or enterprise grade software solution. BeatRoute is a versatile CRM SFA software that provides sales workflow automation. What’s unique is that, BeatRoute’s goal driven approach helps companies to achieve their field business goals. Additionally, the platform is zero code so its simple and user-friendly, which eliminates the need of having a group of people manage it or any adoption issues.